Every year for the last few years, music from 95 years previous has entered the public domain. 2021 is no exception, welcoming all music published in 1925.
We are at the cusp of the peak years of the Great American Songbook. Early examples of the form enter the creative commons every year, though we will have to continue to wait for many of the greatest from Kern, Gershwin, Rodgers, and others.
Nevertheless, 2021 is a good year. Songs no longer subject to copyright include “Sweet Georgia Brown”, “Tea for Two,” “Manhattan” (Rodgers & Hart), and “Always” (Irving Berlin). (Long list here.)
The newly free material is a gift to arrangers seeking to explore the Great American Songbook without fear of copyright infringement.