# 2009 in public domain

When a work's copyright expires, it enters the public domain. The following is a list of works that entered the public domain in 2009. Since laws vary globally, the copyright status of some works are not uniform.

## Entered the public domain in countries with life + 70 years

With the exception of Belarus (Life + 50 years) and Spain (Life + 80 years for creators that died before 1987), a work enters the public domain in Europe 70 years after the creator's death, if it was published during the creator's lifetime. The list is sorted alphabetically and includes a notable work of the creator that entered the public domain on January 1, 2009.
| Names | Country | Birth | Death | Occupation | Notable work |
| Lascelles Abercrombie | United Kingdom | 9 January 1881 | 27 October 1938 | literary critic, poet. | An Essay Towards a Theory of Art, Poetry, Its Music and Meaning |
| Karel Čapek | Czech Republic | 9 January 1890 | 25 December 1938 | science fiction writer, playwright | R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), War with the Newts |
| Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay | India | 15 September 1876 | 16 January 1938 | short story writer, novelist. | Parineeta, Devdas |
| Afonso Celso de Assis Figueiredo Júnior | Brazil | 31 March 1860 | 11 July 1938 | educator, poet and historian | Works |
| Émile Cohl | France | 4 January 1857 | 20 January 1938 | Caricaturist, cartoonist and animator | |
| Gabriele D'Annunzio | Italy | 12 March 1863 | 1 March 1938 | novelist, playwright, poet. | Il Piacere (Pleasure), The Intruder, Il trionfo della morte (Triumph of Death) |
| Ovid Densusianu | Romania | 29 December 1873 | 9 June 1938 | folklorist, linguist, literary historian, philologist, poet. | Istoria literaturii române, Histoire de la langue roumaine |
| Paola Drigo | Italy | 4 January 1876 | 4 January 1938 | short story writer, novelist. | Fine d'anno, Maria Zef |
| James Forbes | Canada | 2 September 1871 | 26 May 1938 | playwright, screenwriter. | The Chorus Lady, The Famous Mrs. Fair |
| Robert Herrick | United States | 21 April 1868 | 23 December 1938 | novelist. | Web of Life |
| James Weldon Johnson | United States | 17 June 1876 | 26 June 1938 | anthologist, novelist, poet. | "Lift Every Voice and Sing", The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man |
| Willem Kloos | Netherlands | 6 May 1859 | 31 March 1938 | literary critic, poet. | editor of De Nieuwe Gids (The New Guide) |
| E. V. Lucas | United Kingdom | 11 June 1868 | 26 June 1938 | biographer, essayist, humorist, novelist, playwright, poet, short story writer. | What a Life! |
| Osip Mandelstam | Russia | 14 January 1891 | 27 December 1938 | poet. | Puteshestviye v Armeniyu (Journey to Armenia), Razgovor o Dante (Conversation about Dante) |
| Georges Méliès | France | 8 December 1861 | 21 January 1938 | Film director | A Trip to the Moon, The Impossible Voyage, The Merry Frolics of Satan and The Conquest of the Pole |
| Migjeni | Albania | 13 October 1911 | 26 August 1938 | poet. | Trajtat e Mbinjeriut (The shape of the Superman), Kanga skandaloze (Scandalous song) |
| Lady Ottoline Morrell | United Kingdom | 16 June 1873 | 21 April 1938 | memoirist, patron of the arts. | two volumes of memoirs |
| Momčilo Nastasijević | Serbia | 23 September 1894 | 13 February 1938 | dramatist, novelist, poet. | The Unevoked, Master Mladen's Daughter |
| Henry Newbolt | United Kingdom | 6 June 1862 | 19 April 1938 | historian, novelist, poet. | Vitaï Lampada (the torch of life), Drake's Drum |
| Branislav Nušić | Serbia | 20 October 1864 | 19 January 1938 | playwright, essayist, novelist. | A Member of the Parliament, A Suspicious Person |
| Gustave Le Rouge | France | 22 July 1867 | 24 February 1938 | Author | The Vampires of Mars |
| Olivia Shakespear | United Kingdom | 17 March 1863 | 3 October 1938 | novelist, playwright, patron of the arts. | Love on a Mortal Lease, Uncle Hilary |
| Konstantin Stanislavski | Russia | 17 January 1863 | 7 August 1938 | acting theorist. | My Life in Art |
| E. G. Swain | United Kingdom | 19 February 1861 | 29 January 1938 | Author | The Stoneground Ghost Tales |
| Armando Palacio Valdés | Spain | 4 October 1853 | 29 January 1938 | novelist. | The Joy of Captain Ribot |
| Owen Wister | United States | 14 July 1860 | 21 July 1938 | biographer, historian, Western fiction writer | The Virginian, Ulysses S. Grant, Roosevelt: The Story of a Friendship |
| Thomas Wolfe | United States | 3 October 1900 | 15 September 1938 | short story writer, novelist | Look Homeward, Angel, You Can't Go Home Again |

