# 2021 in public domain

When a work's copyright expires, it enters the public domain. The following is a list of creators whose works entered the public domain in 2021. Since laws vary globally, the copyright status of some works are not uniform.

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

With the exception of Belarus (where the copyright protection is life + 50 years)$^{:Art.22(1)}$ 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 the creator's death, if it was published during the creator's lifetime. For previously unpublished material, those who publish it first will have the publication rights for 25 years. The list is sorted alphabetically and includes a notable work of the creator that entered the public domain on 1 January 2021.
| Names | Country | Birth | Death | Occupation | Notable work |
| Octave-Louis Aubert | France | 8 January 1870 | 14 January 1950 | Writer, journalist | Le Livre de la Bretagne |
| Irving Bacheller | United States | 26 September 1859 | 24 February 1950 | Writer, journalist | Eben Holden |
| Sergei Bakhrushin | Russia | 8 October 1882 | 8 March 1950 | Historian | |
| Miklós Bánffy | Hungary | 30 December 1873 | 5 June 1950 | Nobleman, politician, writer | A Transylvanian Tale |
| Pavel Bazhov | Russia | 27 January 1879 | 3 December 1950 | Writer | The Malachite Box |
| Max Beckmann | Germany | 12 February 1884 | 27 December 1950 | Painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor | |
| William Rose Benét | United States | 2 February 1886 | 4 May 1950 | Writer, poet, editor | Saturday Review of Literature, The Reader's Encyclopedia |
| Lev Berg | Russia | 14 March 1876 | 24 December 1950 | Geographer, biologist and ichthyologist | |
| Ben Black | United States | 11 December 1889 | 26 December 1950 | Composer, lyricist | "Moonlight and Roses" |
| Léon Blum | France | 9 April 1872 | 30 March 1950 | Politician | Les Problèmes de la Paix |
| Ambrogio Bollati [it] | Italy | 26 November 1871 | 26 March 1950 | General, Historian | Works |
| D. K. Broster | United Kingdom | 2 September 1877 | 7 February 1950 | Novelist | The Flight of the Heron |
| Herbert Ashwin Budd | United Kingdom | 1881 | 1950 | Painter | |
| Joe Burke | United States | 18 March 1884 | 9 June 1950 | Songwriter, Composer, pianist | "Dancing With Tears in My Eyes", "Painting the Clouds With Sunshine", "Rambling Rose", "Tip-Toe Through the Tulips" |
| Edgar Rice Burroughs | United States | 1 September 1875 | 19 March 1950 | Author of adventure and science fiction | Tarzan and Barsoom |
| J. Carlos | Brazil | 18 July 1884 | 2 October 1950 | Cartoonist, illustrator, graphic designer, sculptor | |
| Basilio Cascella | Italy | 2 October 1860 | 24 July 1950 | Artist | Il bagno della pastora [it] |
| Alfonso Daniel Rodríguez Castelao | Spain | 29 January 1886 | 7 January 1950 | Painter | |
| Neville William Cayley | Australia | 7 January 1886 | 17 March 1950 | Ornithologist & artist | "What Bird is That?", 1931 |
| Francesco Cilea | Italy | 26 July 1866 | 20 November 1950 | Composer | L'arlesiana and Adriana Lecouvreur |
| Leôncio Correia (pt) | Brazil | 1 January 1865 | 19 June 1950 | Lawyer, politician, writer and journalist | |
| Erle Cox | Australia | 15 August 1873 | 20 November 1950 | Journalist and science fiction writer | Out of the Silence |
| Walter Damrosch | United States | 30 January 1862 | 22 December 1950 | Composer | |
| Frank Parker Day | Canada | 9 May 1881 | 30 July 1950 | Author and academic | |
| Warwick Deeping | United Kingdom | 28 May 1877 | 20 April 1950 | Author | Sorrell and Son |
| Buddy DeSylva | United States | 27 January 1895 | 11 July 1950 | Songwriter | Avalon, Look For the Silver Lining, Somebody Loves Me |
| Edward d'Evry | United Kingdom | 6 June 1869 | 25 December 1950 | Composer | |
