What becomes free on 1 January, and what an author earns from a book

On 1 January 2027 anyone in Britain will be free to print, translate and stage the Winnie-the-Pooh stories: 70 years will have passed since A. A. Milne's death and the text becomes common property. E. H. Shepard's drawings for the same books come free only on 1 January 2047. This is not an exception but the rule itself — and the same rule explains why thousands of books can already be read in Britain for nothing, while their authors earn 12.40p from a library loan.

When does a book become free?

Seventy years after the author's death. GOV.UK puts it in one line: written, dramatic, musical and artistic works are protected for 70 years after the author's death, and "once your copyright has expired, anyone can use or copy your work". Sound recordings run 70 years from first publication, broadcasts 50 years, and the typographical layout of a published edition 25 years.

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The clock starts at death, not publication. An author who died young frees their books earlier than a contemporary who lived long.

What comes free on 1 January 2027?

Works by authors who died in 1956. The best-known British case is set out by the Intellectual Property Office itself: Milne died in 1956, and, as the IPO writes, the original Winnie-the-Pooh stories enter the UK public domain on 1 January 2027.

The term ends not on the anniversary of the death but at the close of the seventieth calendar year — hence 1 January. Each author has to be checked separately, by year of death rather than year of publication.

Why do the drawings come free later than the text?

Because the illustrator has a term of his own. The IPO states that Shepard's illustrations are protected separately and, as he died in 1976, stop being protected on 1 January 2047.

Translation works the same way: a translator is the author of their text, and their 70 years run from their own death. So an English original may be free while the Russian translation of the same book is not. This is the usual trap for anyone who concludes that an old book means a free-for-all.

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And one more reason to check the country. The United States counts differently — 95 years from publication — and, as the IPO notes, Milne's first book became free there back in 2022. A British reader downloading an American "public domain" file is in the clear only if the book is free here too.

What can be used now, without waiting?

Two things. First, everything already out of copyright: Dickens, Austen, Conan Doyle, Kipling. The texts sit lawfully and in full on Project Gutenberg, which currently offers 79,627 free ebooks, 240 of them editions of Dickens.

Second, quotation. IPO guidance states plainly that "fair dealing for criticism, review or quotation is allowed for any type of copyright work", provided there is sufficient acknowledgement. The law sets no number: fairness turns on two questions — whether the use takes the market from the owner, and whether the amount taken was necessary. The IPO's own test is how a fair-minded and honest person would have dealt with the work.

What does an author get when the book is paid for?

For a library loan, 12.40p. That is the UK Public Lending Right rate for 2024/25: the state pays authors for the fact that public libraries lend their books. The scheme is run by the British Library and has over 60,000 registered contributors — authors, illustrators, editors, translators and audiobook narrators.

The minimum payment is £1 and the maximum £6,600 a year. The distribution matters more than the ceiling. Of 24,992 payments made for 2024/25, 19,039 fell in the £1 to £99.99 band. The top band, £5,000 to £6,600, accounted for 311 payments. Three quarters of recipients earn under a hundred pounds a year from libraries.

For comparison, the Irish rate for 2024 was 7.75 cents a loan, with a €2 minimum and a €1,000 ceiling. UK payments arrive in February and Irish ones in December; registration closes on 30 June for inclusion in that year's calculation.

What follows for a reader in Britain?

Three practical points. A book more than seventy years past its author's death is free to use — but check the translation separately. A modern book can be quoted briefly with attribution; posting a chapter cannot. And if you want the author to get something, the library counts — each loan is recorded, the price of one is simply measured in pence rather than pounds.