At the dawn of each new year, a whole new crop of art, writing, music and more becomes public domain, meaning you can do whatever you want with it, including putting it in your movie. According to Quartzy, "Most of the world has a copyright policy that works like this: Once a new year starts, the works by people who died a certain number of years earlier (usually 50 or 70) enter the public domain."

For people living in Canada, most of Asia, and much of Africa, 2018 will bring unrestricted use of works by creators who died in 1967, including Che Guevara, poet Langston Hughes, and artist René Magritte, along with musicians Woody Guthrie, Otis Redding and John Coltrane, and writers Alice B. Toklas and Dorothy Parker. That means that you can quote their writings, display their paintings, and add their music to your soundtracks, all without asking permission.


Unfortunately for those in the U.S., this New Year's won't bring many new works, due to the country's byzantine copyright laws. Our advice? Write your local Congressperson! 

Screen_shot_2017-12-21_at_5Map of World Copyright Law via QuartzyCredit: Quartzy

A full list of writers, artists, and musicians whose work will be is available here, and check out this map, from Quartzy, that gives an overview of global public domain periods. 

Source: Quartzy