Happy New Year!! Happy Public Domain Day!! Published works from 1929 enter the Public Domain!

As of January 1, 2025, works published in 1929 in the United States are now in the Public Domain. Next year, published works from 1930 will go into the Public Domain.

As a result of the Music Modernization Act, last year, 2024, marked the first time sound recordings began to enter the public domain.

Some of the works entering the Public Domain this year include: A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway and A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf. In film, more Mickey Mouse features, including The Karnival Kid, where we hear Mickey’s voice for the first time, are in the Public Domain. Hallelujah, directed by King Vidor, one of the first films from a major studio with an all African-American cast, also entered the Public Domain. The original Popeye and Tintin characters  entered the public domain. New public domain compositions include Fats Waller’s Ain’t Misbehavin’, Gershwin’s An American in Paris, Ravel’s Bolero, and the musical number Singin’ in the Rain.

Visit this link to see more Public Domain content: https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2025/

These works no longer have copyright protection and are in the Public Domain in the United States.

To learn more about the Public Domain, please visit the Library of Congress, Copyright Office and Duke Law School’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain. Also, Cornell University Library maintains a very useful chart called Copyright Term and the Public Domain that can help in understanding copyright terms.

We hope you find time to enjoy these new Public Domain materials!