It may be 2022, but it will feel like 1926 at the stroke of midnight. That's when thousands of famous and sometimes obscure items will no longer be protected by U.S. copyright and enter the public domain.

The most famous is likely Winnie-The-Pooh, the creation of author A.A. Milne. Which means you just might see the famous bear and his honeypot in places you'd never expect. (I shudder to think where...) The Disney movie version, however, won't be affected.

Pooh just might meet Bambi, which under the rules will no longer be a "protected" species, when the book the dear old deer was introduced in becomes a public figure. (Although the famous Disney flick also will remain safe.)

Also up for grabs in the New Year - Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises and a number of silent films starring the likes of Buster Keaton and Greta Garbo. But perhaps the most interesting prize will be some 400,000 vintage songs from the dawn of the recording industry whose protection will have lapsed. And while most of us have likely never heard of the majority of these historic titles, some may still be familiar. 

"Red Red Robin" is one that's survived the years ("When the red, red robin goes bob, bob, bobbin' along" is the famous lyric) and will be free for the taking. But there are so many more and some of these recordings, unheard for almost a hundred years, will be clear of copyright, with many set to be posted online. 

This isn't radio or TV related, per se, but I found what's on the list so interesting, I thought I'd share it here as a preview of how the years past may resurface in the one that's about to start. 

January 1, 2022, is Public Domain Day: Works from 1926 are open to all, as is a cornucopia of recorded music: an estimated 400,000 sound recordings from before 1923