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On
January 1, just as you were absolutely 100 percent adding “read more
classic literature” to your list of New Year’s resolutions, a pile of
great work became available in the public domain.
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| Photo: Popperfoto/Popperfoto/Getty Images |
What that means,
essentially, is that more than 50,000 previously copyrighted works can
suddenly be yours, as Oprah might put it in her trademark singsong
yodel, FOR FREEEEEEEEEE. (We won’t get into the finer details here, but
essentially, laws were altered in 1998 that extended the terms of
copyright 20 more years — from 75 to 95 — and now everything published
during or before 1923 is fair game.)
The
full list is, um, a little rough to toil through (although I am
desperate to find out what the previously unrenowned Rhoda Barclay’s
play Oh! What a Family!, featuring someone named Alice who is
“inclined to take the joy out of life,” is all about). So to make your
life easier, here are your ten best bets.
Source: Vulture
