Public Domain 2026: What Books, Films, and Songs Are Free

The public domain grows larger every year, steadily reshaping how we access, preserve, and reinvent cultural history. On January 1, 2026, works first published in 1930 and sound recordings from 1925 officially enter the US public domain. Once protected by copyright, these books, films, songs, and compositions become free for anyone to copy, share, publish, adapt, perform, and reinterpret. For writers, filmmakers, educators, publishers, archivists, and creators, this annual shift acts as a cultural reset that unlocks some of the most influential works of the early 20th century.

According to Duke University’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain, this transition brings thousands of books, movies, musical works, characters, and artworks into the shared cultural commons. Their annual overview highlights only a fraction of what is coming, from landmark novels and iconic films to enduring songs and foundational ideas. Below is a clear, SEO optimized breakdown of the most notable books, songs, films, and musical compositions entering the public domain in 2026.

Books Entering the Public Domain in 2026

• William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying
• Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon
• Agatha Christie, The Murder at the Vicarage (first Miss Marple novel)
• Carolyn Keene (Mildred Benson), The Secret of the Old Clock and the first four Nancy Drew novels
• Watty Piper (Arnold Munk), The Little Engine That Could (illustrated edition by Lois Lenski)
• William H. Elson, Elson Basic Readers (first appearances of Dick and Jane)
• Noël Coward, Private Lives
• T.S. Eliot, Ash Wednesday
• Evelyn Waugh, Vile Bodies
• John Dos Passos, The 42nd Parallel
• Edna Ferber, Cimarron
• Dorothy L. Sayers, Strong Poison
• J. B. Priestley, Angel Pavement
• Olaf Stapledon, Last and First Men
• Sigmund Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents (original German edition)
• Elizabeth Coatsworth and Lynd Ward, The Cat Who Went to Heaven
• Arthur Ransome, Swallows and Amazons
• W. Somerset Maugham, Cakes and Ale
• Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness

Songs Entering the Public Domain in 2026

• I Got Rhythm
• Georgia on My Mind
• Dream a Little Dream of Me

Films Entering the Public Domain in 2026

• All Quiet on the Western Front, directed by Lewis Milestone (Academy Award winner)
• Cimarron, directed by Wesley Ruggles (Academy Award winner)
• Animal Crackers, starring the Marx Brothers
• Soup to Nuts, directed by Benjamin Stoloff and written by Rube Goldberg
• The Blue Angel, directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Marlene Dietrich
• Morocco, directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper
• Anna Christie, directed by Clarence Brown (Greta Garbo’s first talkie)
• Hell’s Angels, directed by Howard Hughes (Jean Harlow’s film debut)
• The Big Trail, directed by Raoul Walsh (John Wayne’s first leading role)
• The Big House, directed by George Hill
• Murder!, directed by Alfred Hitchcock
• L’Âge d’Or, directed by Luis Buñuel and written with Salvador Dalí
• Free and Easy, directed by Edward Sedgwick (Buster Keaton’s first speaking role)
• The Divorcee, directed by Robert Z. Leonard
• Whoopee!, directed by Thornton Freeland

Musical Compositions Entering the Public Domain in 2026

• I Got Rhythm, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, music by George Gershwin
• I’ve Got a Crush on You, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, music by George Gershwin
• But Not for Me, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, music by George Gershwin
• Embraceable You, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, music by George Gershwin
• Georgia on My Mind, lyrics by Stuart Gorrell, music by Hoagy Carmichael
• Dream a Little Dream of Me, lyrics by Gus Kahn, music by Fabian André and Wilbur Schwandt
• Livin’ in the Sunlight, Lovin’ in the Moonlight, lyrics by Al Lewis, music by Al Sherman
• On the Sunny Side of the Street, lyrics by Dorothy Fields, music by Jimmy McHugh
• It Happened in Monterey, lyrics by Billy Rose, music by Mabel Wayne
• Body and Soul, lyrics by Edward Heyman, Robert Sour, and Frank Eyton, music by Johnny Green
• Just a Gigolo (first English translation), original German lyrics by Julius Brammer, English translation by Irving Caesar, music by Leonello Casucci
• You’re Driving Me Crazy, lyrics and music by Walter Donaldson
• Beyond the Blue Horizon, lyrics by Leo Robin, music by Richard A. Whiting and W. Franke Harling
• The Royal Welch Fusiliers, composed by John Philip Sousa

Why the Public Domain Class of 2026 Matters

When works enter the public domain, they can be legally shared without permission or licensing fees. Community theaters can screen classic films. Youth orchestras and school bands can perform historic compositions. Libraries and digital archives such as the Internet Archive, HathiTrust, Google Books, and the New York Public Library can make these works fully accessible online. This open access supports both preservation and discovery, especially for works that have long disappeared from commercial circulation.

The year 1930 may feel distant, but the reality is that most works from that era are currently unavailable. Many cannot be purchased, streamed, or easily found. Once they enter the public domain in 2026, anyone can rescue them from obscurity, restore them, and reintroduce them to new audiences.

The public domain is also a powerful engine for creativity. Copyright law exists to encourage creation and distribution, but the US Constitution requires those rights to last only for a limited time. When that time expires, works enter the public domain, allowing future creators to legally build upon the past. Novels can be adapted into films, songs can be rearranged and recorded, and classic stories can be reimagined for new generations.

As the Center for the Study of the Public Domain notes, recent projects such as Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of Frankenstein and Jon M. Chu’s Wicked: For Good were made possible because their source material exists in the public domain. The class of 2026 continues this tradition, ensuring that cultural history is not only preserved but also alive, evolving, and creatively renewed.