2021 In Public Domain

The following is a list of creators whose works enter the public domain in 2021. Since laws vary globally, the copyright status of some works are not uniform.

With the exception of Belarus (where the copyright protection is life + 50 years)^{: Art. 22(1)} and Spain (which has a copyright term of life + 80 years for creators that died before 1987), a work enters the public domain in Europe 70 years after the creator's death, if it was published during the creator's lifetime. For previously unpublished material, those who publish it first will have the publication rights for 25 years. The list is sorted alphabetically and includes a notable work of the creator that entered the public domain on 1 January 2021.

Names	Country	Birth	Death	Occupation	Notable work
Octave-Louis Aubert	France	8 January 1870	14 January 1950	Writer, journalist	Le Livre de la Bretagne
Irving Bacheller	United States	26 September 1859	24 February 1950	Writer, journalist	Eben Holden
Sergei Bakhrushin [ru]	Russia	8 October 1882	8 March 1950	Historian
Miklós Bánffy	Hungary	30 December 1873	5 June 1950	Nobleman, politician, writer	A Transylvanian Tale
Pavel Bazhov	Russia	27 January 1879	3 December 1950	Writer	The Malachite Box
Max Beckmann	Germany	12 February 1884	27 December 1950	Painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor
William Rose Benét	United States	2 February 1886	4 May 1950	Writer, poet, editor	Saturday Review of Literature, The Reader's Encyclopedia
Lev Berg	Russia	14 March 1876	24 December 1950	Geographer, biologist and ichthyologist
Ben Black	United States	11 December 1889	26 December 1950	Composer, lyricist	"Moonlight and Roses"
Léon Blum	France	9 April 1872	30 March 1950	Politician	Les Problèmes de la Paix
Ambrogio Bollati [it]	Italy	26 November 1871	26 March 1950	General, Historian	Works
D. K. Broster	United Kingdom	2 September 1877	7 February 1950	Novelist	The Flight of the Heron
Herbert Ashwin Budd	United Kingdom	1881	1950	Painter
Joe Burke	United States	18 March 1884	9 June 1950	Songwriter, Composer, pianist	"Dancing With Tears in My Eyes", "Painting the Clouds With Sunshine", "Rambling Rose", "Tip-Toe Through the Tulips"
Edgar Rice Burroughs	United States	1 September 1875	19 March 1950	Author of adventure and science fiction	Tarzan and Barsoom
J. Carlos	Brazil	18 July 1884	2 October 1950	Cartoonist, illustrator, graphic designer, sculptor
Basilio Cascella	Italy	2 October 1860	24 July 1950	Artist	Il bagno della pastora [it]
Alfonso Daniel Rodríguez Castelao	Spain	29 January 1886	7 January 1950	Painter
Neville William Cayley	Australia	7 January 1886	17 March 1950	Ornithologist & artist	"What Bird is That?", 1931
Francesco Cilea	Italy	26 July 1866	20 November 1950	Composer	L'arlesiana and Adriana Lecouvreur
Leôncio Correia (pt)	Brazil	1 January 1865	19 June 1950	Lawyer, politician, writer and journalist
Erle Cox	Australia	15 August 1873	20 November 1950	Journalist and science fiction writer	Out of the Silence
Walter Damrosch	United States	30 January 1862	22 December 1950	Composer
Frank Parker Day	Canada	9 May 1881	30 July 1950	Author and academic
Warwick Deeping	United Kingdom	28 May 1877	20 April 1950	Author	Sorrell and Son
Buddy DeSylva	United States	27 January 1895	11 July 1950	Songwriter	Avalon, Look For the Silver Lining, Somebody Loves Me
Edward d'Evry	United Kingdom	6 June 1869	25 December 1950	Composer
Lancelot de Mole	Australia	12 March 1880	6 May 1950	Engineer & inventor	Tracked armoured vehicle, 1911
Clément Doucet	Belgium	9 April 1895	15 October 1950	Composer, pianist
Anatoly Drozdov (ru)	Russia	4 November 1883	10 September 1950	Composer, pianist
Theodor Duesterberg	Germany	19 October 1875	4 November 1950	Politician	The Steel Helmet and Hitler
Walter Eucken	Germany	17 January 1891	20 March 1950	Economist	Works
Percy Keese Fitzhugh	United States	7 September 1876	5 July 1950	Author of children and young adult literature
Yevgeny Gunst	Russia	7 June 1877	30 January 1950	Composer
John Gould Fletcher	United States	3 January 1886	10 May 1950	Poet	Selected Poems
Ernest Haycox	United States	1 October 1899	13 October 1950	Author of Western fiction
John Rippiner Heath	United Kingdom	4 January 1887	23 December 1950	Doctor, musician, composer	Three Macedonian Sketches
William Hovgaard	Denmark   United States	28 November 1857	5 January 1950	Professor, Writer	Submarine Boats, The Voyages Of The Norsemen To America
Heydar Huseynov	Azerbaijan	3 April 1908	15 August 1950	Philosopher	Dialectical Materialism
Rex Ingram	United States	15 January 1892	2 July 1950	Film director, producer, writer and actor	The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Prisoner of Zenda
George Cecil Ives	United Kingdom	1 October 1867	4 June 1950	Writer, penal reformer	English Prisons Today
Émile Jaques-Dalcroze	Switzerland	6 July 1865	1 July 1950	Composer, music educator
