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2026 in public domain
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When a work's copyright expires, it enters the public domain. The following is a list of creators whose works enter the public domain in 2026. Since laws vary globally, the copyright status of some works are not uniform.
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Entering the public domain in countries with life + 70 years
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With the exception of Belarus (Life + 50 years) and Spain (which has a copyright term of Life + 80 years for creators that died before 1987), a work enters the public domain in Europe 70 years after the creator's death, if it was published during the creator's lifetime. For previously unpublished material, those who publish it first will have the publication rights for 25 years. The same term applies in much of South America, and parts of western Africa.
2026 marks the first year since 2005 that works will enter the public domain in Australia, which changed its copyright term length from a "plus 50" law to a "plus 70" law in 2004.[1] The list is sorted alphabetically and includes a notable work of the creator that entered the public domain on 1 January 2026.
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Entering the public domain in countries with life + 80 years
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Spain has a copyright term of life + 80 years for creators that died before 1987. In Colombia and Equatorial Guinea, a work enters the public domain 80 years after the creator's death. The list is sorted alphabetically and includes a notable work of the creator that entered the public domain on 1 January 2026.
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Entering the public domain in countries with life + 60 years
![[icon]](#/media/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2024) |
In Bangladesh, India, and Venezuela a work enters the public domain 60 years after the creator's death.
Entering the public domain in countries with life + 50 years
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| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2021) |
In most countries of Africa and Asia, as well as Belarus, Bolivia, New Zealand and Uruguay; a work enters the public domain 50 years after the creator's death.
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Australia
In 2004 copyright in Australia changed from a "plus 50" law to a "plus 70" law, in line with the United States and the European Union. But the change was not made retroactive (unlike the 1995 change in the European Union which brought some (British and possibly other) authors back into copyright, especially those who died from 1925 to 1944). Hence, the work of an author who died before 1955 is normally in the public domain in Australia; but the copyright of authors was extended to 70 years after death for those who died in 1955 or later. 2026 will be the first year since 2005 that new Australian authors come out of copyright,[3] with those who died in 1955. Specific authors who will come out of copyright this year include Australian writer Charles Shaw and artists John Radecki and Antonio Dattilo Rubbo, in addition to all foreign authors listed in the "Life + 70 years" section above.
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Canada
In 2022, copyright in Canada changed from a "plus 50" law to a "plus 70" law, in line with the United States and the European Union. But the change was not made retroactive (unlike the 1995 change in the European Union which brought some (British and possibly other) authors back into copyright, especially those who died from 1925 to 1944).[4][5] No more new Canadian authors will come out of copyright until 1 January 2043 (those who died in 1972). Crown copyright was not changed, thus any government works published in 1974 entered the public domain in 2025.[6]
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United States
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Under the Copyright Term Extension Act, books published in 1930, films released in 1930, and other works published in 1930, will enter the public domain in 2026.[7][8] Unpublished works whose authors died in 1955 will also enter the public domain.[7]
Among the works of literary fiction that will enter the public domain in 2026 are William Faulkner's novel As I Lay Dying, Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon as a complete novel, Evelyn Waugh's novel Vile Bodies, Edna Ferber's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Cimarron, W. Somerset Maugham's novel Cakes and Ale, Olaf Stapledon's sci-fi novel Last and First Men, and the first English translations of Franz Kafka's The Castle and Hermann Sudermann's The Excursion to Tilsit. Notable mystery and crime novels entering the public domain include Agatha Christie's first Miss Marple novel The Murder at the Vicarage, Christie's other novels The Mysterious Mr. Quin and Giant's Bread (the latter of which she wrote pseudonymously as "Mary Westmacott"), Dorothy L. Sayers' novels Strong Poison and The Documents in the Case (the latter of which she co-wrote with Robert Eustace), John Dickson Carr's first detective novel It Walks By Night, Ellery Queen's novel The French Powder Mystery, Leslie Charteris' novel Enter the Saint, and the original serialized version of Max Brand's Destry Rides Again. Dramas entering this year include Private Lives by Noël Coward, The Green Pastures by Marc Connelly, Bertolt Brecht's plays Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny and The Decision in their original German, Jean Cocteau's The Human Voice in its original French, and The Barretts of Wimpole Street by Rudolf Besier. Notable children's and young people's books joining the public domain include The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper, Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome, The Cat Who Went to Heaven by Elizabeth Coatsworth, The Tale of Little Pig Robinson by Beatrix Potter, the first Elson-Gray Readers books featuring Dick and Jane by William S. Gray, The Yellow Knight of Oz by Ruth Plumly Thompson, and the original editions of the first four Nancy Drew mystery stories by pseudonymous author Carolyn Keene ‒ The Secret of the Old Clock (which marked the character's debut), The Hidden Staircase, The Bungalow Mystery, and The Mystery at Lilac Inn ‒ alongside The Great Airport Mystery from fellow Stratemeyer series The Hardy Boys. Poems entering the public domain include T. S. Eliot's "Ash Wednesday", Hart Crane's long poem "The Bridge", and W. H. Auden's first major poetry collection, simply called Poems. Notable nonfiction entrants to the public domain include Sigmund Freud's book Civilization and Its Discontents in its original German, William Empson's Seven Types of Ambiguity (a foundational work of literary criticism), and The Mysterious Universe by James Jeans.[9] He Done Her Wrong, a wordless novel by Milt Gross, will also enter the public domain.
