By Jennifer Jahn
NKyTribune staff writer
One of the many things that quietly comes to an end each year is copyright protection for specific creative works.
Copyright applies to ideas expressed in a fixed medium, such as, literary, musical, artistic, audiovisual, and choreographic works in the United States. It has existed at the federal level since the Constitution took effect on March 4, 1789. Several states had their own copyright laws before that date, but federal law eventually unified and expanded protections nationwide.
Over time, copyright terms have been revised and extended. As of January 1, 2026, all works from 1930 are open to the masses, including sound recordings from 1925.
Public domain simply means these works now belong to everyone. They can be copied, shared, adapted, performed, and distributed without licensing fees or permission. For artists, educators, and the general public, this shift opens doors that were once closed by cost or access.
Why does this matter?
Licensing copyrighted works can be prohibitively expensive, particularly for youth orchestras, school programs, and community theaters. In many cases, the fees make performances impossible or limit repertoire choices. Once a work enters the public domain, those barriers disappear. Music can be played, scripts can be staged, and stories can be shared freely.
Public domain status also allows works to be preserved and accessed online. Many classic books are out of print, difficult to locate, or financially impractical to purchase. When they enter the public domain, they can be made available through resources such as the Internet Archive and Google Books, ensuring both preservation and discovery by new generations of readers.
Notable works entering the public domain
Books:
• As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
• The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
• The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
• Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
• The first four Nancy Drew books
Characters:
• Betty Boop, as originally introduced in the Fleischer Studios cartoon Dizzy Dishes
• Blondie and Dagwood from Chic Young’s Blondie comic strips
• Nine additional Mickey Mouse cartoons
• Ten Silly Symphonies cartoons from Disney
Films:
• All Quiet on the Western Front, directed by Lewis Milestone
• Murder!, directed by Alfred Hitchcock
• Free and Easy, directed by Edward Sedgwick
• Animal Crackers, directed by Victor Heerman
The volume of material entering the public domain each year can cause concern for some, particularly the fear that beloved works may be mishandled or poorly adapted. While that does happen on occasion, such reinterpretations are often fleeting. Enduring adaptations tend to respect the original while adding new creativity, resulting in fresh contributions worth celebrating.
Bringing these pieces back into the light also offers an opportunity for reflection. They remind us of a time before computers, digital art, and A.I., and of the minds behind the words, art, dance, and film. When all work relied entirely on human presence and preparation.
They also reflect the mindset of America in the years following World War I: the rise of automobiles and telephones, the growth of film and radio, the rhythms of the Jazz Age, the constraints of Prohibition, and the beginnings of the Great Depression. As these works become freely accessible once more, they offer not only entertainment but insight into who we were, how we created, and what we valued.
Public domain is not about diminishing the value; it is about widening its reach. These works endured long enough to become shared cultural property, and their survival now rests in our willingness to engage with them thoughtfully. In doing so, we honor not only the creators who first brought them into the world, but also the generations who will reinterpret, preserve, and carry them forward.