Johannes V. Jensen	Denmark	20 January 1873	25 November 1950	Author	The Long Journey
Charles L. Johnson	United States	3 December 1876	28 December 1950	Composer
Al Jolson	United States	26 May 1886	23 October 1950	Songwriter
Eddie Kilfeather	United States	5 April 1900	13 January 1950	Composer
Alfred Korzybski	Russian Empire   United States	3 July 1879	1 March 1950	Engineer and founder of Institute of General Semantics	Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics
Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky	Russia	11 February 1887	28 December 1950	Writer
Harold Laski	United Kingdom	30 June 1893	24 March 1950	Political theorist, economist	A Grammar of Politics
Harry Lauder	United Kingdom	4 August 1870	26 February 1950	Comedian, Singer/songwriter	Roamin' in the Gloamin'
Lilian Sophia Locke	Australia	6 June 1869	1 July 1950	Suffragette & Trade-unionist	Secretary of the United Council for Woman's Suffrage, 1890s
Heinrich Mann	Germany	27 March 1871	11 March 1950	Writer	Professor Unrat
Edgar Lee Masters	United States	23 August 1868	5 March 1950	Writer	Spoon River Anthology
F. O. Matthiessen	United States	19 February 1902	1 April 1950	literary critic	American Renaissance: Art and Expression in the Age of Emerson and Whitman
Marcel Mauss	France	10 May 1872	10 February 1950	Sociologist	The Gift
Ernest John Moeran	United Kingdom	31 December 1894	1 December 1950	Composer
Alfred Edward Moffat	United Kingdom	4 December 1863	6 June 1950	Composer, collector of music	Meister-Schule der alten Zeit
Edna St Vincent Millay	United States	22 February 1892	19 October 1950	Poet, playwright	Renascence
Ali Moustafa Mosharafa	Egypt	11 July 1898	16 January 1950	Theoretical physicist
Lewis Muir	United States	1881	19 January 1950	Songwriter	Ragtime Cowboy Joe
Pavel Muratov	Russia	3 March 1881	5 February 1950	Writer, art historian	Images of Italy
Nikolai Myaskovsky	Russia	20 April 1881	8 August 1950	Composer	Symphony No. 6 (Myaskovsky)
Vaslav Nijinsky	Russia	12 March 1889	8 April 1950	Ballet dancer and choreographer	Diary
George Orwell	United Kingdom	25 June 1903	21 January 1950	Journalist and author	Animal Farm, Nineteen Eighty-Four also see George Orwell bibliography
Cesare Pavese	Italy	9 September 1908	27 August 1950	Writer, translator	The Moon and the Bonfires
Max Pemberton	United Kingdom	19 June 1863	22 February 1950	Novelist of adventure and mystery literature
Octávio Pinto	Brazil	3 November 1890	31 October 1944	Composer, architect
Ernest Poole	United States	23 January 1880	10 January 1950	Writer	His Family
Gustaf John Ramstedt	Russian Empire   Finland	22 October 1873	25 November 1950	Explorer, linguist, diplomat	Seitsemän retkeä itään
R. R. Ryan	United Kingdom	14 December 1882	18 October 1950	Author
Eliel Saarinen	Russian Empire   Finland   United States	20 August 1873	1 July 1950	Architect	Works
Rafael Sabatini	Italy   United Kingdom	29 April 1875	13 February 1950	Writer	The Sea Hawk, Scaramouche, The Odissey of Captain Blood, Bellarion the Fortunate
Theophrastos Sakellaridis	Greece	7 September 1883	2 January 1950	Composer, conductor	Ο Βαφτιστικός
Guðjón Samúelsson	Iceland	16 April 1887	25 April 1950	Architect	Hallgrímskirkja, National Theatre of Iceland, Akureyrarkirkja
Joseph Schumpeter	Austria	8 February 1883	8 January 1950	Economist	Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy
Milton Schwarzwald	United States	16 September 1891	2 March 1950	Director, composer
George Bernard Shaw	United Kingdom   Ireland	26 July 1856	2 November 1950	Writer	Man and Superman, Pygmalion, Saint Joan
Adaline Shepherd	United States	19 August 1883	12 March 1950	Composer
Forrest Shreve	United States	8 July 1878	19 July 1950	Botanist	Works
Martinus Sieveking	Netherlands	24 March 1867	26 November 1950	Composer, music teacher
Jan Smuts	South Africa	24 May 1870	11 September 1950	Statesman, military leader, and philosopher	Holism and Evolution
John M. Stahl	United States	21 January 1886	12 January 1950	Film Director and Producer	Father Was a Fullback
Olaf Stapledon	United Kingdom	10 May 1886	6 September 1950	Philosopher and science fiction author	Star Maker, Last and First Men and Odd John
Henry L. Stimson	United States	21 September 1867	20 October 1950	Politician	Democracy And Nationalism In Europe
Tatiana Sukhotina-Tolstaya	Russia	4 October 1864	21 September 1950	Painter and memoirist
Attilio Teruzzi	Italy	5 May 1882	26 April 1950	Politician	Cirenaica Verde
Trilussa	Italy	26 October 1871	21 December 1950	Poet	Works
Orhan Veli Kanık	Turkey	14 April 1914	14 November 1950	Poet	Garip, Collected Poems
Xavier Villaurrutia	Mexico	27 March 1903	25 December 1950	Poet, Playwright	Works
Archibald P. Wavell	United Kingdom	5 May 1883	24 May 1950	General	Generals And Generalship
Kurt Weill	Germany	2 March 1900	3 April 1950	Composer	The Threepenny Opera
Yi Kwang-su	South Korea	1 February 1892	25 October 1950	Writer, independence activist	Heartless

