‘News Item’ and ‘Résumé’ Enter Public Domain January 1 | Dorothy Parker Society Dorothy Parker Society Official Dorothy Parker Site Since 1998 Menu About Society Homes Los Angeles Haunts Gallery Audio Book Shop Dorothy Parker Books Algonquin Round Table Books Collections Plays & Study Guides Audio Books DVD Dorothy Parker Merchandise Tours Dorothy Parker Upper West Side Algonquin Round Table The Guide Contact Menu ‘News Item’ and ‘Résumé’ Enter Public Domain January 1 Posted on December 18, 2020February 2, 2021 by Kevin Fitzpatrick Do you celebrate New Year’s Day or Public Domain Day? For Dorothy Parker fans, why not both? Just as we published last year, turning the calendar pages of U.S. copyright law, on January 1, 2021, more works of art, film, music, poetry, and writing will enter the public domain. This milestone will bring out work published in 1925 that copyrights have been lifted. While in some quarters the news that The Great Gatsby is now out of copyright will be celebrated, Dorothy Parker makes the list with 25 poems, including her “greatest hits” collection. This is colloquially Public Domain Day. What is happening, how U.S. law is interpreted, and what the hell Sonny Bono and Mickey Mouse have to do with copyright law is explained here. What this means is that what Parker was doing in 1925 during the Speakeasy Era matters in the Covid Era. Parker published 25 poems and free verse in 1925 that are now able to be used without paying her estate, which is controlled by the NAACP. Incredible as it may sound, this also includes the most famous ones that she gave away to her friend and mentor, Franklin P. Adams, to be published in the New York World on the same day on August 16, 1925, in his “Conning Tower” column. Under Parker’s heading “Some Beautiful Letters” were six of her most beloved pieces: “Observation,” “Social Note,” “News Item” (“Men seldom make passes/At girls who wear glasses”), “Interview,” “Comment,” and possibly Parker’s most well-known, “Résumé.” These 25 can now be used in any manner; some are already on tattoos, of course. “Observation” attained some acclaim when it was included in Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, performed by Jennifer Jason Leigh. Observation If I don’t drive around the park, I’m pretty sure to make my mark. If I’m in bed each night by ten, I may get back my looks again, If I abstain from fun and such, I’ll probably amount to much, But I shall stay the way I am, Because I do not give a damn. These are the 25 Dorothy Parker poems that will enter the public domain in the United States on January 1, 2021. All were published for the first time in 1925 and the copyright will expire. “Song of Perfect Propriety” “Balto” “Cassandra Drops Into Verse” “I Shall Come Back” “Biographies” “A Dream Lies Dead” “Story of Mrs. W–” “Little Song” “Braggart” “Epitaph” “Threnody” “Epitaph For A Darling Lady” “Some Beautiful Letters”: “Observation,” “Social Note,” “News Item,” “Interview,” “Comment,” “Résumé” “Convalescent” “Wail” “Testament” “Recurrence” “August” “Hearthside” “Rainy Night” The only other Parker published writing in 1925 were a few reviews for The New Yorker, which debuted in February 1925. This means everything from the first year of the magazine also enters the public domain on January 1. (If you produce any coffee mugs or tote bags, please send them our way). In 1925 Parker did not sell any short stories or essays, as far as we know. Other 1925 books by big names besides F. Scott Fitzgerald will also be out of copyright. These include: Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy, Ernest Hemingway’s In Our Time, John Dos Passos’, Manhattan Transfer, and Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway. Among the films are Harold Lloyd’s The Freshman and The Merry Widow, and Buster Keaton’s Go West, His People, and Lovers in Quarantine (extremely appropriate today, even if this film’s quarantine is only one week). The Big Parade (directed by King Vidor), the first major WWI movie and the biggest box office success of the decade, will also be public domain material. So is Charlie Chaplin’s short, The Gold Rush. Edward Hopper, House By The Railroad (Museum of Modern Art Collection) Among the hundreds, if not thousands, of pieces of music, are “Always,” by Irving Berlin, “Sweet Georgia Brown,” by Ben Bernie, Maceo Pinkard & Kenneth Casey, works by Gertrude ‘Ma’ Rainey, the “Mother of the Blues,” including “Army Camp Harmony Blues” (with Hooks Tilford) and “Shave ’Em Dry” (with William Jackson). In visual art, paintings include Edward Hopper’s House by the Railroad (owned by the Museum of Modern Art, New York) and Picasso’s Les Trois Danseuses (The Three Dancers) at the Tate Gallery, London. Public Domain