"Happy Public Domain Day, every-some of you! In New Zealand and Canada, published works by artists who died in 1967—Rene Magritte, Dorothy Parker, John Coltrane, and many others—have entered the public domain; Kiwis and Canadians can now freely distribute, perform, and remix a wealth of painting, writing, and music. In Europe, work published by artists who died in 1947 are now public domain. In the United States, well, we get nothing for the 20th year in a row, with one more to go. Our public domain drought is nearly old enough to drink.

American copyrights now stretch for 95 years. Since 1998, we've been frozen with a public domain that only applies to works from before 1923 (and government works).

"Happy Public Domain Day, every-some of you! In New Zealand and Canada, published works by artists who died in 1967—Rene Magritte, Dorothy Parker, John Coltrane, and many others—have entered the public domain; Kiwis and Canadians can now freely distribute, perform, and remix a wealth of painting, writing, and music. In Europe, work published by artists who died in 1947 are now public domain. In the United States, well, we get nothing for the 20th year in a row, with one more to go. Our public domain drought is nearly old enough to drink.

American copyrights now stretch for 95 years. Since 1998, we've been frozen with a public domain that only applies to works from before 1923 (and government works).