Spain (for creators that died before 1987), Colombia and Equatorial Guinea have a copyright term of life + 80 years. The list is sorted alphabetically and includes one notable work that entered the public domain on 1 January 2021 for each creator.

List of authors

Names	Country	Birth	Death	Occupation	Notable work
J.-H. Rosny aîné	France	17 February 1856	11 February 1940	Writer	The Quest for Fire
Xerardo Álvarez Limeses [es]	Spain	1871	1940	Teacher, writer
Manuel Azaña	Spain	1880	1940	Politician, political writer, Prime Minister
Julián Besteiro	Spain	21 September 1870	27 September 1940
E. F. Benson	United Kingdom	24 July 1867	29 February 1940	Writer, archaeologist	Mapp and Lucia
Mikhail Bulgakov	Russia	15 May 1891	10 March 1940	Writer, playwright, medical doctor	The Master and Margarita
Rafael Flores Nieto [es]	Spain	1 May 1864	25 November 1940	Flamenco singer and guitarist
Philip Francis Nowlan	United States	13 November 1888	1 February 1940	Writer	Armageddon 2419 A.D.
F. Scott Fitzgerald	United States	24 September 1896	21 December 1940	Novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and short-story writer	This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned, The Great Gatsby and Tender Is the Night
Carlos Gómez Carrera [es]	Spain	1903 or 1907	28 June 1940	Cartoonist
Antonio de Hoyos y Vinent [es]	Spain	1884	1940	Playwright	Bibliography
Louis J. Panella	United States	1881	3 March 1940	Composer
Enrique Peinador [es]	Spain	1880	1940	Businessman
Indalecio Varela Lenzano [es]	Spain	1856	1940	Musicologist, music critic
María Vinyals	Spain	1875	1940	Publicist, essayist

In most countries of Africa and Asia, as well as Belarus, Bolivia, Canada, New Zealand, Egypt and Uruguay, a work enters the public domain 50 years after the creator's death.

