Works entering the U.S. public domain in 2026

Works of art created in 1930 such as early Betty Boop cartoons depicting her as a dog, Disney's "Rover" prototype for Pluto, and more Mickey Mouse cartoons, all enter the U.S. public domain on Jan 1, 2026. Literary works joining them there include Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh, William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon and Miss Marple, though only as depicted in first of the many mysteries penned by Agatha Christie.

Songs include Georgia on my Mind and Dream a Little Dream of Me, though remixers take note that only recordings made in 1930 make the cut. Paintings include Piet Mondrian's Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow. In the nonfiction section, we have Memoirs of an Infantry Officer by Siegfried Sassoon and the German text of Civilization and Its Discontents by Sigmund Freud.

As a matter of fact, a Betty Boop horror movie is already in the works, following a string of 2025 scary movies starring villainous versions of the freshly non-copyrighted Peter Pan, Bambi and Popeye. Also, a Minnie Mouse slasher is due for release in 2026.

Here is original Betty Boop: those floppy ears were soon transformed into earrings, and her nose lost its color.

NPR reports that art flourishes in the public domain, and the originals become more accessible.

A lot of creative works from the 1930s haven't been in print for decades, and ownership questions have kept many from being available online at all — at least while they were under copyright.

"Publishing houses go out of business, people die, ownership changes hands," Jenkins adds. "I mean, who on Earth owns the copyright to those random works from … almost a century ago? And when they go into the public domain, you don't have to worry about that."

Copyright Lately has compiled a big list of works.