| Lancelot de Mole | Australia | 12 March 1880 | 6 May 1950 | Engineer & inventor | Tracked armoured vehicle, 1911 |
| Clément Doucet | Belgium | 9 April 1895 | 15 October 1950 | Composer, pianist | |
| Anatoly Drozdov (ru) | Russia | 4 November 1883 | 10 September 1950 | Composer, pianist | |
| Theodor Duesterberg | Germany | 19 October 1875 | 4 November 1950 | Politician | The Steel Helmet and Hitler |
| Walter Eucken | Germany | 17 January 1891 | 20 March 1950 | Economist | Works |
| Percy Keese Fitzhugh | United States | 7 September 1876 | 5 July 1950 | Author of children and young adult literature | |
| Yevgeny Gunst | Russia | 7 June 1877 | 30 January 1950 | Composer | |
| John Gould Fletcher | United States | 3 January 1886 | 10 May 1950 | Poet | Selected Poems |
| Ernest Haycox | United States | 1 October 1899 | 13 October 1950 | Author of Western fiction | |
| John Rippiner Heath | United Kingdom | 4 January 1887 | 23 December 1950 | Doctor, musician, composer | Three Macedonian Sketches |
| William Hovgaard | Denmark United States | 28 November 1857 | 5 January 1950 | Professor, Writer | Submarine Boats, The Voyages Of The Norsemen To America |
| Heydar Huseynov | Azerbaijan | 3 April 1908 | 15 August 1950 | Philosopher | Dialectical Materialism |
| Rex Ingram | United States | 15 January 1892 | 2 July 1950 | Film director, producer, writer and actor | The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Prisoner of Zenda |
| George Cecil Ives | United Kingdom | 1 October 1867 | 4 June 1950 | Writer, penal reformer | English Prisons Today |
| Émile Jaques-Dalcroze | Switzerland | 6 July 1865 | 1 July 1950 | Composer, music educator | |
| Johannes V. Jensen | Denmark | 20 January 1873 | 25 November 1950 | Author | The Long Journey |
| Charles L. Johnson | United States | 3 December 1876 | 28 December 1950 | Composer | |
| Al Jolson | United States | 26 May 1886 | 23 October 1950 | Songwriter | |
| Eddie Kilfeather | United States | 5 April 1900 | 13 January 1950 | Composer | |
| Alfred Korzybski | Russian Empire United States | 3 July 1879 | 1 March 1950 | Engineer and founder of Institute of General Semantics | Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics |
| Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky | Russia | 11 February 1887 | 28 December 1950 | Writer | |
| Harold Laski | United Kingdom | 30 June 1893 | 24 March 1950 | Political theorist, economist | A Grammar of Politics |
| Harry Lauder | United Kingdom | 4 August 1870 | 26 February 1950 | Comedian, Singer/songwriter | Roamin' in the Gloamin' |
| Lilian Sophia Locke | Australia | 6 June 1869 | 1 July 1950 | Suffragette & Trade-unionist | Secretary of the United Council for Woman's Suffrage, 1890s |
| Heinrich Mann | Germany | 27 March 1871 | 11 March 1950 | Writer | Professor Unrat |
| Edgar Lee Masters | United States | 23 August 1868 | 5 March 1950 | Writer | Spoon River Anthology |
| F. O. Matthiessen | United States | 19 February 1902 | 1 April 1950 | literary critic | American Renaissance: Art and Expression in the Age of Emerson and Whitman |
| Marcel Mauss | France | 10 May 1872 | 10 February 1950 | Sociologist | The Gift |
| Ernest John Moeran | United Kingdom | 31 December 1894 | 1 December 1950 | Composer | |
| Alfred Edward Moffat | United Kingdom | 4 December 1863 | 6 June 1950 | Composer, collector of music | Meister-Schule der alten Zeit |
| Edna St Vincent Millay | United States | 22 February 1892 | 19 October 1950 | Poet, playwright | Renascence |
| Ali Moustafa Mosharafa | Egypt | 11 July 1898 | 16 January 1950 | Theoretical physicist | |
| Lewis Muir | United States | 1881 | 19 January 1950 | Songwriter | Ragtime Cowboy Joe |
| Pavel Muratov | Russia | 3 March 1881 | 5 February 1950 | Writer, art historian | Images of Italy |
