*Updated on 21st April 2026 – originally published on 22nd April 2025*
World Book and Copyright Day is held annually on April 23. It is a special date, as it marks the day when three major writers passed away: Shakespeare, Cervantes, and Wordsworth. This event is organised by UNESCO to promote reading and show the significance of books as a link between people, generations, and cultures. It also tries to raise awareness about copyright issues, especially nowadays when the spread of AI challenges, even threatens, intellectual property laws. More often than not, classic books are in the public domain because they are old enough to be no longer copyrighted. But keep in mind that most of the 20th-century modern classics are still protected and cannot be reproduced without permission.
