Tunes published in 1927 will be entering public domain in 2023

As of January 1, 2023, U.S. copyright will expire for works published in 1927, including the following songs: 

Ain't She Sweet (Yellen, Ager)

Back in Your Own Backyard (Jolson, Rose, Dreyer)

The Best Things in Life are Free (De Sylva, Brown, Henderson)

Black and Tan Fantasy (Ellington)

Blue Skies (Berlin)

Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man (Hammerstein, Kern)

Creole Love Call (Ellington) 

Funny Face (Gershwin, Gershwin)

Hallelujah (Robin, Gray, Youmans)

He Loves and She Loves (Gershwin, Gershwin)

High Hat (Gershwin, Gershwin)

How Long Has This Been Going On? (Gershwin, Gershwin)

I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover (Mort Dixon, Harry Woods)

In a Mist (Beiderbecke)

Me and My Shadow (Dreyer, Rose, Jolson)

Mississippi Mud (Cavanaugh, Barris)

My Blue Heaven (Whiting, Donaldson)

My Heart Stood Still (Rodgers, Hart)

Ol' Man River (Hammerstein, Kern)

Russian Lullaby (Berlin)

'S Wonderful (Gershwin, Gershwin)

Strike Up the Band (Gershwin, Gershwin)

Struttin' With some Barbecue (Armstrong, Armstrong)

Thou Swell (Gershwin, Gershwin)

Why Do I Love You? (Hammerstein, Kern)

The next few years will be bringing increasing numbers of standards by Gershwin, Rodgers, and others into the public domain.

In classical music, notable pieces entering public domain are the Gershwin Preludes, Bartok's String Quartet #3, Copland's Piano Concerto, and Shostakovitch's Symphony #2. 

For more popular, jazz, and classical pieces entering the public domain, see the Wikipedia page 1927 in Music.

United States copyright law is quite restrictive as compared to many other countries. According to the provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976 and the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 (aka "Mickey Mouse Protection Act"), works published or registered before 1978 remain under copyright for 95 years.

With the passage of the 1998 law, the cutoff date for works entering the public domain became 1922, with any works published in 1923 or later remaining under copyright. Beginning in 2019, however, the clock began running again, with each new year bringing one more year of songs and other works into the public domain. Over the next 20 years or so, most "Golden Age" jazz standards will lose copyright protection.

Many other countries have shorter terms of copyright; one common formula is the life of the author plus fifty years (see this table). For example, in Canada you can record pieces written by Wes Montgomery (d. 1968) John Coltrane (d. 1967), Igor Stravinsky (d. 1971), Louis Armstrong (d. 1971). Lee Morgan (d. 1972), or Kenny Dorham (d. 1972).

Looking ahead, Mickey Mouse will become fair game in the US in 2024, unless Congress is somehow persuaded to change the present copyright law (again). 

However, if you are thinking of utilizing Mickey's image in 2024, you should consider that copyright will only expire on images from cartoons released in 1928, such as Steamboat Willie. In those early images, Micky had a somewhat different visage, with a longer, rat-like nose. He did not not yet have his white gloves or red shorts; they came later. If you want to use the white gloves or red shorts, you will have to wait a few more years.

Here's an interesting article on the subject, with an image of Mickey as submitted for copyright in 1929. It looks to me as though Mickey's nose had been altered a little by then, closer to its current look. He has his white gloves, too. The image is in black and white, so I don’t know about the red shorts. 

By the way, Minnie Mouse also appears in the 1928 cartoons, though I don't think she is credited by name.

In addition to copyrighting Mickey, The Walt Disney Company has also registered him as a trademark. US trademarks can be renewed every 10 years, potentially going on forever. Disney has a strong case for Mickey as a trademark, but less so for many of their other characters, who will be falling out of copyright in the next few years. Here is an article from the Western New England Law Review that covers in depth the legal standing of Mickey and other Disney characters.