| Nikolai Myaskovsky | Russia | 20 April 1881 | 8 August 1950 | Composer | Symphony No. 6 (Myaskovsky) |
| Vaslav Nijinsky | Russia | 12 March 1889 | 8 April 1950 | Ballet dancer and choreographer | Diary |
| George Orwell | United Kingdom | 25 June 1903 | 21 January 1950 | Journalist and author | Animal Farm, Nineteen Eighty-Four also see George Orwell bibliography |
| Cesare Pavese | Italy | 9 September 1908 | 27 August 1950 | Writer, translator | The Moon and the Bonfires |
| Max Pemberton | United Kingdom | 19 June 1863 | 22 February 1950 | Novelist of adventure and mystery literature | |
| Octávio Pinto | Brazil | 3 November 1890 | 31 October 1944 | Composer, architect | |
| Ernest Poole | United States | 23 January 1880 | 10 January 1950 | Writer | His Family |
| Gustaf John Ramstedt | Russian Empire Finland | 22 October 1873 | 25 November 1950 | Explorer, linguist, diplomat | Seitsemän retkeä itään |
| R. R. Ryan | United Kingdom | 14 December 1882 | 18 October 1950 | Author | |
| Eliel Saarinen | Russian Empire Finland United States | 20 August 1873 | 1 July 1950 | Architect | Works |
| Rafael Sabatini | Italy United Kingdom | 29 April 1875 | 13 February 1950 | Writer | The Sea Hawk, Scaramouche, The Odissey of Captain Blood, Bellarion the Fortunate |
| Theophrastos Sakellaridis | Greece | 7 September 1883 | 2 January 1950 | Composer, conductor | Ο Βαφτιστικός |
| Guðjón Samúelsson | Iceland | 16 April 1887 | 25 April 1950 | Architect | Hallgrímskirkja, National Theatre of Iceland, Akureyrarkirkja |
| Joseph Schumpeter | Austria | 8 February 1883 | 8 January 1950 | Economist | Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy |
| Milton Schwarzwald | United States | 16 September 1891 | 2 March 1950 | Director, composer | |
| George Bernard Shaw | United Kingdom Ireland | 26 July 1856 | 2 November 1950 | Writer | Man and Superman, Pygmalion, Saint Joan |
| Adaline Shepherd | United States | 19 August 1883 | 12 March 1950 | Composer | |
| Forrest Shreve | United States | 8 July 1878 | 19 July 1950 | Botanist | Works |
| Martinus Sieveking | Netherlands | 24 March 1867 | 26 November 1950 | Composer, music teacher | |
| Jan Smuts | South Africa | 24 May 1870 | 11 September 1950 | Statesman, military leader, and philosopher | Holism and Evolution |
| John M. Stahl | United States | 21 January 1886 | 12 January 1950 | Film Director and Producer | Father Was a Fullback |
| Olaf Stapledon | United Kingdom | 10 May 1886 | 6 September 1950 | Philosopher and science fiction author | Star Maker, Last and First Men and Odd John |
| Henry L. Stimson | United States | 21 September 1867 | 20 October 1950 | Politician | Democracy And Nationalism In Europe |
| Tatiana Sukhotina-Tolstaya | Russia | 4 October 1864 | 21 September 1950 | Painter and memoirist | |
| Attilio Teruzzi | Italy | 5 May 1882 | 26 April 1950 | Politician | Cirenaica Verde |
| Trilussa | Italy | 26 October 1871 | 21 December 1950 | Poet | Works |
| Orhan Veli Kanık | Turkey | 14 April 1914 | 14 November 1950 | Poet | Garip, Collected Poems |
| Xavier Villaurrutia | Mexico | 27 March 1903 | 25 December 1950 | Poet, Playwright | Works |
| Archibald P. Wavell | United Kingdom | 5 May 1883 | 24 May 1950 | General | Generals And Generalship |
| Kurt Weill | Germany | 2 March 1900 | 3 April 1950 | Composer | The Threepenny Opera |
| Yi Kwang-su | South Korea | 1 February 1892 | 25 October 1950 | Writer, independence activist | Heartless |

## Entering the public domain in countries with life + 80 years

Spain (for creators that died before 1987), Colombia and Equatorial Guinea have a copyright term of life + 80 years. The list is sorted alphabetically and includes one notable work that entered the public domain on 1 January 2021 for each creator.
