The Yomiuri Shimbun reports that it in Japan it is a 'Bumper year' for book lovers / Literary masterpieces enter public domain, become free online, as in Japan:
The law stipulates that copyrights expire 50 years after the end of the year in which the writer died. The copyrights held by authors who died in 1962 expired at the end of 2012, and their works can now be used for free without permission.Meanwhile, in the US ... well, as the Center for the Study of the Public Domain reminds us:
Not a single published work is entering the public domain this year. Or next year. In fact, in the United States, no publication will enter the public domain until 2019.