SF Public Library launches massive, historical platform free to public; Bay City News Service via SFGate, August 22, 2026

Bay City News Service via SFGate; SF Public Library launches massive, historical platform free to public

""The San Francisco Public Library announced this week that it has launched a new platform for its digital archive featuring more than 80,000 pieces of historical items that are free to access for the public.

The archive, called DigitalSF, includes historical photographs dating back to before the city was founded, as well as documents, manuscripts, maps, publications, and oral histories...

DigitalSF makes it easier for anyone -- whether they live in San Francisco or anywhere in (or around) the world -- to explore and share the city's stories," said Christina Moretta, photo curator and manager of the San Francisco History Center, in a statement. The history center is the library's archive at the Main Library that holds physical historical materials related to the city.

Some highlights in the archive include Harvey Milk's handwritten speeches, African American oral histories, photos of the city from the 19th century, and images of the city after the 1868, 1906 and 1989 earthquakes."

Film and music festival celebrates student creatives and public domain; The Daily Universe, February 6, 2020

Whitney Bigelow, The Daily Universe; Film and music festival celebrates student creatives and public domain

"Student filmmakers and musicians walked away from Wednesday night’s Public Domain Film and Music Festival with over $3000 in cash prizes. 

The festival was put on by the BYU Copyright Licensing Office. Students had 48 hours to create a film based on one of ten pieces of literature from 1924 that entered the public domain at the start of this year. Entries in the music category were given audio recordings from that same year to incorporate into their compositions.

The winner of the evening’s prestigious Best Picture award and $1,000 was a group of students called RHEEL Productions, including Heather Moser, Avery Marshall, Laura Marshall and Emma Spears. Their entry was a dramatic short film entitled “What’ll I Do,” based on the 1924 novel “Some Do Not” by Ford Madox Ford."

Freed From Copyright, These Classic Works Are Yours To Adapt; NPR, January 5, 2019

Milton Guevara, NPR; Freed From Copyright, These Classic Works Are Yours To Adapt

""Copyright has been overextended so many times, largely at the behest of major copyright holders," says author Naomi Novik. "Even though what that actually does is inhibit people from creating new works and sharing these older works." Novik is a founding member of the Organization for Transformative Works, a nonprofit that focuses on preserving fan fiction and art — that is, work created by fans, based on characters and worlds from their favorite written works, film, and TV, which can occasionally come into conflict with copyright law.

"For a character to live, that character has to belong to the audience," says Novik. "Works of art are meant to nourish our collective understanding; they're meant to nourish our conversation." 

Duke Law's entire list of works that entered the public domain this year can be found here."