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'Puttin' on the Ritz', 'Ol' Man River' and More Enter the Public Domain

Works that entered the public domain this year include Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse, Thornton Wilder's The Bridge of San Luis Rey, and more.

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'Puttin' on the Ritz', 'Ol' Man River' and More Enter the Public Domain

January 1, 2023 was Public Domain Day, when copyrighted works from 1927 entered the US public domain.

Musical compositions that entered the public domain included "Funny Face" and "'S Wonderful" by Ira and George Gershwin (from the musical Funny Face), "Ol' Man River" by Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern (from the musical Show Boat), and Irving Berlin's "Puttin' on the Ritz," and more.

Works that entered the public domain this year also include Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse, Thornton Wilder's The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop, Edith Wharton's Twilight Sleep, Herbert Asbury's The Gangs of New York, and all of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories.

Alfred A. Cohn's The Jazz Singer, the first feature length movie with sound and dialogue also entered the public domain.

Read more HERE.

Theater Fans' Choice Awards
2026 Theater Fans' Choice Awards - Live Stats
Best Off-Broadway Play - Top 3
1. A Christmas Carol (Thorne Adaptation) - PAC NYC
7.8% of votes
2. Prince F****t - Playwrights Horizons
5.8% of votes
3. Andre De Shields is Tartuffe - House of the Redeemer
4.6% of votes

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