When a work's copyright expires, it enters the public domain. The following is a list of creators whose works enter the public domain in 2028. Since laws vary globally, the copyright status of some works is not uniform.
Entering the public domain in countries with life + 70 years
With the exception of Belarus (Life + 50 years) and Spain (which has a copyright term of Life + 80 years for creators that died before 1988), a work enters the public domain in Europe 70 years after the creator's death, if it was published during the creator's lifetime. For previously unpublished material, those who publish it first will have the publication rights for 25 years. In addition, several other countries in the world have a limit of 70 years. The list is sorted alphabetically and includes a notable work of the creator.
NamesCountryDeathOccupationNotable work René Auberjonois Painter Vitold Byalynitsky-BirulyaPainterlandscape paintings ScreenwriterFilmographyAndré Chevrillon WriterPublications Freeman Wills Crofts NovelistInspector FrenchMiguel CovarrubiasPainter, illustrator Alfred Döblin Writer Berlin Alexanderplatz WriterWorksLord Dunsany Writer, Dramatist The King of Elfland's DaughterVirgilio Giotti PoetWorks Oliver St. John Gogarty Poet, novelist, playwright"The Song of the Cheerful (but slightly Sarcastic) Jesus", Blight, As I Was Going Down Sackville StreetHeinrich Hoffman PhotographerLéon Homo HistorianWorks Nikos Kazantzakis Writer The Saviors of God, Captain Michalis, The Last Temptation of Christ, Zorba the Greek František Kupka Painter The Cathedral (Katedrála) Josef Lada Painter, illustrator and writer Kater Mikesch, illustrations for The Good Soldier ŠvejkCurzio MalaparteWriterMain writingsMait Metsanurk WriterÜmera jõel PainterCharles Kay Ogden Linguist, philosopher, and writerBasic English: A General Introduction with Rules and Grammar Jože Plečnik ArchitectWorks Diego Rivera Painter Man at the CrossroadsJosé Lins do RegoWriterNovelsWilliam RunyanComposerGreat is Thy FaithfulnessUmberto Saba NovelistWorksGaetano Salvemini PoliticianWorksAlbert Sammons ComposerThe Secret of Technique in Violin Playing Dorothy Sayers Writer, Translator, Poet, Editor List of works by Dorothy L. Sayers Jean Sibelius Composer List of compositions by Jean Sibelius Emilio Sierra Composer "Vivan los novios" Viktor Stretti Etcher, lithographer and painter Georg Tappert Painter Laura Ingalls Wilder Writer Little House on the Prairie John von Neumann Mathematician, physicist, computer scientist List of scientific publications by John von Neumann J. Allen St. John Writer, artist, illustrator Illustrator of Edgar Rice Burroughs novels Jack B. Yeats PainterA Horseman Enters a Town at Night, The Wild Ones, Reverie, The Liffey Swim
Countries with life + 60 years In Bangladesh, India, and Venezuela a work enters the public domain 60 years after the creator's death.
Names Country Death Occupation Notable work J. R. Ackerley Writer, editor My Dog Tulip, We Think the World of You Ciro Alegría Journalist, novelist El mundo es ancho y ajeno Gordon Allport psychologist Becoming: Basic Considerations for a Psychology of Personality Norman Angell journalist, author, politician The Great Illusion Tudor Arghezi poet, novelist, essayist Cuvinte Potrivite, Zdreanță Marcel Aymé Novelist, children's writer, playwright The passer-through-walls Margaret Ayer Barnes playwright, novelist, short-story writer Years of Grace Vladimir Bartol Writer Alamut Frank Bruno Writer, cartoonist, boxer Black Noon at Ngutu, The Hellbuster John Coltrane Saxophonist, composer