2012 in public domain

When a work's copyright expires, it enters the public domain. The following is a list of works that entered the public domain in 2012. Since laws vary globally, the copyright status of some works are not uniform. Not all works in the public domain have been expired, some works are deliberately donated into the collection for the public good by their owners.[1][2]

Entering the public domain in Europe

In most European nations with the exception of Belarus, copyright law extends for the life of the author or artist, plus 70 years.[3]

Authors

Film

Music

Other notable figures

Brazil

Entering the public domain in the United States

In the United States, the copyright status of works extends for the life of the author or artists, plus 70 years.[4][5] If the work is owned by a corporation, then the copyright extends 95 years.[6]

Due to the passing of the Copyright Term Extension Act (Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act) in 1998, works never registered or published before January 1, 1978, and whose authors died before 1942 entered the public domain in this jurisdiction on January 1, 2012.[7] Other works would not enter the public domain here until 2019.[8]

In January 2012, the Supreme Court in a 6-2 decision stated that works in the public domain can have their copyright status renewed.[9]

Worldwide

As part of the Open Goldberg Variations, released a recording of Johan Sebastian Bach's Goldberg Variations performed by pianist Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka into the public domain through a CC0-licence.[10]

In August 2012, Jason Rohrer announced that all of the videogame Diamond Trust of London will enter the public domain.[11]

British musician Dan Bull releases the public domain-song Sharing is Caring, which becomes nr 9 on the UK Independent Singles Chart.[12]

On April 5th 2012, Nature Publishing Group released publication data for more than 450,000 articles into the public domain.[13]

On September 12th 2012, Europeana released 20 million records into the public domain.[14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Public Domain in Copyright Law".
  2. ↑ "Find the Best Free PC Games on These Sites!". Archived from the original on 2013-01-03. Retrieved 2012-06-02.
  3. ↑ "Billboard Business". Archived from the original on 2013-01-06. Retrieved 2012-06-03.
  4. ↑ "What Could Have Entered the Public Domain | Duke University School of Law".
  5. ↑ "S.505 - One Hundred Fifth Congress of the United States of America at the Second Session. An act to amend the provisions of title 17, United States Code, with respect to the duration of copyright, and for other purposes" (PDF). U.S. Copyright Office.
  6. ↑ "Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States | Copyright Information Center". copyright.cornell.edu. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  7. ↑ "Certain Unpublished, Unregistered Works Enter Public Domain". United States Copyright Office. 2003-01-13. Retrieved 2026-04-21.
  8. ↑ "United States Copyright Law". Archived from the original on 2014-08-01. Retrieved 2012-06-02.
  9. ↑ Liptak, Adam (19 January 2012). "Public Domain Works Can be Copyrighted Anew, Supreme Court Rules". The New York Times.
  10. ↑ Wilkens, Andreas. "Goldberg-Variationen: Johann Sebastian Bach als "Creative Commons Zero"". www.heise.de. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
  11. ↑ rawmeatcowboy. "Diamond Trust of London Kickstarter content goes public domain". gonintendo.com. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
  12. ↑ Park, Jane. "Musician Dan Bull reaches #9 on UK indie charts using CC0". creativecommons.org. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
  13. ↑ Park, Jane. "Nature Publishing Group releases publication data for more than 450,000 articles via CC0". creativecommons.org. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
  14. ↑ Vollmer, Timothy. "Europeana releases 20 million records into the public domain using CC0". creativecommons.org. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
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