Public Domain Day, 2011

Emma Goldman (1869-1940): free at last

Time marches on. And before the glow of a new year vanishes into a tangled pile of bills, abandoned resolutions and more of winter's icy slush it's good to remember that on January first, works by a whole new graduating class of authors, artists, and composers are now in the public domain. The legal rights to many works created by those artists who died in 1940 are now without copyright. There is even a website devoted to tracking the full list of works that become available to use and distribute free of charge: Public Domain Day.

Of course -- as the Euro-centric website is careful to note -- the rule of "public domain" varies widely. So if you're interested in, say, distributing the words of Emma Goldman to a classroom of eager high-school students ready for a little anarchy (lucky teacher!), it's best to check first. Or, they prefer a bit of Red revolution, treat the little Bolsheviks to a worker's free share of Trotsky. Here, a short list from the more than 661 new artists whose works are now in the public domain.

• Isaac Babel
• Walter Benjamin
• John Buchan
• Mikhail Bulgakov
• F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Emma Goldman
• Paul Klee
• Selma Lagerlof
• Leon Trotsky
• Vito Volterra
• Nathanael West