List of authors :
| Names | Country | Birth | Death | Occupation | Notable work |
| J.-H. Rosny aîné | France | 17 February 1856 | 11 February 1940 | Writer | The Quest for Fire |
| Xerardo Álvarez Limeses [es] | Spain | 1871 | 1940 | Teacher, writer | |
| Manuel Azaña | Spain | 1880 | 1940 | Politician, political writer, Prime Minister | |
| Julián Besteiro | Spain | 21 September 1870 | 27 September 1940 | | |
| E. F. Benson | United Kingdom | 24 July 1867 | 29 February 1940 | Writer, archaeologist | Mapp and Lucia |
| Mikhail Bulgakov | Russia | 15 May 1891 | 10 March 1940 | Writer, playwright, medical doctor | The Master and Margarita |
| Rafael Flores Nieto [es] | Spain | 1 May 1864 | 25 November 1940 | Flamenco singer and guitarist | |
| Philip Francis Nowlan | United States | 13 November 1888 | 1 February 1940 | Writer | Armageddon 2419 A.D. |
| F. Scott Fitzgerald | United States | 24 September 1896 | 21 December 1940 | Novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and short-story writer | This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned, The Great Gatsby and Tender Is the Night |
| Carlos Gómez Carrera [es] | Spain | 1903 or 1907 | 28 June 1940 | Cartoonist | |
| Antonio de Hoyos y Vinent [es] | Spain | 1884 | 1940 | Playwright | Bibliography |
| Louis J. Panella | United States | 1881 | 3 March 1940 | Composer | |
| Enrique Peinador [es] | Spain | 1880 | 1940 | Businessman | |
| Indalecio Varela Lenzano [es] | Spain | 1856 | 1940 | Musicologist, music critic | |
| María Vinyals | Spain | 1875 | 1940 | Publicist, essayist | |

## Countries with life + 60 years

In Bangladesh, India, and Venezuela a work enters the public domain 60 years after the creator's death.
| Names | Country | Birth | Death | Occupation | Notable work |
| Vai. Mu. Kothainayaki Ammal | India | 1 December 1901 | 20 February 1960 | Novelist | |
| Rajshekhar Basu | India | 16 March 1880 | 27 April 1960 | Chemist | |
| A. Chakravarti | India | 17 May 1880 | 10 February 1960 | Professor | |
| Indira Devi Chaudhurani | India | 29 December 1873 | 12 August 1960 | Musician | |
| Sudhindranath Dutta | India | 30 October 1901 | 25 June 1960 | Poet, journalist | |
| M. Raghava Iyengar | India | 1870 | 1960 | Literary scholar | |
| Jigar Moradabadi | India | 6 April 1890 | 9 September 1960 | Poet | Yeh Hai Maikada |
| Bal Krishna Sharma Naveen | India | 8 December 1897 | 29 April 1960 | Poet, journalist, activist | |
| Kesari Balakrishna Pillai | India | 23 April 1889 | 18 December 1960 | Literary critic, journalist | Kesari |
| Nathuram Premi | India | 26 January 1881 | 30 January 1960 | Poet, publisher | |
| Navaratna Rama Rao | India | 27 May 1877 | 1960 | Political leader, scholar | |
| Sushila Samad | India | 7 June 1996 | 10 December 1960 | Poet, journalist | |
| Govind Sakharam Sardesai | India | 17 May 1865 | 21 November 1959 | Historian | |
| Sripada Krishnamurty Sastry | India | 29 October 1866 | 29 December 1960 | Poet | Mahamahopadhyaya |
| Kshitimohan Sen | India | 2 December 1880 | 12 March 1960 | Professor | |
| Acharya Chatursen Shastri | India | 26 August 1891 | 2 February 1960 | Writer | Dharamputra |
| Krishnalal Shridharani | India | 16 September 1911 | 23 July 1960 | Poet, playwright | |
| C. J. Thomas | India | 14 November 1918 | 14 July 1960 | Playwright, academic, artist | |