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Significant films entering the public domain in 2026 include the following:[9]
- Lewis Milestone's All Quiet on the Western Front, the third film to win the Best Picture and Best Director Academy Awards;
- Josef von Sternberg's The Blue Angel, starring Emil Jannings and Marlene Dietrich, which launched the latter to international stardom;
- Animal Crackers starring the Marx Brothers;
- the Laurel and Hardy comedy Another Fine Mess;
- Soup to Nuts featuring an early iteration of The Three Stooges;
- Anna Christie, Greta Garbo's first sound film;
- Hell's Angels, an aviation epic directed by Howard Hughes and starring Jean Harlow, which marked the actress's breakthrough;
- Morocco, also directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Marlene Dietrich, which marked the Hollywood debut of Dietrich (who would go on to make five additional films with the director) and earned four Academy Award nominations;
- the French film L'Âge d'Or (The Golden Age), directed by Luis Buñuel, which enters the U.S. public domain after having been banned in its home country for nearly fifty years;
- the Soviet film Earth, directed by Alexander Dovzhenko, which is a landmark of Soviet cinema;
- George Hill's The Big House, starring Chester Morris and Wallace Beery;
- Robert Z. Leonard's The Divorcee starring Norma Shearer, which won her the Academy Award for Best Actress;
- Hill's Min and Bill starring Beery and Marie Dressler;
- The Dawn Patrol, directed by Howard Hawks and starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr.;
- Alfred Hitchcock's films Juno and the Paycock and Murder!;
- The Big Trail, with John Wayne in his first starring role, which is an early example of a film produced in widescreen format;
- King of Jazz, which was Bing Crosby's film debut and one of the most notable examples of early talkies produced in two-strip Technicolor;
- Robert Siodmak's first film People on Sunday with its original German script, written by Billy Wilder;
- René Clair's Under the Roofs of Paris in its original French;
- G. W. Pabst's Westfront 1918 in its original German;
- John Ford's films Up the River and Born Reckless, the former of which was the feature-film debut for both Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bogart;
- F. W. Murnau's first American film City Girl;
- Feet First starring Harold Lloyd;
- Journey's End, the directorial debut of James Whale;
- Frank Capra's film Ladies of Leisure;
- Ernst Lubitsch's film Monte Carlo, starring Jack Buchanan and Jeanette MacDonald;
- Lloyd Bacon's film A Notorious Affair with Billie Dove and Basil Rathbone;
- Roland West's film The Bat Whispers, an influential early horror film;
- Frank Borzage's film Liliom, the basis for the musical Carousel;
- Whoopee!, an early two-strip Technicolor film featuring Eddie Cantor;
- The Royal Family of Broadway, one of George Cukor's first films as a director;
- Cecil B. DeMille's film Madam Satan;
- the French film Prix de Beauté (Beauty Prize) starring Louise Brooks;
- Jack Conway's The Unholy Three, starring Lon Chaney in his only speaking role and released shortly before the actor's death;
- the Buster Keaton films Doughboys and Free and Easy;
- King Vidor's Billy the Kid starring Beery and Johnny Mack Brown;
- Just Imagine, an early science fiction musical directed by David Butler;
- Manslaughter starring Claudette Colbert and Fredric March;
- Tod Browning's film Outside the Law starring Edward G. Robinson;
- The Big Pond starring Maurice Chevalier and Colbert;
- Lightnin' starring Will Rogers;
- War Nurse, a female-fronted World War I drama starring Anita Page;
- Laughter, directed by Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast and starring March alongside Nancy Carroll, which was critically acclaimed in its own time but is now an overlooked gem among early sound films;
- Follow Thru, directed by Lloyd Corrigan and starring Carroll alongside Charles "Buddy" Rogers, one of the first all-Technicolor sound musicals to be preserved in full color;
- Niebezpieczny romans (Dangerous Romance), the first Polish sound film;
- Tonka of the Gallows, the first Czech sound film;
- The Song of Love, the first Italian sound film;
- Goodbye Argentina, the first Argentinian sound film;
- À propos de Nice, the directorial debut of French filmmaker Jean Vigo; and
- the British drama The Man with the Flower in His Mouth, television's oldest surviving broadcast.
