Fats Waller, Popeye & Virginia Woolf walk into a Bar (otherwise known as Public Domain Day!)

The written word, images, music and film all exit the world of copyright and enter into public domain….. This Public Domain Day (1.1.2025), we’ve got some interesting graduates entering into the latest class of public domain works of art….

Virginia Woolf’s seminal feminist essay “A Room of One’s Own,”as well as Hemingway’s war novel “A Farewell to Arms” and Faulkner’s family saga “The Sound and the Fury” all enter into public domain at the stroke of Midnight..

And for Music Lovers, Fats Waller’s stride jazz/early swing classic Ain’t Misbehavin’ is now beyond the reach of U.S. copyright laws… as is French composer Ravel’s Bolero and Gershwin’s timeless An American in Paris…

For the Saturday morning crowd, spinach-loving Popeye is now part of public domain (as is Tin-Tin, the boy hero of Belgium)….

What about images used in my blog?

The pictures of Popeye and Virginia Woolf (is this the first time they were paired up, lol?) are from the New York Public Library’s Public Domain images… click here to get your own!

The Library of Congress supplied me with a great image of Fats Waller.… for all sort of LC public domain issues, just click here….

Now that we know that music (as well as images and the written word) can all enter into public domain… what about the law regarding music still within copyright protection? If you know & love a musician — or more importantly, are their legal counsel…here’s a resource for you….

Running out of space on this NYLI blog, so I’ll cut to the chase — what does happen when Popeye, Virginia Woolf & Fats Waller all walk into a bar? I’ll leave that up to your imagination (and please, no AI for this one!) Whatever your pictured scenario, keep in mind that all three have something that the public can immediately claim as part of THEIR domain….