January 1st of every new year is Public Domain Day. Books, songs, art, audio recordings, and films enter the public domain where they can be used or otherwise repurposed by anyone. Opening up these intellectual properties allow for the creation of such classics as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey (they can’t all be winners).
This year books, songs, and films from 1929 enter the public domain. Sound recordings from 1924 also are now available. Among these works are some classic novels.
Films now available include:
Two famous characters have also entered the public domain. The original versions of Popeye and Tintin are now available for anyone to use. Be careful, though. Some aspects of the characters may be from later versions and are not yet in the public domain. For instance, Popeye’s use of spinach to gain strength appeared in 1931 and may or may not be copyrighted. You might want to wait until 2027 before using that trait.
To find out more about the Public Domain Day 2025, check out this announcement from the Center for the Study of the Public Domain at Duke Law.
Works in the public domain can be accessed at:
Post contribution by Anthony Kaiser
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