Dave Fleischer's cartoons Dizzy Dishes and Hot Dog, the respective debuts of Betty Boop and Bimbo, will enter into the public domain. The 1930 Mickey Mouse cartoons enter the public domain this year as well, bringing with them the design of Pluto, who will enter the public domain through his debut appearance in The Chain Gang (where he was an unnamed prison guard dog), and his second appearance as "Rover" (owned by Minnie Mouse) in The Picnic.[a] Also entering the public domain is an Ub Iwerks cartoon character created independently of the Disney studio: Flip the Frog, whose debut film Fiddlesticks was the first sound cartoon in color. The first comic appearances of Hergé's Quick & Flupke and Chic Young's Blondie will also enter the public domain,[b][9] as will the first Disney comics[c] and the full album version of Hergé's Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, the character's debut story, in its original French black-and-white version (accompanied by part of the serialized version of Tintin in the Congo).
Notable popular songs that will enter the public domain in 2026 include "Dream a Little Dream of Me", which spawned 400 recorded versions and was a signature song for Mama Cass; Johnny Green's song "Body and Soul", the most recorded jazz standard of all time; George and Ira Gershwin's songs "Embraceable You" and "I Got Rhythm", the latter of which introduced the "rhythm changes" which became a foundational jazz chord progression; Hoagy Carmichael's song "Georgia on My Mind", which was Ray Charles' signature song and is the state song of Georgia; "Get Happy", the first hit from songwriter Harold Arlen; Jimmy McHugh's song "On the Sunny Side of the Street"; Cole Porter's song "Love for Sale"; Rodgers and Hart's songs "Ten Cents a Dance" and "Dancing on the Ceiling"; Walter Donaldson's songs "Little White Lies", "You're Driving Me Crazy", and "My Baby Just Cares for Me" (the last of which was made famous later by Nina Simone); Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz's song "Something to Remember You By"; "Fine and Dandy"; "Someday I'll Find You"; "Three Little Words"; "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone"; "Sing, You Sinners"; "Would You Like to Take a Walk?"; and "Cheerful Little Earful". Some songs introduced in films will become public domain as well: the entry of The Blue Angel will bring along Dietrich's signature song "Falling in Love Again (Can't Help It)", that of Monte Carlo will bring along the song "Beyond the Blue Horizon" as sung by MacDonald, and that of The Big Pond will bring along the songs "Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight" and "You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me".[9]
Sound recordings that were published in 1925 will enter the public domain,[7] including the first recordings of the songs "Yes Sir, That's My Baby", "Sweet Georgia Brown", "If You Knew Susie", "Manhattan", "Tea for Two", "Oh, How I Miss You Tonight", and "Dinah".[9]
Some of the better-known works of art entering the public domain are Ansel Adams' photobook Taos Pueblo with writing by Mary Hunter Austin, Martin Munkácsi's photograph Three Boys at Lake Tanganyika, and Edward Weston's photograph Pepper No. 30.
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Notes
- Mickey's ownership of the bloodhound character will not enter the public domain until 2027, through the short The Moose Hunt.
- In Young's first Blondie comics, the title character was a flapper, and Dagwood was the young heir to a railway company. Many strips from later in the decade where Dagwood's obsession with sandwiches was established did not have their copyrights properly renewed, meaning that element will be available to be used once the first strip expires.
- Only the first week of the Mickey Mouse comic strip (January 13–18, 1930) was renewed properly. Since Clarabelle Cow was introduced in the strip before debuting in animation in The Shindig, she was already in the public domain as a result of that.
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