Day ties into the first two aims of the Dorothy Parker Society, founded in 1999: “To promote the work of Dorothy Parker” and “To introduce new readers to the work of Dorothy Parker.” While 2021 is good for public domain works, 2022 looks to be special too. copyright NAACP poetry The New Yorker Search for: Recent News 1966 Radio Interview with Dorothy Parker and Richard Lamparski August 13, 2021 From Boats to Speakeasies, A Brief History of Parkerfest August 3, 2021 Parkerfest 2021: Brooklyn, The Bronx, Manhattan, August 20-22 July 22, 2021 Zabou Breitman Brings “Dorothy” to Avignon, Answers Q&A July 16, 2021 Dorothy Parker Memorial Fund Launches June 23, 2021 Al Hirschfeld Foundation Supports Dorothy Parker Memorial Fund With Exclusive T-Shirt June 22, 2021 Support Campaign for Dorothy Parker Gravestone Begins Today with New York Distilling Company and the Al Hirschfeld Foundation June 7, 2021 New York Post Breaks Story About Dorothy Parker Gin Funding Gravestone Fund June 7, 2021 Balto, the Dog Sculpture Hero of Central Park February 2, 2021 ‘News Item’ and ‘Résumé’ Enter Public Domain January 1 December 18, 2020 Archives 1999-2021 Archives 1999-2021 Select Month August 2021  (2) July 2021  (2) June 2021  (4) February 2021  (1) December 2020  (1) October 2020  (1) September 2020  (3) August 2020  (1) July 2020  (1) June 2020  (1) May 2020  (2) April 2020  (1) March 2020  (1) February 2020  (1) January 2020  (2) December 2019  (2) November 2019  (1) October 2019  (1) September 2019  (2) August 2019  (2) June 2019  (2) May 2019  (1) October 2018  (1) August 2018  (1) May 2018  (1) April 2018  (1) March 2018  (1) February 2018  (2) January 2018  (2) September 2017  (1) July 2017  (1) June 2017  (2) April 2017  (1) March 2017  (2) February 2017  (2) January 2017  (1) December 2016  (1) November 2016  (1) October 2016  (1) August 2016  (2) June 2016  (3) May 2016  (3) April 2016  (4) March 2016  (2) February 2016  (2) September 2015  (1) August 2015  (1) July 2015  (2) May 2015  (1) April 2015  (2) March 2015  (1) February 2015  (2) January 2015  (2) December 2014  (3) November 2014  (2) September 2014  (2) August 2014  (5) June 2014  (4) May 2014  (5) March 2014  (5) January 2014  (3) December 2013  (2) November 2013  (1) October 2013  (2) September 2013  (5) August 2013  (7) May 2013  (2) March 2013  (4) February 2013  (1) January 2013  (2) December 2012  (1) September 2012  (3) August 2012  (1) July 2012  (1) June 2012  (2) May 2012  (4) April 2012  (4) March 2012  (2) February 2012  (3) January 2012  (3) December 2011  (3) November 2011  (4) October 2011  (8) September 2011  (2) August 2011  (3) July 2011  (1) March 2011  (2) February 2011  (2) January 2011  (5) November 2010  (1) August 2010  (3) June 2010  (2) May 2010  (2) April 2010  (2) March 2010  (2) February 2010  (4) January 2010  (5) September 2009  (1) August 2009  (4) July 2009  (5) June 2009  (2) May 2009  (5) March 2009  (1) February 2009  (2) December 2008  (5) November 2008  (3) September 2008  (7) August 2008  (1) July 2008  (2) June 2008  (6) May 2008  (6) April 2008  (5) March 2008  (5) February 2008  (4) January 2008  (5) December 2007  (3) November 2007  (5) October 2007  (8) September 2007  (2) August 2007  (8) July 2007  (12) June 2007  (1) May 2007  (1) April 2007  (2) March 2007  (4) January 2007  (3) December 2006  (4) November 2006  (2) September 2006  (2) August 2006  (2) July 2006  (1) June 2006  (4) May 2006  (5) April 2006  (3) March 2006  (5) February 2006  (3) January 2006  (3) December 2005  (1) October 2005  (2) July 2005  (3) May 2005  (2) March 2005  (1) February 2005  (3) January 2005  (3) December 2004  (8) November 2004  (1) October 2004  (12) September 2004  (7) August 2004  (5) July 2004  (3) June 2004  (6) May 2004  (5) April 2004  (7) February 2004  (1) January 2004  (4) December 2003  (5) August 2003  (2) June 2003  (1) December 2002  (1) November 2002  (2) October 2002  (2) August 2002  (4) June 2002  (1) February 2002  (2) December 2001  (2) November 2001  (3) September 2001  (9) August 2001  (5) May 2001  (2) April 2001  (1) February 2001  (2) January 2001  (2) December 2000  (1) November 2000  (5) October 2000  (1) September 2000  (2) August 2000  (5) July 2000  (3) June 2000  (2) May 2000  (5) April 2000  (2) March 2000  (6) February 2000  (4) January 2000  (4) December 1999  (4) November 1999  (5) October 1999  (3) September 1999  (8) August 1999  (9) July 1999  (3) June 1999  (5) May 1999  (5) April 1999  (7) March 1999  (3) February 1999  (5) January 1999  (10) Social A Vicious Circle Algonquin Hotel Algonquin Round Table Dorothy Parker on Facebook Dorothy Parker Society Los Angeles Dorothy Parker Society Seattle Franklin P. 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