Author Archives: John Mark Ockerbloom

Moss Hart wrote the first draft of Once in a Lifetime, a comedy about Hollywood’s transition to “talkies”, as a 25-year-old unknown. Established playwright George S. Kaufman helped revise it into a Broadway hit. Steve Vineberg calls it the “the … Continue reading →

Given how much “Dick and Jane” have been used sardonically, one might think Zerna Sharp’s schoolbook characters were already public domain. But you can’t copyright names, expressive style, or stock situations, and fair use allows limited copying for purposes like … Continue reading →

Four writers get credit on the 1930 copyright registration for “Body and Soul”: composer Johnny Green, and lyricists Robert Sour, Edward Heyman, and Frank Eyton. But many more artists shaped the perennial jazz standard we know today. Among its more … Continue reading →

Michael Gold’s bestselling novel Jews Without Money depicts the plight of poor East European immigrants in New York. It resonated with readers in 1930 facing not-yet-fully-acknowledged impacts of the Depression. Gold hoped it would counter antisemitic propaganda, but many readers … Continue reading →

Norm Ferguson joined Disney’s animation team in 1929, and quickly had a major influence on the studio’s style. In The Chain Gang, the bloodhounds he designed to chase Mickey Mouse impressed Disney with their expressiveness. Ferguson went on to animate … Continue reading →

The Internet Archive has multiple events in January for Public Domain Day, including a contest for film transformations of public domain works. Those works themselves often involved transformation. Four songs that joined the public domain in 2024 were written for … Continue reading →

HathiTrust has created a 1930 Publications Collection for Public Domain Day. It already has over 20,000 items opened, many by their Copyright Review Program, which finds works without copyright renewals. Over 50,000 more items will open in 14 days, including … Continue reading →

Duke’s Center for the Public Domain has its Public Domain Day post out, listing many works joining the public domain in 2026, and explaining the complicated factual and legal determinations sometimes needed to verify their status. Among the listed artworks … Continue reading →

In Civilization and its Discontents, Sigmund Freud turned his psychoanalytic attention from the troubles of the individual to those of the world. The book, joining the US public domain in 16 days in both German and English, diagnoses inherent conflicts … Continue reading →

Franz Kafka‘s work is now known around the world, but it couldn’t be read in English until after he died, and there’s still limited access to good English translations of much of his work. The English Kafka books I list … Continue reading →