Names	Country	Birth	Death	Occupation	Notable work
Abdul Hosein Amini	Iran	1902	3 July 1970	Theologian	Al-Ghadir
Rita Angus	New Zealand	12 March 1908	25 January 1970	Painter	Cass
Shmuel Yosef Agnon	Israel	17 July 1888	17 February 1970	Writer	The Bridal Canopy
Fernando Arbello	Puerto Rico	30 May 1907	26 July 1970	Musician
Otto Baecker	Germany	7 January 1898	22 May 1970	Cinematographer	Gold
Archibald Baxter	New Zealand	13 December 1881	10 August 1970	Socialist, pacifist	We Will Not Cease
William Beaudine	United States	15 January 1892	18 March 1970	Film director, actor	Boys Will Be Boys
George Blair	United States	6 December 1905	19 April 1970	Film Director
R. V. C. Bodley	United Kingdom	3 March 1892	26 May 1970	Army officer, author	Algeria From Within
Louise Bogan	United States	11 August 1897	4 February 1970	Poet	Body of This Death
Vera Brittain	United Kingdom	29 December 1893	29 March 1970	Writer	Testament of Youth
William J. Brown	United States		1970	Architect
Mohamed Fadhel Ben Achour	Tunisia	16 October 1909	20 April 1970	Theologian	Works
Dulce Carman	New Zealand	1883	1970	Author	Neath the Maori Moon
Rudolf Carnap	Germany	18 May 1891	14 September 1970	Philosopher	Der Logische Aufbau der Welt
Émile Coderre [fr]	Canada	10 June 1893	6 April 1970	Poet	Works
Charles Cotton (geologist)	New Zealand	24 February 1885	29 June 1970	Geologist	Geomorphology of New Zealand
Mohamed Abdelaziz Djaït	Tunisia	1886	5 January 1970	Theologian	Works
William Dobell	Australia	24 September 1899	13 May 1970	Artist	Mr Joshua Smith
Guy Endore	United States	4 July 1901	12 February 1970	Author, screenwriter	The Werewolf of Paris
E. M. Forster	United Kingdom	1 January 1879	7 June 1970	Writer	Works
Babbis Friis-Baastad	Norway	21 August 1921	10 January 1970	Children's writer	Ikke ta Bamse
Erle Stanley Gardner	United States	17 July 1889	11 March 1970	Author, lawyer	Perry Mason series of books
Maurice Gemayel	Lebanon	1910	31 October 1970	Politician	Tripoli and Decentralization
L. Wolfe Gilbert	United States	31 August 1886	12 July 1970	Songwriter	Down Yonder
Rube Goldberg	United States	4 July 1883	7 December 1970	Cartoonist, News reporter, Sculptor, Engineer
John Gunther	United States	30 August 1901	29 May 1970	Author	Death Be Not Proud
Muhsin al-Hakim	Iraq	1889	1970	Theologian	Minhaj as-Saleheen
Alice Hamilton	United States	27 February 1869	22 September 1970	Physician, research scientist	Industrial Poisons in the United States
Lawren Harris	Canada	23 October 1885	29 January 1970	Painter
Marlen Haushofer	Austria	11 April 1920	21 March 1970	Writer
Erich Heckel	Germany	31 July 1883	27 January 1970	Artist	Roquairol
Jimi Hendrix	United States	27 November 1942	18 September 1970	Musician, singer-songwriter	"Purple Haze"
Roman Ingarden	Poland	5 February 1893	14 June 1970	Philosopher	The Literary Work of Art
Michał Kalecki	Poland	22 June 1899	18 April 1970	Economist	Próba teorii koniunktury
William Archibald Mackintosh	Canada	21 May 1895	29 December 1970	Economist	Economic Problems Of The Prairie Provinces