More links:

NYT article on Mickey copyright

Copyright Law of the United States (Wikipedia)

Tunes published in 1926 will be entering public domain in 2022

As of January 1, 2022, U.S. copyright will expire for works published in 1926, including the following songs: 

(What Can I Say) After I Say I'm Sorry (Walter Donaldson and Abe Lyman)

Baby Face (Harry Akst)

Birth of the Blues ((Ray Henderson)

Black Bottom (Ray Henderson) - See note below

Black Bottom Stomp (Jelly Roll Morton) - See note below

Blue Room (Rodgers and Hart)

Blue Skies (Irving Berlin) - Sheet music pub. 1927, but first performed 1926

Bye Bye Blackbird (Ray Henderson)

East St. Louis Toodle-Oo (Duke Ellington and Bubber Miley)

If I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight) (James P. Johnson)

Mountain Greenery (Rodgers and Hart)

Muskrat Ramble (Kid Ory) - See note below

Someone to Watch Over Me (George and Ira Gershwin)

When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along) (Harry Woods) 

This year, the big ones would seem to be Birth of the Blues, Blue Room, Blue Skies, Bye Bye Blackbird, and Someone to Watch Over Me. 

In classical music, notable pieces entering public domain are Bartok's Piano Concerto #1, Copland's Piano Concerto, and Puccini's Turandot.

For more popular, jazz, and classical pieces entering the public domain, see the Wikipedia page 1926 in Music.

United States copyright law is quite restrictive as compared to many other countries. According to the provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976 and the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 (aka "Mickey Mouse Protection Act"), works published or registered before 1978 remain under copyright for 95 years.

With the passage of the 1998 law, the cutoff date for works entering the public domain became 1922, with any works published in 1923 or later remaining under copyright. Beginning in 2019, however, the clock began running again, with each new year bringing one more year of songs and other works into the public domain. Over the next 20 years or so, most "Golden Age" jazz standards will lose copyright protection.

Many other countries have shorter terms of copyright; one common formula is the life of the author plus fifty years (see this table). For example, in Canada you can record pieces written by Wes Montgomery (d. 1968) John Coltrane (d. 1967), Igor Stravinsky (d. 1971), or Louis Armstrong (d. 1971).

Looking ahead, Mickey Mouse will become fair game in the US in 2024, unless Congress is somehow persuaded to change the present copyright law. 

Notes:

"Black Bottom" was actually a dance, not one particular song. There were several popular songs that included "Black Bottom" in the title. The first was "Original Black Bottom Dance," copyrighted in 1919 by Perry Bradford (it included instructions for the steps in the dance). Yet another song, recorded by Ma Rainey in 1927, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," provided the title for a recent stage play and film. The term "Black Bottom" referred to a neighborhood in Detroit. A short, informative history of the dance can be found here.

"Muskrat Ramble" has an interesting copyright history, detailed in its Wikipedia entry:

• Kid Ory received no royalties until 1947, when Barney Bigard took him to the offices of the company that held the copyright. At that point, the company paid him retroactive royalties, and quarterly royalties thereafter.

• In 1950, Ray Gilbert wrote lyrics to "Muskrat Ramble" without Ory's permission, and in 1951 demanded that ASCAP issue a decision entitling him to a share of royalties. In 1956 ASCAP decided in Gilbert's favor, and decreed that he was entitled to a one-third share, retroactive to 1950 - in my opinion, setting a very questionable precedent.

• In 2001 Babette Ory, Kid Ory's daughter, sued Country Joe McDonald for his use of a section of Muskrat Ramble in Country Joe's Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag (at 0:20 in the Ory link, 0:39 in the Country Joe link). The court ruled against Babette and in favor of McDonald. From Wikipedia:

This suit was dismissed due to the lateness of the filing. Since decades had already passed from the time McDonald composed his song in 1965, Ory based her suit on a new version of it recorded by McDonald in 1999. Judge Nora Manella, then of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, upheld McDonald's laches defense, noting that Ory and her father were aware of the original version of the song, with the same questionable section, for some three decades without bringing a suit. This ruling was upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 2005, and Ory was also ordered to pay McDonald's substantial attorneys' fees.

