Celebrate the public domain with the Internet Archive in the following ways:
- Register for our Public Domain Day celebrations on January 21 – both virtual and in-person.
- Submit a short film to our Public Domain Film Remix contest. Deadline January 7, 2026 @11:59 PM Pacific.
- Explore the works that have entered the public domain in 2026, below.
On January 1, 2026, we celebrate published works from 1930 and published sound recordings from 1925 entering the public domain! Their arrival marks another chapter in our shared cultural heritage: the freedom to breathe new life into overlooked works, remix enduring classics, and circulate the oddities we discover in thrift stores, family attics, and forgotten corners of the internet.
For the first time since the 1970s, works from a new decade have entered the public domain after their long copyright term. This milestone builds on the momentum that began when the public domain reopened in 2019. The works of 1930 reflect a world grappling with enormous change: the early years of the Great Depression, anxieties about banks and tariffs (sound familiar?), and a cultural landscape still humming with the last heartbeats of the 1920s.
The Jazz Age and flapper style persisted through Nancy Drew’s illustrations and Betty Boop’s design; Buster Keaton’s first talkie signaled the twilight of the silent era; and the Gershwins continued to shake-up musical culture with “I Got Rhythm” and “Embraceable You”. The Interwar period left its mark, too—the first filmed adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front won Best Picture. Audiences sought escapism in the Marx Brothers’ Animal Crackers, in 19 new Disney cartoons, and in the gender-bending glamour of the pre-Hays Code film Morocco.
Culture was everywhere—and now, it belongs to everyone.
Musical Compositions
1930 saw the introduction of many standards into the Great American Songbook including the wistful “Dream A Little Dream of Me”, “Georgia on My Mind”, and “It Happened in Monterey”. The latter of those songs being a cultural curiosity as the spelling reflects the California city while the song is about the Mexican city. Hoagy Charmichael’s loving refrain for the state of Georgia with Georgia on My Mind would become the state’s official song in 1979.
Even inspiration for later 20th Century works bubbled up with “Beyond the Blue Horizon” which would serve as inspiration for the original Star Trek theme. At the Internet Archive the song reminds us of the blinking blue lights that help to power the 1 Trillion webpages saved.
Check out this list of more musical compositions from the year.
- On the Sunny Side of the Street lyrics by Dorothy Fields, music by Jimmy McHugh
- Just A Gigolo (first English translation), original German lyrics by Julius Brammer, English translation by Irving Caesar, music by Leonello Casucci
- You’re Driving Me Crazy! What Did I Do?, lyrics and music by Walter Donaldson
- Livin’ in the Sunlight, Lovin’ in the Moonlight lyrics by Al Sherman, music by Al Lewis
- Body and Soul lyrics by Edward Heyman, Robert Sour, Frank Eyton, music by John W. Green
- I’ve Got a Crush on You; But Not for Me, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, music by George Gershwin
Literature
If we thought that detectives had a field day in 1929 then we just hadn’t seen what 1930 had to offer yet. Miss Marple, Nancy Drew, Harriet Vane, and Sam Spade all featured in iconic works of the year respectively: The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie, The Secret of the Old Clock, Strong Poison, and the published novel edition of The Maltese Falcon. Nancy Drew appeared in four different stories this year giving readers and creatives plenty of stories and mysteries to dig into. But be careful and make sure you’re reading the original editions from 1930 and not the rewrites from the late 1950s. Luckily the Archive has the 1930 editions ready for you here in our collections!
While detective fiction dominated we also got bold works from other authors including As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner which blends multiple perspectives and bold narrative experimentation to chronicle a family’s turbulent journey to honor their mother’s final request. Groundwork was also laid for another Best Picture winner with Edna Farber’s Cimarron. Children had works to entertain themselves with Dick and Jane’s introduction in Elson Basic Readers and a 1930 retelling of the folktale, The Little Engine That Could.
Dive into Archive’s literary collection to unearth more classics from 1930.
Film
A favorite film of this author is the King of Jazz, a stunning Technicolor musical revue featuring Paul Whiteman, Bing Crosby, and elaborate song and dance numbers.
It wasn’t the only musical of the year as the Marx Brothers adapted their stage show Animal Crackers to the big screen in a film of the same name. Their comedic antics would absurdly riff on the culture of the time with Groucho directly parodying a monologue from Eugene O’Neill’s 1928 play, Strange Interlude.