Leopoldo Marechal	Argentina	11 June 1900	26 June 1970	Writer	Adam Buenosayres
François Mauriac	France	11 October 1885	1 September 1970	Writer	Thérèse Desqueyroux
Bruce McLaren	New Zealand	30 August 1937	2 June 1970	Racing car driver	Bruce McLaren: From the Cockpit
Yukio Mishima	Japan	14 January 1925	25 November 1970	Novelist, playwright, poet, writer, essayist, critic	Works
Gamal Abdel Nasser	Egypt	15 January 1918	28 September 1970	Politician	Philosophy of Revolution
Charles Olson	United States	27 December 1910	10 January 1970	Poet	Works
John Dos Passos	United States	14 January 1896	28 September 1970	Novelist	U.S.A. trilogy
Waldo Peirce	United States	17 December 1884	8 March 1970	Painter	Legends of the Hudson
Vladimir Propp	Russia	29 April 1895	22 August 1970	Folklorist	Morphology of the Tale
Alf Prøysen	Norway	23 July 1914	23 November 1970	Musician, Writer, Composer	Works
Erich Maria Remarque	Germany	22 June 1898	25 September 1970	Novelist	All Quiet on the Western Front
Ali Riahi	Tunisia	30 March 1912	27 March 1970	Musician
Gonzalo Roig	Cuba	20 July 1890	13 June 1970	Composer	Cecilia Valdés
Mark Rothko	United States	25 September 1903	25 February 1970	Abstract painter	Black on Maroon
Bertrand Russell	United Kingdom	18 May 1872	2 February 1970	Philosopher, mathematician	Principia Mathematica
Nelly Sachs	German Empire   Sweden	10 October 1891	12 May 1970	Poet, Writer	Works
Ruth Sawyer	United States	5 August 1880	3 June 1970	Writer	Roller Skates
Slim Harpo	United States	11 January 1924	31 January 1970	Blues Musician	I'm a King Bee
William Stewart Wallace	Canada	23 June 1884	11 March 1970	Historian	Encyclopedia of Canada
Hassan Taqizadeh	Iran	27 September 1878	28 January 1970	Politician	Old Iranian Calendars
Sophie Treadwell	United States	3 October 1885	20 February 1970	Playwright	Machinal
Jacob Viner	Canada	3 May 1892	12 September 1970	Economist	Works
Otto Heinrich Warburg	Germany	8 October 1883	1 August 1970	Physiologist	The Metabolism of Tumours
Leonard Wild	New Zealand	28 October 1889	23 July 1970	Agricultural scientist, writer	An Experiment in Self-government, Soils and Manures in New Zealand
Harry M. Woods	United States	4 November 1896	14 January 1970	Songwriter	When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along)
Abraham Zapruder	United States	15 May 1905	30 August 1970	Clothing manufacturer	Zapruder film
Mahmoud Zulfikar	Egypt	18 February 1914	22 May 1970	Director

In 2004 copyright in Australia changed from a "plus 50" law to a "plus 70" law, in line with America and the European Union. However, the change was not made retroactive (unlike the 1995 change in the European Union which brought the works of those who died from 1925 to 1944 back into copyright). Hence the work of an author who died before 1955 is normally in the public domain in Australia; but the copyright of authors was extended to 70 years after death for those who died in 1955 or later, and no more Australian authors will come out of copyright until 1 January 2026 (those who died in 1955).

