The public domain keeps culture vibrant. Why is it shrinking? Use this article … 95 years after I’m dead.

A bounty of classic cartoon and comic characters have entered the public domain this year.

A series of classic songs and musical arrangements have entered the Public Domain this year; here are just a few of them.

In 2025, a mountain of work dated to between 1924 to 1929 will enter the US public domain, including some well-known and beloved songs that are still regularly performed today.

What is the public domain? According to the Center for the Study of the Public Domain, works that enter the public domain can be legally shared without permission or fees.

It’s January, which means another batch of copyrighted work is now public domain More Mickey Mouse versions, early talkies, and classic novels all go public.

It’s a whole new year now, which means a bunch of other cultural works are now in the public domain, including a pack of popular standards from 1929.

In 2025, the works unbound from copyright cap off the 1920s with literature, characters and more from 1929 entering the public domain.

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

Several iconic characters from 1929 are headed to the public domain this year, including the earliest versions of Popeye and Tintin.