## Entering 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 |
| Abdul Hosein Amini | Iran | 1902 | 3 July 1970 | Theologian | Al-Ghadir |
| Rita Angus | New Zealand | 12 March 1908 | 25 January 1970 | Painter | Cass |
| Shmuel Yosef Agnon | Israel | 17 July 1888 | 17 February 1970 | Writer | The Bridal Canopy |
| Fernando Arbello | Puerto Rico | 30 May 1907 | 26 July 1970 | Musician | |
| Otto Baecker | Germany | 7 January 1898 | 22 May 1970 | Cinematographer | Gold |
| Archibald Baxter | New Zealand | 13 December 1881 | 10 August 1970 | Socialist, pacifist | We Will Not Cease |
| William Beaudine | United States | 15 January 1892 | 18 March 1970 | Film director, actor | Boys Will Be Boys |
| George Blair | United States | 6 December 1905 | 19 April 1970 | Film Director | |
| R. V. C. Bodley | United Kingdom | 3 March 1892 | 26 May 1970 | Army officer, author | Algeria From Within |
| Louise Bogan | United States | 11 August 1897 | 4 February 1970 | Poet | Body of This Death |
| Vera Brittain | United Kingdom | 29 December 1893 | 29 March 1970 | Writer | Testament of Youth |
| William J. Brown | United States | | 1970 | Architect | |
| Mohamed Fadhel Ben Achour | Tunisia | 16 October 1909 | 20 April 1970 | Theologian | Works |
| Dulce Carman | New Zealand | 1883 | 1970 | Author | Neath the Maori Moon |
| Rudolf Carnap | Germany | 18 May 1891 | 14 September 1970 | Philosopher | Der Logische Aufbau der Welt |
| Émile Coderre [fr] | Canada | 10 June 1893 | 6 April 1970 | Poet | Works |
| Charles Cotton (geologist) | New Zealand | 24 February 1885 | 29 June 1970 | Geologist | Geomorphology of New Zealand |
| Mohamed Abdelaziz Djaït | Tunisia | 1886 | 5 January 1970 | Theologian | Works |
| William Dobell | Australia | 24 September 1899 | 13 May 1970 | Artist | Mr Joshua Smith |
| Guy Endore | United States | 4 July 1901 | 12 February 1970 | Author, screenwriter | The Werewolf of Paris |
| E. M. Forster | United Kingdom | 1 January 1879 | 7 June 1970 | Writer | Works |
| Babbis Friis-Baastad | Norway | 21 August 1921 | 10 January 1970 | Children's writer | Ikke ta Bamse |
| Erle Stanley Gardner | United States | 17 July 1889 | 11 March 1970 | Author, lawyer | Perry Mason series of books |
| Maurice Gemayel | Lebanon | 1910 | 31 October 1970 | Politician | Tripoli and Decentralization |
| L. Wolfe Gilbert | United States | 31 August 1886 | 12 July 1970 | Songwriter | Down Yonder |
| Rube Goldberg | United States | 4 July 1883 | 7 December 1970 | Cartoonist, News reporter, Sculptor, Engineer | |
| John Gunther | United States | 30 August 1901 | 29 May 1970 | Author | Death Be Not Proud |
| Muhsin al-Hakim | Iraq | 1889 | 1970 | Theologian | Minhaj as-Saleheen |
| Alice Hamilton | United States | 27 February 1869 | 22 September 1970 | Physician, research scientist | Industrial Poisons in the United States |
| Lawren Harris | Canada | 23 October 1885 | 29 January 1970 | Painter | |
| Marlen Haushofer | Austria | 11 April 1920 | 21 March 1970 | Writer | |
| Erich Heckel | Germany | 31 July 1883 | 27 January 1970 | Artist | Roquairol |
| Jimi Hendrix | United States | 27 November 1942 | 18 September 1970 | Musician, singer-songwriter | "Purple Haze" |
| Roman Ingarden | Poland | 5 February 1893 | 14 June 1970 | Philosopher | The Literary Work of Art |
| Michał Kalecki | Poland | 22 June 1899 | 18 April 1970 | Economist | Próba teorii koniunktury |
