Public Domain Day 2026: those who died in 1955

The life + 70 rule works the same way in Türkiye, the European Union and the United Kingdom: protection ends seventy years after the first of January following the author's year of death. The works of authors who died in 1955 therefore entered the public domain on 1 January 2026 — Thomas Mann among them.

Zıvana treats the date as a feast: every 1 January, a selection from the names set free that year. Rule sources: Law 5846 (Turkish Directorate General of Copyright), Directive 2006/116/EC arts. 1 and 8, CDPA 1988 s.12.