{"id":3531,"date":"2019-01-09T10:21:43","date_gmt":"2019-01-09T14:21:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/scholarly\/?p=3531"},"modified":"2019-01-09T10:21:43","modified_gmt":"2019-01-09T14:21:43","slug":"spotlight-celebrate-public-domain-day-with-the-mit-libraries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/scholarly\/2019\/spotlight-celebrate-public-domain-day-with-the-mit-libraries\/","title":{"rendered":"Spotlight: Celebrate Public Domain Day with the MIT Libraries"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"January 1, 2019, is the first time in 20 years that works published in the U.S. have entered the public domain. Works in the public domain are free for anyone to read and use, and are a vital resource for creators to build from. Did you know that public domain images on Wikipedia, if they were not in the public domain, would cost\u00a0$246 to $270 million dollars<\/a><\/u>\u00a0per year? Or that\u00a0It\u2019s a Wonderful Life<\/em>\u00a0became a holiday classic only after\u00a0entering the public domain accidentally<\/a><\/u>?<\/p>\n

Despite the broad value of the public domain, however, copyright durations are extremely long, and have only been getting longer (copyright in works created today last throughout the creator\u2019s life and for 70 years afterward). The most recent extension, the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, took effect in 1998 and extended copyright durations for 20 years, freezing the public domain in the process. This year the copyright clock keeps ticking, and works from 1923 are entering the public domain for the first time.<\/p>\n

MIT Libraries are celebrating the public domain by digitizing 100 newly public domain books from our collections. Come\u00a0see the collection<\/a><\/u>\u00a0and follow our exploration of it on our\u00a0Public Domain Day website<\/a><\/u>. Wonder what the\u00a0College Entrance Examination Board algebra requirements<\/a><\/u>,\u00a0Modern Radio Practice<\/a><\/u>, or possibly\u00a0Recent Opinions on Modern Vivisection<\/a><\/u>\u00a0were in 1923? Now you can find out! Throughout the month of January, we will be posting explorations of these books and the public domain itself. Celebrate the public domain with us!<\/p>\n

This post is part of the MIT Libraries Public Domain Day celebration. Read the full text of public domain books digitized by the MIT Libraries, explore other volumes, and learn about the public domain at our\u00a0website<\/a><\/u>. This post is by Katie Zimmerman, Scholarly Communications and Licensing Librarian.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

January 1, 2019, is the first time in 20 years that works published in the U.S. have entered the public domain. Works in the public domain are free for anyone to read and use, and are a vital resource for creators to build from. Did you know that public domain images on Wikipedia, if they were not in the public domain, would cost\u00a0$246 to $270 million dollars\u00a0per year? Or that\u00a0It\u2019s a Wonderful Life\u00a0became a holiday classic only after\u00a0entering the public domain accidentally? Despite the broad value of the public domain, however, copyright durations are extremely long, and have only been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":false,"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/scholarly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/scholarly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/scholarly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/scholarly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/scholarly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3531"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/scholarly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3531\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3533,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/scholarly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3531\/revisions\/3533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/scholarly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/scholarly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/scholarly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}