2022 in public domain

The following is a list of creators whose works enter the public domain on 1 January 2022. When copyright expires in a creative work, it enters the public domain. Since copyright terms vary from country to country, the copyright status of a work may not be the same in all countries.

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 1987), a work enters the public domain in Europe 70 years after its creator's death, if it was published during their lifetime. For previously unpublished material, those who publish it first retain the publication rights for 25 years. The list is sorted alphabetically and includes a notable work of the creator's that entered the public domain on 1 January 2022.

Other countries with a copyright term of life + 70 years are Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Uruguay, Peru, Paraguay, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Japan, Russia, Indonesia, Israel, Armenia, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Singapore, South Korea, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Madagascar, Mozambique, Senegal, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan.

Countries with life + 50 years
In most countries of Africa and Asia, as well as Belarus, Bolivia, Canada, New Zealand, Egypt and Uruguay, a work enters the public domain 50 years after its creator's death.

Australia
In 2004 copyright in Australia changed from a "plus 50" law to a "plus 70" law, in line with America and the European Union. But the change was not made retroactive (unlike the 1995 change in the European Union which brought some British authors back into copyright, especially those who died from 1925 to 1944). Hence the work of an author who died before 1955 is normally in the public domain in Australia; but the copyright of authors was extended to 70 years after death for those who died in 1955 or later, and no more Australian authors will come out of copyright until 1 January 2026 (those who died in 1955).

Countries with life + 80 years
Spain, Colombia, and Equatorial Guinea have a copyright term of life + 80 years. For Spain this is for creators who died before 1987. The list is sorted alphabetically and includes a notable work of the creator's that entered the public domain on 1 January 2022.

United States


All sheet music published in 1926 entered the public domain. Under the Music Modernization Act, tens of thousands of sound recordings that were published before 1923 entered the public domain on 1 January 2022. The Library of Congress says that this will result in "Increased public and online access to previously unavailable recordings and expanded opportunities to explore the earliest days of our sound recording heritage." Sound recordings that were first published after December 31, 1922, have not yet entered the public domain.

Under the Copyright Term Extension Act, books published in 1926, films released in 1926, and other works published in 1926 entered the public domain in 2022.

Notable books entering the public domain in the United States included The Sun Also Rises, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Winnie-the-Pooh, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, and Bambi, a Life in the Woods.

Notable films entering the public domain in the United States included Don Juan (one of the early sound films) and The Son of the Sheik (Rudolph Valentino's final film).

Unpublished works by authors who died in 1951 entered the public domain.

In 2022 Théâtre D'opéra Spatial was created and became the first AI-generated artwork to win a big art price. However the United States copyright office declined to grant it a copyright-status because it was "predominantly not made by humans", allowing it to automatically fall in the public domain.