# 2017 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 2017. 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, 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, 2017. This term also applies to unpublished works in the United States (otherwise see below).
| Names | Country | Birth | Death | Occupation | Notable work |
| Giuseppe Adami | Italy | 4 February 1878 | 12 October 1946 | librettist | Libretti for three operas composed by Giacomo Puccini |
| Eriks Ādamsons | Latvia | 22 June 1907 | 28 February 1946 | writer, poet, translator | |
| Armando Augusto Freire (Armandinho) | Portugal | 11 October 1891 | 21 December 1946 | Fado guitarist and composer | |
| Louis Bachelier | France | 11 March 1870 | 28 April 1946 | Mathematician | |
| Herbert Baker | United Kingdom | 9 June 1862 | 4 February 1946 | Architect | |
| Helen Bannerman | United Kingdom | 25 February 1862 | 3 October 1946 | Writer | The Story of Little Black Sambo |
| Granville Bantock | United Kingdom | 7 August 1868 | 16 October 1946 | composer | |
| James Bernard | United Kingdom | 11 April 1874 | 5 March 1946 | Elocutionist | |
| Allan Cyril Brooks | Canada | 15 February 1869 | 3 January 1946 | Ornithologist, illustrator and artist | |
| Alfonso Broqua [es] | Uruguay | 15 February 1869 | 24 November 1946 | Composer | |
| Charles Despiau | France | 4 November 1874 | 30 October 1946 | Sculptor | |
| J. Michael Diack | United Kingdom | 26 June 1869 | 2 February 1946 | Composer, arranger | Arranged nursery rhymes in the style of Handel |
| Manuel de Falla | Spain | 23 November 1876 | 14 November 1946 | Composer | Nights in the Gardens of Spain, Ritual Fire Dance |
| W. C. Fields | United States | 29 January 1880 | 25 December 1946 | Writer | |
| Jane Findlater | United Kingdom | 4 November 1866 | 20 May 1946 | Writer | |
| Dion Fortune | United Kingdom | 6 December 1890 | 6 January 1946 | Writer and occultist | The Demon Lover, The Winged Bull, The Goat-Foot God, The Sea Priestess |
| Wanda Gág | United States | 11 March 1893 | 27 June 1946 | Children's book author, artist, translator and illustrator | Millions of Cats |
| Gerhart Hauptmann | Germany | 15 November 1862 | 6 June 1946 | Writer, Nobel Prize laureate | The Weavers, Bahnwärter Thiel (De) |
| Patty Hill | United States | 27 March 1868 | 25 May 1946 | Songwriter | Happy Birthday to You (with sister Mildred J. Hill, who predeceased her) |
| Violet Jacob | United Kingdom | 1 September 1863 | 9 September 1946 | Writer and poet | |
| John Maynard Keynes | United Kingdom | 5 June 1883 | 21 April 1946 | Economist | A Treatise on Money |
| Hermann von Keyserling | Germany | 20 July 1880 | 26 April 1946 | Philosopher | |
| Otis Adelbert Kline | United States | 1 July 1891 | 24 October 1946 | Literary agent and science fiction writer | |
| Paul Langevin | France | 21 January 1872 | 19 December 1946 | Physicist | |
| Henri Le Fauconnier | France | 1881 | 1946 | Painter | |
| Józef Mehoffer | Poland | 19 March 1869 | 8 July 1946 | Painter and decorative artist | |
| Adolph de Meyer | France | 9 January 1868 | 6 January 1946 | Photographer | |
| László Moholy-Nagy | Hungary | 20 July 1895 | 24 November 1946 | Painter and photographer | Light-Space Modulator |
| Paul Nash | United Kingdom | 11 May 1889 | 11 July 1946 | Painter/photographer | |
| Mikhail Nesterov | Russia | 31 May 1862 | 18 October 1942 | Painter | |
| Feliks Nowowiejski | Poland | 7 February 1877 | 18 January 1946 | Composer | Rota (music) |
| Clemente Palma | Peru | 3 December 1872 | 13 August 1946 | Author | |
| Júlio Prestes | Brazil | 15 March 1882 | 9 February 1946 | Politician | |
| Damon Runyon | United States | 4 October 1880 | 10 December 1946 | Writer and newspaperman | |
| Abel Salazar (scientist) | Portugal | 19 July 1889 | 29 December 1946 | Scientist and Painter | |
| Alice Sauvrezis | France | 4 April 1866 | 12 April 1946 | Composer | |
| Ernest Thompson Seton | United Kingdom | 14 August 1860 | 23 October 1946 | Writer and wildlife artist | Wild Animals I Have Known |
| May Sinclair | United Kingdom | 24 August 1863 | 14 November 1946 | Writer | |
| Václav Špála | Czech Republic | 24 August 1885 | 13 May 1946 | Painter | |
| Léon Spilliaert | Belgium | 28 July 1881 | 23 November 1946 | Painter | |
| Gertrude Stein | United States | 3 February 1874 | 27 July 1946 | Writer | The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, Three Lives |
| Karl Hans Strobl | Czech Republic | 18 January 1877 | 10 March 1946 | Author and editor | |
| Harry Von Tilzer | United States | 8 July 1872 | 10 January 1946 | Songwriter | Ziegfeld Follies |
| Frona Eunice Wait | United States | 19 August 1859 | 1946 | Author and newspaper writer | Wines and Vines of California |
| George Henry Weiss | United States | 1898 | 1946 | Writer of science fiction and poetry | The Night People |
| H. G. Wells | United Kingdom | 21 September 1866 | 13 August 1946 | Writer | The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man |
| Stewart Edward White | United States | 12 March 1873 | 18 September 1946 | Writer and spiritualist | |
| Cornel Simanjuntak | Indonesia | 1921 | 15 September 1946 | Songwriter | Maju Tak Gentar, Sorak-Sorak Bergembira, Bungaku, Indonesia Tetap Merdeka, Ku Pinta Lagi, Maju Indonesia |
| Alfred Rosenberg | Germany | 12 January 1893 | 16 October 1946 | Politician, writer | The Myth of the Twentieth Century |
| Paul Zech | Germany | 19 February 1881 | 7 September 1946 | Poet | Die lasterhaften Balladen und Lieder des François Villon |
| Heinrich Freiherr von Stackelberg | Germany | 31 October 1905 | 12 October 1946 | Economist | Marktform und Gleichgewicht |

