At the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2026, a massive chunk of American cultural history will be pried from the hands of its corporate overlords. It will officially belong to all of us.
Under U.S. copyright law, works published in 1930 will officially enter the public domain, meaning anyone can copy, remix, adapt, preserve, and generally do whatever they want with them: no permission and no multi-million-dollar teams of lawyers required.
NPR reports that this year’s list is a greatest hits of early 20th-century pop culture. Betty Boop shows up in her original, weirder form, back when her hoop earrings were literal dog ears. Disney’s Pluto appears, too, but before he was Pluto, back when he was called Rover. Two titans of early American animation will now belong to us all.
All the Stuff Entering the Public Domain in 2026
As for books, William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, the full version of The Maltese Falcon, The Little Engine That Could, the first four Nancy Drew novels, and Agatha Christie’s debut Miss Marple mystery all become free for the taking.
Cinephiles get pre–Hays Code Hollywood classics like All Quiet on the Western Front, Cimarron, and the Marx Bros comedy classic Animal Crackers. The film collection also includes early performances by John Wayne, Greta Garbo, and Bing Crosby—all in films that are perhaps less iconic than the actors would later become.
There’s also a substantial amount of music and works of art in the batch. American standards such as “Georgia On My Mind” and “Dream A Little Dream Of Me” will be freely accessible to everyone. Multiple songs by legendary composer George Gershwin will be, too.
One of the most influential abstract paintings ever, Piet Mondrian’s Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow, will be released from the vault for everyone to do whatever they want with. And, funnily enough, the original design for the FIFA World Cup trophy will enter the commons. Good luck figuring out what to do with that.
We recently witnessed a barrage of Steamboat Willie short films and video games after the earliest version of Mickey Mouse entered the public domain on January 1, 2024, ending its 95 year copyright exclusion. There’s no telling exactly what people are going to do with the likes of Betty Boop and Pluto, but if the recent past is any indication, expect a lot of freaky stuff that’s probably been in the works for months if not years.
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