Public Domain Day is a celebration of the creative works that come out of copyright and enter the public domain each year on 1 January.

Once in the public domain, most of these works are available for you to use freely and without permission or restriction.

Items in our collection that enter the public domain this year include unpublished works by authors who died in 1955, anonymous works (i.e. those without a known author) created in 1955, and federal government publications created in 1975.

This year is also unique - for the first time in 20 years, published works and photographs taken after 1955 are coming out of copyright. Previously published works were out of copyright only if the author had died before 1955, or photos where taken before 1955. These items now fall under the same rules as other creative works with the date for release being the death of the author plus 70 years. 

Highlights

Prominent Australians who died in 1955 include pioneering Australian painter Max Meldrum and notable architect William Hardy Wilson.  

Max Meldrum’s unpublished works  

Duncan Max Meldrum (3 December 1875 – 6 June 1955) is best known as the founder of the Australian tonalism movement. A well-regarded painter on the national scene from an early age, his seminal works in the style encouraged the development of the later and more international minimalism movement. He was the recipient of numerous prizes and awards for his paintings. 

The drafts and correspondence in his personal papers have now entered the public domain.  

William Hardy Wilson’s unpublished works 

William Hardy Wilson (14 February 1881 – 16 December 1955) was one of Australia’s finest twentieth-century architects, specialising primarily in residential homes and small commercial buildings. His early professional experience led to a fascination with Australian colonial architecture, and he sought to include similar features in his own designs. He also published notable architectural works and was an accomplished artist. 

Much of the material relating to his life and career found in his personal papers, along with his artistic works, has now entered the public domain. Learn more about the Wilson Collection.

Papers of other prominent figures

Unpublished works by prominent Australian figures entering the public domain include:  

Alexander Hore-Ruthven

Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie served as the 10th governor-general of Australia from 1936 to 1945. His unprecedented 9-year tenure reflected the need for wartime stability and remains the longest duration in the role to this day. 

His substantial manuscript collection covers much of his career in Australia and includes many high-profile correspondents.    

Kenneth Mackenzie

Kenneth Mackenzie was a poet and author whose first novel The Young Desire It was met with national acclaim in 1937. Written at the age of just 23, it was one of the most popular Australian works of the period. He later met an unfortunate end in the prime of his life when he drowned in a creek near Goulburn. 

His papers in our collection include approximately 60 unpublished poems. 

Camilla Wedgwood

Camilla Wedgwood was a prominent cultural anthropologist who wrote widely on the peoples she studied.  As a devout Quaker she championed social causes throughout her life, including the expatriation of Jewish refugees from Germany and the pacificist movement. She later taught at the Royal Military College Duntroon and the Australian School of Pacific Administration. 

Her personal papers cover both her early and later career.  

Rex Ingamells

Rex Ingamells was a poet and literary editor who made substantial contributions to the Jindyworobak Movement, which advocated drawing from purely Australian values and motifs in art. His early works include the Gumtops and Forgotten People books of verse, though in later years he was criticised by the literary establishment for his overly ideological framing. 

Our collection includes the manuscript for his 1949 epic poem The Great South Land. 

Determining copyright

It is important to note that content entering the public domain from an unpublished collection, such as those of Max Meldrum and William Hardy Wilson, are typically only the works which were created by that individual. These collections can contain a variety of additional material which might include published works or personal correspondence created by other copyright holders.

Find more information about copyright in Library collections, including advice on what to do if additional permissions are required before using items from the National Library collection.