## Entering the public domain in countries with life + 50 years

In most countries of Africa and Asia, as well as Canada, Belarus, Bolivia, 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 |
| Ralph Allen | Canada | 25 August 1913 | 2 December 1966 | Writer, journalist | Peace River Country |
| Lauro Ayestarán | Uruguay | 9 July 1913 | 22 July 1966 | Musicologist | La música en el Uruguay |
| André Breton | France | 19 February 1896 | 28 September 1966 | Writer, poet | Surrealist Manifesto |
| Jan Brzechwa | Poland | 15 August 1898 | 2 July 1966 | Poet | |
| Deems Taylor | United States | 22 December 1885 | 3 July 1966 | Composer, music critic | |
| Walt Disney | United States | 5 December 1901 | 15 December 1966 | Filmmaker | |
| C. S. Forester | United Kingdom | 27 August 1899 | 2 April 1966 | Writer | Horatio Hornblower, The African Queen, The General |
| Lloyd Garrett | United States | 2 July 1886 | 15 April 1966 | Tenor, composer | |
| Alberto Giacometti | Switzerland | 10 October 1901 | 11 January 1966 | Sculptor, painter | The Palace at 4 a.m., L'Homme au doigt, Grande tête mince, L'Homme qui marche I, Large Standing Woman I, Monumental Head |
| César Batlle Pacheco | Uruguay | 3 August 1885 | 6 January 1966 | Politician, Journalist | |
| Olhinto María Simoes | Uruguay | 5 June 1901 | 9 October 1966 | Poet, journalist | La sombra de los plátanos |
| Cordwainer Smith | United States | 11 July 1913 | 6 August 1966 | Science fiction writer, professor, military officer | Psychological Warfare, Norstrilia, Scanners Live in Vain, Alpha Ralpha Boulevard, A Planet Named Shayol |
| Evelyn Waugh | United Kingdom | 28 October 1903 | 10 April 1966 | Writer | Vile Bodies, A Handful of Dust |
| Mohamed Fawzi | Egypt | 15 August 1918 | 20 October 1966 | Singer, Musician | Kassaman |
| Mohamed El Qasabgi | Egypt | 1892 | 25 March 1966 | Musician | Raq El Habib |
| Badie' Khayri | Egypt | 17 August 1893 | 1 February 1966 | Playwright | Hassan wa Murqus wa Cohen |
| Lekhnath Paudyal | Nepal | 28 December 1884 | 1966 | Poet | Tarun Tapasi |
| Sayyid Qutb | Egypt | 9 October 1906 | 29 August 1966 | Writer | Ma'alim fi al-Tariq, Fi Zilal al-Quran |

## 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. But the change was not made retroactive (unlike the 1995 change in the European Union which brought some e.g. British authors 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).

## Entering the public domain in the United States

The Copyright Term Extension Act means no published works would enter the public domain in this jurisdiction until 2019. The exception are unpublished works, which are subject to 70 years after the death of the creator, as above.