Giant Steps Isaac Deutscher Biographer Stalin: a Political Biography Julien Duvivier film director, screenwriter Sous le ciel de Paris Ilya Ehrenburg writer, journalist, translator Black Book, The Thaw Sidney Bradshaw Fay Historian The Origins of the World War Varian Fry Journalist The Peace that Failed, Surrender on Demand Hein Gorny Photographer Collection at Deutsche Fotothek Che Guevara Communist revolutionary, author Guerrilla Warfare Robert van Gulik writer, diplomat, translator The Chinese Maze Murders Woody Guthrie singer-songwriter This Land Is Your Land Edward Hopper Painter Nighthawks Langston Hughes Writer The Weary Blues Lajos Kassák Poet, writer, painter Margaret Kennedy Novelist, playwright The Constant Nymph, Troy Chimneys Joseph Kesselring playwright Arsenic and Old Lace Zoltán Kodály Composer, philosopher, ethnomusicologist Psalmus Hungaricus Wolfgang Köhler Psychologist The Mentality of Apes, Gestalt Psychology Writer, journalist Reyles Douglas MacLean actor, writer Mama Loves Papa René Magritte Painter The Difficult Crossing, The Treachery of Images John Masefield Poet, novelist The Everlasting Mercy, Sea-Fever André Maurois author The Silence of Colonel Bramble Carson McCullers Novelist, playwright, poet The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, The Member of the Wedding Edgar Neville playwright, film director Christopher Okigbo Writer J. Robert Oppenheimer Physicist, professor Joe Orton Playwright The Ruffian on the Stair, Entertaining Mr Sloane Dorothy Parker Writer Enough RopeVioleta Parra Composer, songwriterGracias a la Vida Arthur Ransome Writer, journalist Swallows and Amazons series Otis Redding Singer, songwriter Respect Elmer Rice playwright The Adding Machine, Street Scene Gerhard Ritter Historian Luther: Gestalt und Symbol José Martínez Ruiz Novelist, essayist, literary critic La ruta de Don Quijote, La voluntad, Antonio Azorín Carl Sandburg Poet, writer, journalist Abraham Lincoln: The War Years, Chicago Poems Siegfried Sassoon poet, soldier, writer Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man Philippa Schuyler Journalist, pianist Adventures in Black and White Walter Terence Stace Philosopher, academic, Mysticism and Philosophy Billy Strayhorn Composer, lyricist Take the "A" Train, Lush Life Jean Toomer Poet, novelist Cane Pavlo Tychyna Poet, statesman Paul Whiteman Bandleader, composer Flamin' Mamie Ossip Zadkine Artist The Destroyed CityWolfgang Zeller ComposerJoão Guimarães RosaWriterSagarana
Countries with life + 50 years
In most countries of Africa and Asia, as well as Belarus, Bolivia, New Zealand, and Egypt, a work enters the public domain 50 years after the creator's death. NamesCountryDeathOccupationNotable work María Esther Ballivián Artist Naturaleza muerta Francisco Cristancho Camargo Composer, musician "Bochica" Charlie Chaplin Actor, director Filmography Margaret Escott Author Show Down Edmond Hamilton Author Captain Future H. H. Hollis 1977 SF Author "The Guerrilla Trees" Groucho Marx Actor and comedian An Evening with Groucho Vladimir Nabokov Author Lolita Anaïs Nin Author Delta of Venus Peruchín Pianist Elvis Presley Musician Jailhouse Rock Composer, bassoonist "Himno a José María Carreño" Oriol Rangel Composer, musician "Pamplona" H. A. Rey Author Curious George Dennis Wheatley Author The Devil Rides Out
Countries with life + 80 years
Spain has a copyright term of life + 80 years for creators that died before 1988. In Colombia and Equatorial Guinea, a work enters the public domain 80 years after the creator's death.
