Every January 1 in the Books department, we like to make an extra toast for a concurrent holiday: Public Domain Day.

By Travis Fischer, [email protected] It’s a new year and that means a new wave of classic media has entered into the public domain. Aspiring creatives in the United States are now legally ...

Last year, it was Mickey Mouse. This year, Popeye the Sailor joins Mickey as a new entrant to the public domain — that is, shedding his core copyright ...

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There’s also some complexity when it comes to music. Sound recordings from 1924 are now in the public domain, while 1929 ...

The new year brings additions to the public domain, allowing creators and fans alike to freely use iconic works that were ...

In the U.S., the length of copyright protection for works published before 1978 is 95 years. That means works from 1929 and ...

As we welcome 2025, everyone can also welcome these iconic works as they entered the public domain in the U.S.

At the turn of the new year, several pieces of classic media entered the public domain, making them free to use by anyone.

Popeye’s very first iteration, who didn’t eat spinach to gain strength, is now free to copy, share, and adapt.

With the beginning of 2025, paintings by the likes of Henri Matisse, Frida Kahlo and André Derain are entering the public ...

The earliest versions of Popeye and Tintin have now entered the public domain, along with more iterations of Mickey Mouse.