The Sweet Public Domain: Celebrating Copyright Expiration with the Honey Bunch Series

Abstract

The Sweet Public Domain: Celebrating Copyright Expiration with the Honey Bunch Series is a celebration of the reinstatement of public domain day on January 1, 2019, after a twenty-year hiatus due to the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act. This digital collection features a republication of the children’s book series Honey Bunch, which began publication in 1923, supported by essays on the book series, copyright and the public domain. The Honey Bunch series follows the adventures of four-year-old Honey Bunch, along with cat Lady Clare and doll Eleanor, as the child encounters a succession of firsts—her first visit to the city, her first days on the farm, her first little garden, her first visit to the seashore, and more. Accompanying essays provide an introduction to and history of the series, exploring its themes of domesticity, materialism, and childhood bliss within the context of the Great Depression, girls’ series books, and the Stratemeyer Syndicate. The collection is rounded off by essays on copyright and the public domain in celebration of the impact of the end of extended copyright terms on the collective imagination.