Introduction to the Grand Re-Opening of the Public Domain
Channel: Creative Commons
Date: 2019-02-21

This video features Wendy Hanamura and Brewster Kahle from the Internet Archive and Ryan Merkley from Creative Commons kicking off the Grand Re-Opening of the Public Domain event.
https://creativecommons.org/public-domain-reopening/ 

On January 25, 2019, Creative Commons and the Internet Archive hosted the Grand Re-Opening of the Public Domain, a celebration that featured keynote addresses by Lawrence Lessig and Cory Doctorow, lightning talks, demos, multimedia displays and more to mark the “re-opening” of the public domain in the United States. The event took place at the Internet Archive in San Francisco.
 
The public domain is our shared cultural commons, a near limitless trove of creativity that’s been reused, remixed, and reimagined over centuries to create new works of art and science. Content in the public domain may be reused in a limitless capacity without any intellectual property restrictions.
 
In the United States, 1 January 2019 marked the date at which works will resume entering the public domain. Ever since the 1998 Copyright Term Extension Act, no published works have entered the public domain (well, none due to copyright expiration).