A roundup of some of the notable works that entered the Public Domain this year.
Written by Matthew Masino
Each year on January 1, a collection of copyrighted work loses its protected status and enters the public domain. This is marked with the celebration of Public Domain Day. We celebrated the day last year when works like The Jazz Singer and the first three books in The Hardy Boys landed in the public domain.
According to the Center for the Study of the Public Domain, “The goal of copyright is to promote creativity, and the public domain plays a central role in doing so. Copyright law gives authors important rights that encourage creativity and distribution. But it also ensures that those rights last for a ‘limited time,’ so that when they expire, works can go into the public domain, where future authors can legally build upon their inspirations…Anyone can use these works as raw material for their own creations, without fear of a lawsuit. What kinds of things will people do with public domain works?”
Now that it is 2024, many works are entering the public domain for the first time. In the United States, books, films, and other media published in 1928 enter the public domain in 2024. Many are obscure, but we’ve highlighted some of the big names below, including a certain magical rodent. We hope their new legal status inspires you to go out and create something of your own!
On January 9th, join us for the first happy hour event of the year at Get Lit: Public Domain Party. We’ll be celebrating these new additions to the public domain with a live Road-A-Thon, which we’ll share live on on our Instagram. Plus, you can create your own works at our Remix Stations or add a note to our time capsule. We hope you’ll join us!
Here are just a few selections of works to enter the public domain in 2024:
Books
- Millions of Cats by Wanda Gág
- Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle by Edgar Rice Burroughs
- Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilization by Margaret Mead
- The Missing Chums (The Hardy Boys, #4) by Franklin W. Dixon
- Hunting for Hidden Gold (The Hardy Boys, #5) by Franklin W. Dixon
- The Shore Road Mystery (The Hardy Boys, #6) by Franklin W. Dixon
- The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly
- West-Running Brook by Robert Frost
Films
That’s right! For the first time, Mickey Mouse, along with Minnie, will enter the public domain… sort of. Copyright is complicated, so we always recommend consulting a copyright attorney before using previously copyrighted work. Click here to learn more.
- Steamboat Willie by Walt Disney & Ub Iwerks
- Plane Crazy (silent version) by Walt Disney & Ub Iwerks
- The Gallopin’ Gaucho by Walt Disney
- Abie’s Irish Rose by Jules Furthman
- In Old Arizona by Tom Barry
- Noah’s Ark by Anthony Codleway from a story by Darryl F. Zanuck
- Speedy by Al Boasberg
- Lights of New York by Murray Roth and Hugh Herbet
- The Man Who Laughs by J. Grubb Alexander, Walter Anthony, Mary McLean, and Charles E. Whittaker
Musical Compositions
- “Makin’ Whoopee” by Walter Donaldson, lyrics by Gus Kahn
- “The Big Rock Candy Mountains” by Harry McClintock
- “There’s a Rainbow ‘Round My Shoulder” by Al Jolson, Billy Rose, and Dave Dreyer
- “I Wanna Be Loved by You” by Herbert Stothart and Harry Ruby, lyrics by Bert Kalmar
- “Sweet Sue, Just You” by Victor Young, lyrics by Will J Harris
- “Sonny Boy” by Ray Henderson, Buddy De Sylva, and Lew Brown
Sound Recordings
Click on the links below to hear the public domain sound recordings from our friends at the Library of Congress.
- “St. Louis Blues” by W.C. Handy, performed by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band
- “I’ve Got the Yes! We Have No Banana Blues” by James F Hanley and Robert King, performed by Eddie Candor
- “Down Hearted Blues” by Lovie Austin, performed by Bessie Smith
- “Waitin’ for the evenin’ mail (sittin’ on the inside, lookin’ at the outside)” by Billy Baskette, performed by the Tennessee Ten
- “Barney Google” by Billy Rose and Con Conrad, performed by Billy Jones and Ernest Hare
International Works
While our goal here at the American Writers Museum is to celebrate the writing of American authors, we also want to highlight some international works entering the public domain here in the United States.
- The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne
- The Circus screenplay by Charlie Chaplin
- All Quiet on the Western Front (German version) by Erich Maria Remarque
- Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence
- Orlando: A Biography by Virginia Woolf
- The Passion of Joan of Arc screenplay by Joseph Delteil and Carl Theodor Dreyer
- The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall
- The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie
- The Threepenny Opera by Berlot Brecht
- “Mack the Knife” (German version) by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Bertolt Brecht
Matthew Masino is the Community Engagement Manager for the AWM. He is also a content creator, writer, and theatre director based in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated with a B.F.A. in Theatre Directing from Columbia College Chicago in 2019. As a theatre artist, Matthew has worked with the International Voices Project, the Chicago Fringe Festival, and BYOT Productions. You can learn more by visiting his website www.matthewmasino.com.
Now that character’s like Tarzan and Mickey Mouse have entered public domain, I can see an Independent Movie Studio Making a new Tarzan film, and making it right, BTW, hopefully generating sequels or continuing adventures, so that new fans can be born, or least make the Tarzan character be a part of a new Universe of characters in a franchise, Disney and DC Comics weren’t that favorable to that character at all, you have to also find the right actor to play him as well, not just an unknown with a physique, he has to have premier acting ability and can, within reason, do his own stunts and break the old acting rule about working with children and animals( maybe he can be a former child star), all I’m saying is this, there’s potential here for new greatness, don’t waste it, that’s all.
Agreed. Although I’m unsure how much relevance a character like Tarzan still has in the 21st century.
Given Disney’s loathsome actions regarding copyright, one had best stick to the Steamboat Willie version of MM until the courts decide just what is, or is not covered by trademark.
They have already came out and said it has to be strictly the steam boat Willie version. Any of the other mickeys or Minnie’s, Tarzan’s or whatever are all under copyright still. It restarts when the character is changed even just a little.
So it has to be mickey in black and white basically from like that old skit some people I seen commented about the hat but in the short he originally doesn’t have it on
Maybe do on Steamboat Willie. However, in about a decade, characters like Daffy Duck, and even Superman will lose their copyright. Since these two examples have hardly changed, it’ll be interesting to see the legal gymnastic enacted.
What, no Plays listed? Come on guys–you’re missing a major portion of copyrighted work!!!
Hi Barbara,
Thanks for the tip! We’ll have to keep this in mind when putting together our list next year.