## Entered the public domain in 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 the creator's death.
| Names | Country | Birth | Death | Occupation | Notable work |
| Eleanor Hallowell Abbott | United States | 22 September 1872 | 4 June 1958 | novelist, poet, short story writer. | Molly Make-Believe, But Once A Year: Christmas Stories |
| James Branch Cabell | United States | 14 April 1879 | 5 May 1958 | fantasy writer. | Jurgen, A Comedy of Justice, Biography of the Life of Manuel |
| E. Everett Evans | United States | 30 November 1893 | 2 December 1958 | Science fiction author | |
| Margiad Evans | United Kingdom | 17 March 1909 | 17 March 1958 | illustrator, novelist, poet. | Country Dance, Autobiography, A Ray of Darkness, The Nightingale Silenced |
| Dorothy Canfield Fisher | United States | 17 February 1879 | 9 November 1958 | literary critic, memoirist, novelist, short story writer, translator. | Understood Betsy |
| Marjorie Flack | United States | 22 October 1897 | 29 August 1958 | children's writer, illustrator. | writer of The Story About Ping, illustrator of The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes |
| Angelina Weld Grimké | United States | 27 February 1880 | 10 June 1958 | playwright, poet. | Rachel |
| Michael Joseph | United Kingdom | 26 September 1897 | 15 March 1958 | Writer, publisher. | How to Write Serial Fiction, Puss in Books: A collection of stories about cats, The Sword in the Scabbard |
| Cyril M. Kornbluth | United States | 2 July 1923 | 21 March 1958 | science fiction writer | The Little Black Bag, The Marching Morons |
| Henry Kuttner | United States | 7 April 1915 | 3 February 1958 | Writer of fantasy, horror fiction, and science fiction. | The Graveyard Rats, Mimsy Were the Borogoves |
| Rose Macaulay | United Kingdom | 1 August 1881 | 30 October 1958 | biographer, novelist, travel writer. | The World My Wilderness, The Towers of Trebizond |
| Johnston McCulley | United States | 2 February 1883 | 23 November 1958 | Author | Zorro |
| G. E. Moore | United Kingdom | 4 November 1873 | 24 October 1958 | journal editor, philosopher. | Principia Ethica, A Defence of Common Sense |
| Charles Langbridge Morgan | United Kingdom | 22 January 1894 | 6 February 1958 | novelist, playwright. | The Burning Glass |
| Alfred Noyes | United Kingdom | 16 September 1880 | 25 June 1958 | playwright, poet, short story writer. | The Highwayman, Shakespeare's Kingdom |
| Seumas O'Sullivan | Ireland | 17 July 1879 | 24 March 1958 | magazine editor, poet. | Twilight People, Verses Sacred and Profane |
| Elliot Paul | United States | 10 February 1891 | 7 April 1958 | journalist, novelist, screenwriter. | Life and Death of a Spanish Town, Linden on the Saugus Branch |
| H. G. Peter | United States | 8 March 1880 | 2 January 1958 | Cartoonist | Wonder Woman |
| Nicolae Petrescu-Comnen | Romania | 24 August 1881 | 8 December 1958 | social scientist. | Accidente profesionale (Work-related Accidents), Câteva considerațiuni asupra socialismului și asupra roadelor sale (Some Musings on Socialism and Its Results |
| Peig Sayers | Ireland | 1873 | 8 December 1958 | seanchaí (traditional Gaelic storyteller and historian) . | Peig, Machnamh Seanmhná (An Old Woman's Reflections) |
| Robert W. Service | Canada | 16 January 1874 | 11 September 1958 | poet. | The Shooting of Dan McGrew, The Cremation of Sam McGee |
| J. C. Squire | United Kingdom | 2 April 1884 | 20 December 1958 | historian, literary critic, magazine editor, poet. | Robin Hood: a farcical romantic pastoral , Shakespeare as a Dramatist |
| Ethel Turner | Australia | 24 January 1870 | 8 April 1958 | children's writer, novelist. | Seven Little Australians |
| Geoffrey Willans | United Kingdom | 4 February 1911 | 6 August 1958 | children's writer, humorist, novelist, screenwriter. | Down with Skool! A Guide to School Life for Tiny Pupils and their Parents, Whizz for Atomms: A Guide to Survival in the 20th Century for Fellow Pupils, their Doting Maters, Pompous Paters and Any Others who are Interested |
| Harry Cohn | United States | 23 July 1891 | 27 February 1958 | Filmmaker | |

## Entering the public domain in the United States

In the United States, the copyright status of works extends for the life of the author or artists, plus 70 years. If the work is owned by a corporation, then the copyright extends 95 years.
Due to the passing of the Copyright Term Extension Act (Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act) in 1998, no new works would enter the public domain in this jurisdiction until 2019.