While past the heyday of his filmic output, Buster Keaton was still on the scene with his first talkie, Free and Easy, entering the public domain this year. If you’ve never heard his voice before then it might surprise you! Another iconic comedy is Soup to Nuts, a vehicle for Rube Goldberg to share crazy contraptions on screen. It was also the debut of actors that would form The Three Stooges group a few years later.
In another reminder of how copyright expires on a yearly basis we’re talking about All Quiet on the Western Front for the third year in a row, but this time as the adaptation that won the 3rd Academy Award for Best Picture. The film is a sobering reminder and depiction of the horrors of war, and showcased how audiences in 1930 were still reeling from the first World War. It is also a very engaging and well rounded film that is still great cinema nearly 100 years later.
Even more icons made headway in 1930 with Alfred Hitchcock’s Murder!, John Wayne’s first leading role in The Big Trail, and Greta Garbo’s moving performance in Anna Christie.
Check out more films from the year here:
- Hell’s Angels (dir. Howard Hughes & James Whale)
- Holiday (the first adaptation of the Philip Barry play)
- Monte Carlo (An early Lubitsch)
- The Divorcee (Norma Shearer’s Academy Award winning performance)
- The Unholy Three (Lon Chaney’s final film and only talkie)
Our film remix contest is ongoing until January 7, 2026, so please upload your submissions! Read more here.
Comics and Cartoons
Only a year removed from the 1920s, culture didn’t change overnight. Debuting on September 8, 1930, the Blondie comic strip by Chic Young was steeped in flapper style. Originally named Blondie Boopadoop, she drew on the singing persona of Helen Kane—who also inspired aspects of Betty Boop. For more on Betty Boop, read Jennifer Jenkins’ write-up at Duke Law’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain.
Mickey Mouse expanded from the screen to the page with 303 daily comic strips, sending him on western adventures, robber-chasing escapades, and more.
In 2026, we now have another 19 Disney shorts (9 Mickey, 10 Silly Symphonies) to help fill out this creative world. The Silly Symphonies rounded out their celebration of the seasons by following up 1929’s Springtime with Summer, Autumn, and Winter.
Meanwhile, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit—Mickey’s older brother—continued his prolific output even after Disney lost the rights to him in 1928. Under Walter Lantz, Oswald starred in 24 shorts this year, nearly 2.5 times Mickey’s total. Two of these, My Pal Paul and Africa, cross-promoted the film King of Jazz, proving that cinematic tie-ins have long been part of studio strategy.
Recap
The arrival of these works into the public domain is a reminder of our shared cultural heritage—of the stories, sounds, and images that shaped earlier generations and now become fair game for creative reuse. Many of these works have already been reimagined under copyright: Nancy Drew’s rewrites, the many adaptations of All Quiet on the Western Front, Mickey Mouse’s leap into comics, and more.
Now, in 2026, these works pass into a space where everyone can study them, remix them, preserve them, and carry them forward.
The public domain belongs to all of us. Let’s explore it together.
Additional resources
- Learn more about what’s moving into the public domain in 2026 from Jennifer Jenkins and James Boyle of Duke Law’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain.
- Public Domain Review highlights the materials moving into the public domain in 2026.
- Read the recaps from John Mark Ockerbloom’s Everybody’s Libraries of works that have joined the public domain.
- Check out the Public Domain Game Jam from Techdirt.
A public domain note regarding another Best Picture winner: Even though it was released in 1931, the copyright to Cimarron was registered in 1930. In scenarios regarding this disparity, copyright laws tend to err towards the earlier date. Thus, Cimarron is also in the public domain.
I wish that the laws were different so that nothing goes to public domain. Copyrights should last forever. Seeing how people are turning beloved cartoon characters into bloodthirsty killers is beyond horrible. Taking something innocent that was made for children and making it into something that only adults can watch. How sad. Maybe people should learn to RESPECT everything and stop ruining things just because there is no longer a law protecting books, movies, characters…even music. Everything should still be respected.
While I agree that seeing rhe rash of horror movies based on cartoon characters is odd, it’s the creativity behind works like those that make Public Domain necessary. On that point, 95 percent of Disney’s early movie works wouldnt exist if Public Domain wasnt a thing. Say what you want, opening IPs to the public helps inspire creativity
No one is forcing you to watch.
