George Orwell's copyright expired in the UK

Since 2021, the works of George Orwell will be in the public domain in the UK. According to British law, copyright is protected for 70 years after the author’s death.

George Orwell died on January 21, 1950, and therefore the vast majority of his works (a total of 21 editions), including popular novels such as Animal Farm and 1984, were out of copyright in the UK as of January 1, 2021. These works can be freely transferred and used at the theatre stage, movie screen, adapted for the production of TV series, video games and others.

By the way, in the Republic of Belarus in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 20 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus of May 17, 2011 No. 262-Z “On Copyright and Related Rights”, the exclusive right to a work is valid during the life of the author and fifty years after his death. Thus, in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 5 of the said Law in Belarus, these works of George Orwell have been in the public domain for 20 years already.