The original version of Betty Boop, featured in the cartoon Dizzying Dishes, is one of many works from 1930 that became public in 2026.
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A new year means a new parade of classic characters and works entering the public domain.
Under US law, copyrights on thousands of 1930 works, including films, books, music and more, expire at the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2026, meaning they will still be free to use, distribute and adapt after nearly a century.
“I think this is my favorite series of papers, and that says a lot,” says Jennifer Jenkins, director of the Center for Public Domain Studies at Duke University Law School, which compiled annual list of public domain contributors for over ten years now.
This year's treasure trove features famous faces like the original Betty Boop, whose iconic hoop earrings were originally shaped like floppy dog ears, and the original version of Disney's Pluto, who first went by the name Rover.
“Not only is it interesting in its own right, but it's really an opportunity to look back at the history of these two incredible animation studios, Fleischer and Disney, and how their styles are etched into the DNA of modern cartoons,” Jenkins says. “It’s just a fun rabbit hole.”
Among the literary outstanding works of William Faulkner When I was dyingcomplete version by Dashiell Hammett Maltese falconWatty Piper The little engine that couldthe first four books of the Nancy Drew detective series and Murder at the RectoryAgatha Christie's first Miss Marple mystery.
The selection of films includes war stories, musicals, thrillers, westerns, comedies and more from directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hughes and Salvador Dali. Among them Quiet on the Western Front, Animal Crackers starring the Marx Brothers, winner of Best Picture of 1931 Cimarronand two films by Marlene Dietrich, Morocco And Blue Angel.
Several of the films on the list feature future stars in the early days of their careers: Bing Crosby's first appearance in a feature film in King of JazzGreta Garbo's first sound film Anna Christie And Great trailJohn Wayne's first leading role.
What's notable, Jenkins says, is that all the films on this year's list came earlier. Hays Codea set of voluntary studio rules prohibiting profanity, violence and nudity, as well as interracial relationships and “lustful kissing” in films from 1934 to 1968.
Musical selections include “Georgia on My Mind,” “Dream a Little Dream of Me” and four songs by Ira and George Gershwin: “I Got Rhythm,” “I've Got a Crush on You,” “But Not for Me” and “Embraceable You.” Artworks include Piet Mondrian's “Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow” and Abel Lafleur's Jules Rimet Cup – original trophy FIFA World Cup from 1930 to 1970.
Jenkins says her four-person team spent more than 80 hours poring over archives to come up with this year's list. Writing an online resume was another feat that she said kept her busy from 5am to 5pm for two weeks.
But she believes a bruised neck is a small price to pay to shine a light on the value of the public domain in “nurturing creativity and providing access.”
“What's really funny is that people are excited about it—people way outside of our world of copyright lawyers—especially when they start to recognize these works,” she says. “And to me, one of the most exciting things is when you go back to a piece that you loved at another time in your life and you can look at it again.”
The public domain opens up new possibilities
You might be wondering: isn't there already a pretty famous 2007 Nancy Drew movie and a cult favorite? Betty Boop the Musical on Broadway now?
Yes. But at the time, adapting these characters required permission and money, Jenkins explains.
“The difference now is, if you and I are really good at choreographing dance moves and writing song lyrics, we could make our own musical starring Betty Boop 1.0 and go in all the crazy directions we want,” she says.
Actually, Betty Boop horror film is already in development, following a series of 2025 horror films featuring villainous versions of the just-out-of-copyright films. Peter Pan, Bambi And Popeye. Besides, Slasher Minnie Mouse should be published in 2026.
Not All Adaptations Have to Be Dark: Consider West Side Story taken from Shakespeare Romeo and Julietreimagined by Percival Everett Huckleberry Finn V book 2024 James and, of course, The Wizard of Oz-inspired Wicked movies.
And the public domain is not only good news for those who want to create art, but also for those who simply want to consume it.
“This goes way beyond creativity to accessibility, preservation and the ability to freely use things in school,” explains Jenkins.
For example, Jenkins says, books tend become cheaper – and will be available in other editions – as soon as they become public domain.
Many creative works from the 1930s went unpublished for decades, and ownership issues prevented many of them from being available online at all—at least while they were under copyright protection.
“Publishers close, people die, ownership changes hands,” Jenkins adds. “I mean, who on Earth owns the copyright to these random works created… almost a century ago? And when they go into the public domain, you won't have to worry about it.”
Another benefit is that third parties can now digitize old films and sound recordings that have physically deteriorated over the decades, allowing them to be preserved and distributed more widely.
Jenkins says this is especially interesting for teachers, who can use these resources for free at a time when school budgets are being cut. And even those who don't attend class regularly can learn a lot from this selection of works.
“Now we all talk to our chatbots and wonder what it means that we respond to works of art or to machine-generated words. It was amazing to feel the humanity behind all these works from 1930,” says Jenkins, explaining that they were all created by people living in the shadow of the First World War.
Although there are many unresolved issues around AI and Intellectual PropertyJenkins says one thing is clear: “The condition of copyright is human authorship.” So if a bot writes your musical Boop, don't expect it to be secure.