A pendulum swings both ways. Without the public domain, the Disney characters you know and love wouldn’t even exist, since Disney’s earliest hits depended upon classic stories that had entered the public domain. What here constitutes respects I’d hardly consider these old cartoons which often featured blackface children’s material currently which is the era of cartoons these laws are effecting. The adult spins on these characters are just a fact of having the freedom to be creative and make differing interpretations of stories and may not be to your taste but the protection of children begins at home and just because a knife is sharp and can cut a child doesn’t mean all knives should be banned. Go with Christ <3.
But what about the beautiful things people make that keep the materials relevant? And Isn’t it nice that these materials are now free to disperse and reach new audiences without restrictions? I’m not a big fan of the example you bring up, but I’m not going to waste my time watching those things anyway.
Heidi, parzialmente sono d’accordo con te, ma basta non andare al cinema a vedere quelle porcherie!
Detto ciò il pubblico dominio non c’entra nulla con quei film ,serve per incentivare la fantasia degli autori, per farti un esempio I Duellanti (1977) di Ridley Scott è tratto da un racconto di pubblico dominio di Joseph Conrad e mi sembra decisamente un gran bel film…
You do know that you aren’t being forced to watch those reimagined versions of the characters. If you don’t like it then don’t seek it out.
I agree to your comment. I also wish they would not allow colonizing films. The colors look like Easter egg dye.
There’s no need to see people turn “beloved cartoon characters into bloodthirsty killers”. Don’t watch it. There’s still the family friendly Mickey as well. Not everything has to be targeted towards your particular brand of sensibilities.
I couldn’t agree more, I wish art was more respected. There’s no reason to turn cartoon characters into horror movies, I’m expecting to see Betty Boop porn next. It’s sad what people will do for money
I agree with your comment, but unfortunately, it’s unlikely to change. It’s worth considering that the horror genre really took off after William Kennedy Dickson, working for Thomas Edison, developed an early motion picture camera. This made it possible to adapt Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel *Dracula* to film, albeit in a primitive way. From there, the appetite for horror movies grew alongside Hollywood’s rise, the celebrity culture, and eventually the technological advancements of the 21st century compared to the early days of cinema. Add to that the shifting moral values that emerged after 1897, and the end result feels like a natural outcome of people being influenced and inspired by ideas and creations from the past.
Hi Nicole,
I replied to your comment earlier, but it might not have gone through—possibly because I wasn’t logged in. So, I’ll try again, following the gist of my original thought. When Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel *Dracula* was adapted into an early version of the films we know today, it helped spark a growing appetite for “horror movies,” especially with the rise of Hollywood, acting, and celebrity culture. It’s clear how each generation influences the next, in ways both admirable and questionable. There’s something reassuring in realizing that what one person creates—even in the late 19th century—can inspire countless films that trace their roots back to a single book.
The gruesome horror is a necessary evil thanks to Disney itself. If some indie studio makes wholesome retro cartoons they’ll wait until the day before release then lock up everything with injunctions. Then a legal process that will take ten years or more and bleed money like a firehouse will begin. “Confusion of trademark”. Since Disney doesn’t have mickey as a live action psycho with a chainsaw they are less likely to try this as it’s about the ONE case Disney will lose in a motion to dismiss vs winning by being able to flush tons of money, then get the government to get our tax $ to pay for. Later, saner toons using mickey and pals will be made and the bridge should protect them.
As for the rest I don’t think it’s good for any society if the situation is to make a historical drama set in 20,000 BC and someone claiming to be the descendant of King Kull sues, just to extort money…
I think its great seeing the differences other people come up with these characters! I do enjoy the horror aspect more, they are fun to watch
People like that do not care whether the law allows them to do what they want, they will do it anyway. Copyright expiry protects good ideas from being hoarded forever to rot.
Please, help me. I want to write an e-mail to Internet Archive but i don’t know that is the best option. I’m a blind user and Internet Archive was introduced yesterday a javascript code that is a serious problem for blind users, with NVDA or Jaws. I need helpp and i need alert Internet Archive’s staff to solve this situation. I must send a e-mail from? Sorry for the off-topic.
And for my english, i write from Portugal.