| William Archibald Mackintosh | Canada | 21 May 1895 | 29 December 1970 | Economist | Economic Problems Of The Prairie Provinces |
| Leopoldo Marechal | Argentina | 11 June 1900 | 26 June 1970 | Writer | Adam Buenosayres |
| François Mauriac | France | 11 October 1885 | 1 September 1970 | Writer | Thérèse Desqueyroux |
| Bruce McLaren | New Zealand | 30 August 1937 | 2 June 1970 | Racing car driver | Bruce McLaren: From the Cockpit |
| Yukio Mishima | Japan | 14 January 1925 | 25 November 1970 | Novelist, playwright, poet, writer, essayist, critic | Works |
| Gamal Abdel Nasser | Egypt | 15 January 1918 | 28 September 1970 | Politician | Philosophy of Revolution |
| Charles Olson | United States | 27 December 1910 | 10 January 1970 | Poet | Works |
| John Dos Passos | United States | 14 January 1896 | 28 September 1970 | Novelist | U.S.A. trilogy |
| Waldo Peirce | United States | 17 December 1884 | 8 March 1970 | Painter | Legends of the Hudson |
| Vladimir Propp | Russia | 29 April 1895 | 22 August 1970 | Folklorist | Morphology of the Tale |
| Alf Prøysen | Norway | 23 July 1914 | 23 November 1970 | Musician, Writer, Composer | Works |
| Erich Maria Remarque | Germany | 22 June 1898 | 25 September 1970 | Novelist | All Quiet on the Western Front |
| Ali Riahi | Tunisia | 30 March 1912 | 27 March 1970 | Musician | |
| Gonzalo Roig | Cuba | 20 July 1890 | 13 June 1970 | Composer | Cecilia Valdés |
| Mark Rothko | United States | 25 September 1903 | 25 February 1970 | Abstract painter | Black on Maroon |
| Bertrand Russell | United Kingdom | 18 May 1872 | 2 February 1970 | Philosopher, mathematician | Principia Mathematica |
| Nelly Sachs | German Empire Sweden | 10 October 1891 | 12 May 1970 | Poet, Writer | Works |
| Ruth Sawyer | United States | 5 August 1880 | 3 June 1970 | Writer | Roller Skates |
| Slim Harpo | United States | 11 January 1924 | 31 January 1970 | Blues Musician | I'm a King Bee |
| William Stewart Wallace | Canada | 23 June 1884 | 11 March 1970 | Historian | Encyclopedia of Canada |
| Hassan Taqizadeh | Iran | 27 September 1878 | 28 January 1970 | Politician | Old Iranian Calendars |
| Sophie Treadwell | United States | 3 October 1885 | 20 February 1970 | Playwright | Machinal |
| Jacob Viner | Canada | 3 May 1892 | 12 September 1970 | Economist | Works |
| Otto Heinrich Warburg | Germany | 8 October 1883 | 1 August 1970 | Physiologist | The Metabolism of Tumours |
| Leonard Wild | New Zealand | 28 October 1889 | 23 July 1970 | Agricultural scientist, writer | An Experiment in Self-government, Soils and Manures in New Zealand |
| Harry M. Woods | United States | 4 November 1896 | 14 January 1970 | Songwriter | When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along) |
| Abraham Zapruder | United States | 15 May 1905 | 30 August 1970 | Clothing manufacturer | Zapruder film |
| Mahmoud Zulfikar | Egypt | 18 February 1914 | 22 May 1970 | Director | |

## Entering the public domain in 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. However, the change was not made retroactive (unlike the 1995 change in the European Union which brought the works of those who died from 1925 to 1944 back into copyright). 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 would come out of copyright until 1 January 2026 (those who died in 1955).
