History : The Great Gatsby is now public domain, among other things

Every year starting 2 years ago, anything copyrighted 95 years earlier becomes public domain. Last year the big one was Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. This year it's the Great Gatsby.

Some of the major works that are now free for anyone to use:

Books
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway
Ernest Hemingway, In Our Time
Franz Kafka, The Trial (in German)
Theodore Dreiser, An American Tragedy
John Dos Passos, Manhattan Transfer
Alain Locke, The New Negro (collecting works from writers including W.E.B. du Bois, Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, and Eric Walrond)
Sinclair Lewis, Arrowsmith
Agatha Christie, The Secret of Chimneys
Aldous Huxley, Those Barren Leaves
W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil
Dorothy Scarborough, On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs
Edith Wharton, The Writing of Fiction
Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto, A Daughter of the Samurai


Movies
Harold Lloyd’s The Freshman
The Merry Widow
Stella Dallas
Buster Keaton’s Go West
His People
Lovers in Quarantine
Pretty Ladies
The Unholy Three


Music
Always, by Irving Berlin
Sweet Georgia Brown, by Ben Bernie, Maceo Pinkard & Kenneth Casey
Works by Gertrude ‘Ma’ Rainey, the “Mother of the Blues,” including Army Camp Harmony Blues (with Hooks Tilford) and Shave ’Em Dry (with William Jackson)
Looking for a Boy, by George & Ira Gershwin (from the musical Tip-Toes)
Manhattan, by Lorenz Hart & Richard Rodgers
Ukulele Lady, by Gus Kahn & Richard Whiting
Yes Sir, That’s My Baby, by Gus Kahn & Walter Donaldson
Works by ‘Jelly Roll’ Morton, including Shreveport Stomps and Milenberg Joys (with Paul Mares, Walter Melrose, & Leon Roppolo)
Works by W.C. Handy, including Friendless Blues (with Mercedes Gilbert), Bright Star of Hope (with Lillian A. Thorsten), and When the Black Man Has a Nation of His Own (with J.M. Miller)
Works by Duke Ellington, including Jig Walk and With You (both with Joseph “Jo” Trent)
Works by ‘Fats’ Waller, including Anybody Here Want To Try My Cabbage (with Andrea “Andy” Razaf), Ball and Chain Blues (with Andrea “Andy” Razaf), and Campmeetin’ Stomp
Works by Bessie Smith, the “Empress of the Blues,” including Dixie Flyer Blues, Tired of Voting Blues, and Telephone Blues
Works by Lovie Austin, including Back Biting Woman’s Blues, Southern Woman’s Blues, and Tennessee Blues
Works by Sidney Bechet, including Waltz of Love (with Spencer Williams), Naggin’ at Me (with Rousseau Simmons), and Dreams of To-morrow (with Rousseau Simmons)
Works by Fletcher Henderson, including Screaming the Blues (with Fay Barnes)
Works by Sippie Wallace, including Can Anybody Take Sweet Mama’s Place (with Clarence Williams)
Works by Mrs. H.H.A. (Amy) Beach, including Lord of the Worlds Above, Op. 109 (words by Isaac Watts, 1674–1748), The Greenwood, Op. 110 (words by William Lisle Bowles, 1762–1850), The Singer, Op. 117 (words by Muna Lee, 1895–1965), and Song in the Hills, Op. 117, No. 3 (words by Muna Lee, 1895–1965)

https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2021/

What would happen if an artist took a song, basically copy it, and make money off it? Can they be sued?

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https://www.scribd.com/document/382737647/MortSahlFan-Song-List

It is free to be used in any way now as far as I am aware. That includes commercially.

I thought so, but I know public domain differs in every country.

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https://www.scribd.com/document/382737647/MortSahlFan-Song-List