 

Copyright Law of the United States (Wikipedia)

Tunes published in 1925 will be entering public domain in 2021

As of January 1, 2021, U.S. copyright will expire for works published in 1925, including the following songs: 

Always (Irving Berlin)

Remember (Irving Berlin)

Dinah (Harry Akst)

Sometimes I'm Happy (Vincent Youmans)

Squeeze Me (Fats Waller) (not to be confused with "Just Squeeze Me" by Duke Ellington)

Sweet Georgia Brown (Ben Bernie, Maceo Pinkard)

Manhattan (Rodgers and Hart - aka "I'll Take Manhattan")

Yes Sir, That's My Baby (Walter Donaldson)

Don't Bring Lulu (Billy Rose, Lew Brown, Ray Henderson)

If You Knew Susie (Buddy DeSylva)

Davenport Blues (Bix Beiderbecke)

Sweet and Lowdown (George and Ira Gershwin)

That Certain Feeling (George and Ira Gershwin)

Bye Bye Blues (Fred Hamm)

Paddlin' Madelin' Home (Harry M. Woods)

This year, the big ones would seem to be Sweet Georgia Brown, Bye Bye Blues, Manhattan, the two Berlin tunes, and the two Gershwin tunes.

In the realm of classical music, Gershwin's "Piano Concerto in F" is losing copyright protection. Other modern classical works entering the public domain are listed on the Wikipedia page 1925 in Music, including pieces by Copland, Elgar, Prokofiev, Respighi, Shostakovitch, Sibelius, Stravinsky, Villa-Lobos, and others.

United States copyright law is quite restrictive as compared to many other countries. According to the provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976 and the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 (aka "Mickey Mouse Protection Act"), works published or registered before 1978 remain under copyright for 95 years.

With the passage of the 1998 law, the cutoff date for works entering the public domain became 1922, with any works published in 1923 or later remaining under copyright. Beginning in 2019, however, the clock began running again, with each new year bringing one more year of songs and other works into the public domain. Over the next 20 years or so, most "Golden Age" jazz standards will lose copyright protection.

Many other countries have shorter terms of copyright; one common formula is the life of the author plus fifty years (see this table). For example, in Canada you can record songs written by Wes Montgomery (d. 1968) or John Coltrane (d. 1967), without paying royalties.

Last December I posted an article similar to this one, listing tunes that became public domain in 2020. I'll probably do a yearly update - unless Congress messes with copyright law again, to rescue Mickey Mouse from becoming fair game in 2024.

Notes:

Some internet sources show the copyright date for "Bye Bye Blues" as 1930. Although this is the copyright date shown on the original sheet music, the first recording (by composer Fred Hamm) was released in 1925. According to U.S. copyright law, recordings publicly released can establish the effective copyright date, the same as printed material.

Wikipedia cites 1924 as the year that Harry M. Woods wrote "Paddlin' Madelin' Home." However, this appears to be incorrect. Secondhandsongs.com shows specific dates in 1925 for both publication and for first live performance; the original sheet music also shows 1925.

Cliff Edwards, aka "Ukelele Ike," a popular entertainer in the 1920s, was the one who made "Paddlin' Madelin' Home" into a hit. Edwards had an interesting life in show biz; his Wikipedia bio is worth checking out. Among many other accomplishments, he was the voice of Jiminy Cricket in Disney's "Pinocchio," singing When You Wish Upon a Star. 

Copyright Law of the United States (Wikipedia)

Tunes published in 1924 will be entering the public domain in 2020

United States copyright law is quite restrictive as compared to many other countries. According to the provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976 and the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 (aka "Mickey Mouse Protection Act"), works published or registered before 1978 remain under copyright for 95 years.