Unpublished works by authors who died in 1950 entered the public domain. Any published literary, artistic, dramatic, or musical work (other than computer programs) by a not generally known author (anonymous or pseudonymous) from 1950 also entered the public domain.
| Names | Country | Birth | Death | Occupation | Notable work |
| Cyril Tenison White | Australia | 17 August 1890 | 16 August 1950 | Botanist/Explorer | Made significant contributions to knowledge of the flora of Queensland and northern New South Wales, and was regarded as an authority on tropical plants. |
| Erle Cox | Australia | 17 August 1873 | 20 November 1950 | Writer | "Out of the Silence" |
| Dame Mary Cook | Australia | 1863 | 24 September 1950 | Social Work | Vice President of the "War Chest Society" and President of the "Parramatta Branch of the Red Cross Society" |
| Frank Brennan | Australia | 1873 | 6 November 1950 | Politician | Noted Pacifist |
| Ted Colson | Australia | 3 June 1881 | 27 February 1950 | Anthropologist | Crossing of the Simpson Desert |
| Ian Morrison | Australia | 13 May 1913 | 12 August 1950 | Journalist | "This War against Japan : Thoughts on the Present Conflict in the Far East" 1944 |
| Andrew Oswald Wilson | Australia | 12 October 1866 | 19 June 1950 | Architect | Boulder Town Hall |
| George Ainsworth | Australia | 20 October 1878 | 11 October 1950 | Meteorologist & photographer | Leader of the Macquarie Island party of the Australian Antarctic Expedition, December 1911 to November 1913 |
| Neville William Cayley | Australia | 7 January 1886 | 17 March 1950 | Ornithologist & artist | "What Bird is That?", 1931 |
| Lilian Sophia Locke | Australia | 6 June 1869 | 1 July 1950 | Suffragette & Trade-unionist | Secretary of the United Council for Woman's Suffrage, 1890s |
| Lancelot de Mole | Australia | 12 March 1880 | 6 May 1950 | Engineer & inventor | Tracked armoured vehicle, 1911 |
| Ada May Plante | Australia | 4 October 1876 | 3 July 1950 | Painter | Founding exhibitor at Pioneering Post-Impressionist Melbourne Contemporary Group, 1932 |
| Beaumont Smith | Australia | 15 August 1885 | 2 January 1950 | Film director | "Our Friends the Hayseeds", 1917 |
| Horace Stevens | Australia | 27 October 1876 | 18 November 1950 | Opera singer | Samuel Coleridge Taylor's "Hiawatha" London premiere, 1924 |
| Clas Edvard Friström | Australia | 26 January 1864 | 27 March 1950 | Painter | Exhibited 53 paintings with the Queensland Art Society, 1899-1902 |
| Constance Elizabeth Darcy | Australia | 1 June 1879 | 25 April 1950 | Gynaecologist | Member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, London |
| Gustavus Athol Waterhouse | Australia | 21 May 1877 | 29 July 1950 | Entomologist | "The butterflies of Australia", 1914 and "What butterfly is that? A guide to the butterflies of Australia", 1932 |
| Alexandrine Seager | Australia | 10 November 1870 | 12 March 1950 | Businessperson | Founded the Cheer-Up Society to provide comfort and entertainment for World War One soldiers |
| Ted Theodore | Australia | 28 December 1884 | 9 February 1950 | Politician | State president, Queensland Australian Workers' Union |

## Entering the public domain in the United States

Under the Copyright Term Extension Act, books published in 1925, films released in 1925, and other works published in 1925, entered the public domain in 2021. Additionally, unpublished works whose authors died in 1950 entered the public domain.
No sound recordings entered the public domain; under the Music Modernization Act, those published in 1925 will not enter the public domain until 2026. However, all musical compositions published in 1925 entered the public domain in 2021.
Notable books that entered the public domain in 2021 in the United States include The Great Gatsby, Mrs Dalloway, the original German-language version of The Trial, An American Tragedy, The Secret of Chimneys, In Our Time, and Arrowsmith.