Many prominent artists will finally come into the public domain once the 1927 copyrights come to an end on the 1st of January 2023 [1], which includes legends such as Bessie Smith, Lew Brown, Ferdinand Joseph Morton, Louis Armstrong, Irving Berlin, and many others.
Many musical compositions — music and lyrics found on the artists’ sheet music and not the sound recordings — are on the list, which includes hits from jazz stalwarts Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, Broadway musicals like “Funny Face”, and in addition to Irving Berlin’s “Puttin’ on the Ritz” and “(I Scream You Scream, We All Scream for) Ice Cream” by Howard Johnson, Billy Moll and Robert A. King.
“For the vast majority—probably 99%—of works from 1927, no copyright holder financially benefited from continued copyright,” Yet they remained off limits, for no good reason,” Jennifer Jenkins, director of Duke University’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain, wrote in a blog post heralding “Public Domain Day 2023.”
A list of songs can be found below:
Musical compositions:
— “Back Water Blues,” “Preaching the Blues” and “Foolish Man Blues” (Bessie Smith)
— “The Best Things in Life Are Free,” from the musical “Good News” (George Gard “Buddy” De Sylva, Lew Brown, Ray Henderson)
— “Billy Goat Stomp,” “Hyena Stomp” and “Jungle Blues” (Ferdinand Joseph Morton)
— “Black and Tan Fantasy” and “East St. Louis Toodle-O” (Bub Miley, Duke Ellington)
— “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” and “Ol’ Man River,” from the musical “Show Boat” (Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern)
— “Diane” (Erno Rapee, Lew Pollack)
— “Funny Face” and “’S Wonderful,” from the musical “Funny Face” (Ira and George Gershwin)
— “(I Scream You Scream, We All Scream for) Ice Cream” (Howard Johnson, Billy Moll, Robert A. King)
— “Mississippi Mud” (Harry Barris, James Cavanaugh)
— “My Blue Heaven” (George Whiting, Walter Donaldson)
— “Potato Head Blues” and Gully Low Blues” (Louis Armstrong)
— “Puttin’ on the Ritz” (Irving Berlin)
— “Rusty Pail Blues,” “Sloppy Water Blues” and “Soothin’ Syrup Stomp” (Thomas Waller)
[1] — Aspects of this post came from PBS NewsHour: Sherlock Holmes, classic tales and songs enter public domain in 2023
