The Great Gatsby, Mrs. Dalloway, and In Our Time. On the surface, these books have very little in common. They have different messages, are part of different literary movements, and really are not similar. The one thing they do share, however, is the fact that they entered the public domain on January 1st, 2021. You may be thinking, why am I so excited about this? What makes public domain day for a book so special?

According to Standford law, public domain, “refers to creative materials that are not protected by intellectual property laws such as copyright, trademark, or patent laws. The public owns these works, not an individual author or artist. Anyone can use a public domain work without obtaining permission, but no one can ever own it.”(Stim) So here’s the general gist. A set amount of years after an author’s passing, there is nothing to gain from copyrighting their works. So, they enter the public domain. Everyone can use them, and no one can own them. It’s truly communal art at its finest.

So, Gatsby entered the public domain this year, and people were pretty excited. With the trainwreck this past year was, people needed some creative outlets for the upcoming year. For example, there is The Great Gatsby Except Gatsby Says Bestie Instead of Old Sport by fiopsonly. Also, a large portion of Disney fans are lobbying for a Great Gatsby movie… in muppet form? (While I personally think it would be amusing to see Mrs. Piggy as Daisy, it doesn’t seem likely because of Disney’s own copyright issues) My whole point is that the public domain not only allows us access to such pieces, but it also allows us to expand upon them.

Now I’m not going to sit here and say that replacing the phrase “Old Sport” with “Bestie” vastly improves the story. It doesn’t. But here is what the public domain can do for the public. Now, authors can use the plot of gatsby in a modern adaptation. You may be thinking, couldn’t they do that before? Well, not really. They would have had to buy the rights, and those rights don’t really transfer to a plot-based similarity. If you aren’t quite clear on what I’m saying, think of it this way. Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew was adapted into 10 Things I Hate About You. Its not anywhere close to the original text, but its major plot points are anchored in the novel. However, we can relate to Patrick’s ballads much more than Petruchio’s. Even though they lament the same thing, we understand Patric more because he exists in our world.

I believe that existing in the public domain can do this for all texts. In reference to Gatsby, we don’t live in the roaring 20s where we can buy a mansion across the lake from our beloved. But the message of that Unattainable dream is still relatable. That is why the public domain is so important. While there is nothing quite like the original text, having that story packaged in a relevant way to us makes it that much easier for someone to understand what Fitzgerald was saying, despite his not saying it.

What is public domain: https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/public-domain/welcome/

Other works released to the Public Domain this year: https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2021/