The Great Gatsby and other works published in 1925 become public domain

The copyright protection for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby has expired. The novel is now a public domain. Artwork under public domain means anyone is allowed to adapt, remake or reimagine the original work for free without asking for permission from the author. It also applies to film license.

Artwork created after 1978 in the US receives lifetime protection and 70 years after the author’s death. However, in 1998, Congress extended copyright protection for artwork created between 1923 and 1977 to 95 years. The Great Gatsby was published in 1925.

Other literature works that become public domain in 2021 include Franz Kafka’s The Trial, Agatha Christie’s The Secret of Chimney and Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway.