As January rolls around in the US, it heralds a familiar event that has occurred annually since 2019: a new selection of previously copyrighted works has officially entered the public domain. This means that individuals now have the freedom to publish, modify, and adapt these works and their characters without the need to secure rights or pay royalty fees.
This year’s offerings include an array of books, plays, films, artworks, and musical compositions from 1929, alongside sound recordings from 1924. According to the provisions of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998, most works released from 1923 onward are shielded for 95 years, effectively delaying their entry into the public domain by two decades.
As is tradition, the Duke University Center for the Study of the Public Domain provides a comprehensive overview of the most notable works that have become public this year.
Among the significant literature is Ernest Hemingway’s Farewell to Arms, along with the first English translation of Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, Agatha Christie’s The Seven Dials Mystery, Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own, and William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury.
The cinematic offerings showcase pioneering films that introduced sound, including the first all-color feature-length film with synchronized audio (Warner Bros.’ On With the Show!) and notable sound films by directors like Cecil B. DeMille and Alfred Hitchcock. Additionally, we find Buster Keaton’s last silent film, Spite Marriage, alongside memorable musical compositions like Singin’ in the Rain and Tiptoe Through the Tulips.
On the Disney front, noteworthy additions include the Silly Symphony short The Skeleton Dance and several early Mickey Mouse shorts, which feature significant character developments, such as Mickey’s introduction of white gloves and his first spoken lines. Interestingly, only the 1920s versions of these characters have entered the public domain, making each new edition crucial for creators wishing to use these beloved figures without infringing on Disney’s copyrights.