Since the passage of the 1998 law, the cutoff date for works entering the public domain has been 1922, with any works published in 1923 or later remaining under copyright. Beginning in 2019, the clock began running again, with each new year bringing one more year of songs and other works into the public domain. Over the next 20 years or so, most "Golden Age" jazz standards will lose copyright protection.

As of January 1, 2020, U.S. copyright will expire for the following works published in 1924. These songs are all on the "Top 1000" list at jazzstandards.com:

All Alone (Irving Berlin)
Everybody Loves My Baby (Spencer Williams)
Fascinatin' Rhythm (Gershwin)
How Come You Do Me Like You Do (Austin, Bergere)
I Want To Be Happy (Youmans)
I'll See You In My Dreams (Isham Jones)
It Had To Be You (Isham Jones)
The Man I Love (Gershwin)
Nobody's Sweetheart Now (Erdman, Kahn)
Oh, Lady Be Good (Gershwin)
The One I Love (Belongs To Someone Else) (Isham Jones)
Somebody Loves Me (Gershwin)
South (Moten)
Tea For Two (Youmans)
What'll I Do (Irving Berlin)
When Day Is Done (Katscher, De Sylva)

As you can see, 1924 was a very good year for George Gershwin, and not bad either for Isham Jones. We may see an increase in Gershwin tribute albums this year.

There's a nice youtube playlist for 1924 tunes here.

In the realm of classical music, Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue" is losing copyright protection, also Respighi's "Pines of Rome" and Puccini's "Turandot."

And we certainly should not leave out "The Prisoner's Song" (Guy Massey), a country classic.

Last December I posted an article similar to this one, listing tunes that became public domain in 2019. This subject has the potential for a yearly update - unless Congress messes with copyright law again, to rescue Mickey Mouse from becoming fair game in 2024.

Many other countries have shorter terms of copyright; one common formula is the life of the author plus fifty years (see this table). For example, in Canada you can record songs written by Wes Montgomery (d. 1968), without paying royalties.

Copyright Law of the United States (Wikipedia)

Tunes published in 1923 will be entering the public domain

United States copyright law is quite restrictive as compared to many other countries. According to the provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976 and the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 (aka "Mickey Mouse Protection Act"), works published or registered before 1978 remain under copyright for 95 years.

Since the passage of the 1998 Mickey Mouse Protection Act, the cutoff date for works entering the public domain has been 1922, with any works published in 1923 or later remaining under copyright. Beginning in 2019, the clock will start running again, with each new year bringing one more year of songs and other works into the public domain. Over the next 20 years or so, most "Golden Age" jazz standards will lose copyright protection.

As of January 1, 2019, copyright will expire for these works published in 1923:

King Porter Stomp
Who's Sorry Now
Tin Roof Blues
Yes! We Have No Bananas
The Charleston
Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
I Cried for You

In 2020, these works from 1924 will become public domain:

Everybody Loves My Baby
Fascinating Rhythm
I Want to be Happy
I'll See You in my Dreams
It Had to be You
The Man I Love
Rhapsody in Blue
Somebody Loves Me
Tea for Two
Oh, Lady Be Good

Depending on your tastes, you may find some of these songs to be a bit dated. But the 1920s and 1930s were a period of rapidly increasing musical sophistication. In a few more years we will start to see some of the better tunes by Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, et al.

Unless, of course, Congress comes under corporate pressure again, and passes another extension like the 1998 Mickey Mouse Protection Act.

Many other countries have shorter terms of copyright; one common formula is the life of the author plus fifty years (see this table). For example, in Canada you will be able record songs written by Wes Montgomery (d. 1968), without paying royalties.

Some articles to check out regarding copyright:

A Landslide of Classic Art is About to Enter the Public Domain (The Atlantic)

For the First Time in More Than 20 Years, Copyrighted Works will Enter the Public Domain (Smithsonian.com)

These 1923 Copyrighted Works Enter the Public Domain in 2019 (Lifehacker.com)

Copyright Law of the United States (Wikipedia)