Names Country Death Occupation Notable work James Agate Writer, critic Ego Tilly Aston Educator, writer Joseph Barcroft Physiologist The Respiratory Function of the Blood W. Augustus Barratt Composer Sir Patrick Spens Marie Adelaide Belloc Lowndes Novelist The Lodger J. D. Beresford Science fiction and horror author The Hampdenshire Wonder Augustin Bernard Geographer Les Confins algéro-marocains Tristan Bernard Playwright Mémoires d'un jeune homme rangé Jean-Richard Bloch Writer Orientalist Lessico italiano-turco Pierre Bonnard Painter, printmaker Wolfgang Borchert Playwright Draußen vor der Tür Angela Brazil Children's books author Óscar Castro Zúñiga Writer Llampo de Sangre, Camino en el alba, Comarca del jazmín Willa Cather Writer My Ántonia Poet George Chatterton-Hill Philosopher Heredity and Selection in Sociology Édouard Chatton Biologist Winston Churchill Novelist The Celebrity Ananda Coomaraswamy historian, philosopher The Dance of Shiva Aleister Crowley Poet Bibliography Franz Cumont archeologist Texts and Illustrated Monuments Relating to the Mysteries of Mithra Petras Cvirka Author Frank Kruk Josef Čapek April 1945 Painter, writer All About Doggie and Pussycat Anton Denikin Soldier, writer Russian Turmoil Walter Donaldson Songwriter Makin' Whoopee, Yes Sir, That's My Baby Hans Fallada Writer Der junge Goedeschal, Little Man, What Now? Irving Fisher Economist The Purchasing Power of Money Desmond FitzGerald Architect Henry Ford Business magnate The International Jew John Ulrich Giesy Writer, physician Palos of the Dog Star Pack Victor Goldschmidt Mineralogist Geochemische Verteilungsgesetze der Elemente Reynaldo Hahn Composer Ciboulette G. H. Hardy Mathematician A Mathematician's Apology Frank Heller Writer The London Adventures of Mr. Collin Frederick Gowland Hopkins Biochemist Feeding experiments illustrating the importance of accessory factors in normal dietaries Blanche Hoschedé Monet Painter Victor Horta Architect Albert Howard Botanist An Agricultural Testament Ricarda Huch Author The Deruga Case Painter and illustrator E.M. Hull Novelist The Sheik Pierre Janet Psychologist La médecine psychologique Afevork Ghevre Jesus Writer Ləbb Wälläd Tarik Elizabeth Jordan Journalist, suffragist, author Pyotr Krasnov Soldier, writer From Double Eagle To the Red Flag Painter Richard Le Gallienne author, poet C. Louis Leipoldt Poet Philipp Lenard Physicist Quantitative on cathode rays Physicist Separation of radium C from radium E Hugh Lofting Writer Doctor Dolittle series Ernst Lubitsch Director Manuel Machado Poet and playwright La Lola se va a los puertos Arthur Machen Fantasy and horror author The Great God Pan, The Three Impostors, The Hill of Dreams, The White People Karl Mannheim Sociologist Ideology and Utopia Henri Manuel Photographer William Moulton Marston Psychologist, inventor, comic book writer Wonder Woman, DISC assessment Anatole de Monzie Encyclopaedist Grandeur et servitude judiciaires Yone Noguchi Writer The American Diary of a Japanese Girl Emma Orczy Novelist, Playwright The Scarlet PimpernelP. D. OuspenskyMathematician, esotericist Friedrich Paschen Physicist Ueber die zum Funkenübergang in Luft, Wasserstoff und Kohlensäure bei verschiedenen Drucken erforderliche Potentialdifferenz John Henry Patterson Soldier, hunter, author The Man-Eaters of Tsavo Reginald Payne Illustrator The Railway Series Júlio Afrânio Peixoto Writer Max Planck Scientist R. I. Pocock Zoologist The Fauna of British India Carl Adolph Preyer Composer Festal Polonaise, Op.14 Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz Author Beauty on Earth Forrest Reid Novelist Young Tom Nicholas Roerich Painter, writer 1947 Polish painter active in Georgia Margaret Marshall Saunders Writer Physicist Emil Schovánek Painter Alexander Scott Chemist An Introduction to Chemical TheoryKathleen Scott Sculptor Victor Serge Marxist revolutionary, writer From Lenin to Stalin, Destiny of a Revolution M. P. Shiel Horror and science fiction author The Purple Cloud, The Yellow Danger Andrei Shkuro Soldier, memoirist Alfred Walter Stewart Chemist, Writer Nordenholt's Million Alan Sullivan Writer The Great Divide Flora Thompson Novelist, poet Lark Rise to Candleford Literary scholar Jim Tully Writer Beggars of Life Marcel Varnel Film Director E. C. Vivian Writer, editor Fields of Sleep Sidney Webb Alfred North Whitehead Mathematician Process and Reality Anna Wickham Poet Songs of John Oland Émile Auguste Joseph De Wildeman Botanist Almroth Wright Bacteriologist The Unexpurgated Case Against Woman SuffrageRiichi Yokomitsu Writer Eduard von Zambaur Orientalist Die Münzprägungen des Islams
United States