Here's a weird factoid I came across.

Under current copyright law, works that were created in 1925 have now officially entered the public domain as of the New Year. That means tomes like "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald are now free for the taking without having to pay for their use. 

The list of what's officially in the public domain as of 2021. 

But it wasn't always that way. 

Before 1976, music, books or movies had only a 56 year total copyright life before they became everyone's property. Luckily, the law changed, or songs by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and others (including the movie "Mary Poppins" ) released in 1964 would all have been in the public domain as of Jan. 1st. Hard to believe "A Hard Day's Night," "If I Fell," "And I Love Her," and "Can't Buy Me Love" would no longer have had protection. 

Neither would "It's All Over Now" by the Stones, The Beach Boys' "I Get Around," and Roy Orbison's "Oh Pretty Woman." (The recordings themselves are under a different law, but it means the songs could have been performed or used by anyone who wanted to without payment.) 

Here's a look at some of the tunes that could have been free this year if the law hadn't changed:

• The Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night, Can’t Buy Me Love, And I Love Her (w & m John Lennon & Paul McCartney)
• It’s All Over Now (w & m Bobby Womack & Shirley Womack, recorded by The Rolling Stones)
• As Tears Go By (w & m Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, & Andrew Loog Oldham, recorded by Marianne Faithfull)
• You Really Got Me (w & m Ray Davies, recorded by The Kinks)
• Songs from Fiddler on the Roof, including If I Were a Rich Man (w Sheldon Harnick & m Jerry Bock)
• Oh, Pretty Woman (w & m Roy Orbison & Bill Dees)
• Hang on Sloopy (as “My Girl Sloopy”, w & m Bert Russell & Wes Farrell)
• Baby I Need Your Loving (w & m Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, & Brian Holland)
• I Get Around (w & m Brian Wilson)
• The theme song from The Addams Family (w & m Vic Mizzy)
• The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle (w & m Sherwood Schwartz & George Wyle)