Unpublished works by authors who died in 1950 entered the public domain. Any published literary, artistic, dramatic, or musical work (other than computer programs) by a not generally known author (anonymous or pseudonymous) from 1950 also entered the public domain.

Names	Country	Birth	Death	Occupation	Notable work
Cyril Tenison White	Australia	17 August 1890	16 August 1950	Botanist/Explorer	Made significant contributions to knowledge of the flora of Queensland and northern New South Wales, and was regarded as an authority on tropical plants.
Erle Cox	Australia	17 August 1873	20 November 1950	Writer	"Out of the Silence"
Dame Mary Cook	Australia	1863	24 September 1950	Social Work	Vice President of the "War Chest Society" and President of the "Parramatta Branch of the Red Cross Society"
Frank Brennan	Australia	1873	6 November 1950	Politician	Noted Pacifist
Ted Colson	Australia	3 June 1881	27 February 1950	Anthropologist	Crossing of the Simpson Desert
Ian Morrison	Australia	13 May 1913	12 August 1950	Journalist	"This War against Japan : Thoughts on the Present Conflict in the Far East" 1944
Andrew Oswald Wilson	Australia	12 October 1866	19 June 1950	Architect	Boulder Town Hall
George Ainsworth	Australia	20 October 1878	11 October 1950	Meteorologist & photographer	Leader of the Macquarie Island party of the Australian Antarctic Expedition, December 1911 to November 1913
Neville William Cayley	Australia	7 January 1886	17 March 1950	Ornithologist & artist	"What Bird is That?", 1931
Lilian Sophia Locke	Australia	6 June 1869	1 July 1950	Suffragette & Trade-unionist	Secretary of the United Council for Woman's Suffrage, 1890s
Lancelot de Mole	Australia	12 March 1880	6 May 1950	Engineer & inventor	Tracked armoured vehicle, 1911
Ada May Plante	Australia	4 October 1876	3 July 1950	Painter	Founding exhibitor at Pioneering Post-Impressionist Melbourne Contemporary Group, 1932
Beaumont Smith	Australia	15 August 1885	2 January 1950	Film director	"Our Friends the Hayseeds", 1917
Horace Stevens	Australia	27 October 1876	18 November 1950	Opera singer	Samuel Coleridge Taylor's "Hiawatha" London premiere, 1924
Clas Edvard Friström	Australia	26 January 1864	27 March 1950	Painter	Exhibited 53 paintings with the Queensland Art Society, 1899-1902
Constance Elizabeth Darcy	Australia	1 June 1879	25 April 1950	Gynaecologist	Member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, London
Gustavus Athol Waterhouse	Australia	21 May 1877	29 July 1950	Entomologist	"The butterflies of Australia", 1914 and "What butterfly is that? A guide to the butterflies of Australia", 1932
Alexandrine Seager	Australia	10 November 1870	12 March 1950	Businessperson	Founded the Cheer-Up Society to provide comfort and entertainment for World War One soldiers
Ted Theodore	Australia	28 December 1884	9 February 1950	Politician	State president, Queensland Australian Workers' Union

Under the Copyright Term Extension Act, books published in 1925, films released in 1925, and other works published in 1925, entered the public domain in 2021. Additionally, unpublished works whose authors died in 1950 entered the public domain.

No sound recordings entered the public domain; under the Music Modernization Act, those published in 1925 will not enter the public domain until 2026. However, all musical compositions published in 1925 entered the public domain in 2021.

Notable books that entered the public domain in 2021 in the United States include The Great Gatsby, Mrs Dalloway, the original German-language version of The Trial, An American Tragedy, The Secret of Chimneys, In Our Time, and Arrowsmith.

• List of American films of 1925
• List of countries' copyright lengths
• Public Domain Day
• Creative Commons
• Public Domain
• Over 300 public domain authors available in Wikisource (any language), with descriptions from Wikidata
• 1950 in literature, 1960 in literature, 1970 in literature