Copyright protections ended for hundred of movies, books, and movies released in 1924 when 2020 began. Among the works now in the public domain and free for reuse are composer George Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue" and Agatha Christy's "The Man in the Brown Suit."
Tech writer Andy Ihnatko joined Boston Public Radio on Monday to talk about what it means for a copyrighted work to enter the public domain.
"Every year on January first, every single piece of creative content from a certain year in the '20s - this year it is 1924 - enters the public domain," Ihnatko said. "It means that everybody owns it.
"It means that if you want to record your own version of ["Rhapsody In Blue"], you can record your own version of it without paying anybody," he continued. "If you want to include it in a film soundtrack you can do that and if you want to adapt "Rhapsody In Blue" you can do that."
