It's a new year, and that means a new crop of iconic characters—some more than others—entering the public domain. According to Title 17 of the United States Code, once 95 years have passed since the creation of any "anonymous work,

It’s a new year, and that means more works are headed to the public domain. This year, thousands of copyrighted works created in 1929, including the earliest versions of Popeye and the Belgian comic book character Tintin, are now free to reuse and repurpose in the US.

"Singin' in the Rain"? The title track from the hit play and movie entered the public domain Wednesday alongside a bevy of other songs, characters and literature first published in the mid-1920s.

The sailor and boy detective can be reproduced without permission from 2025, but some details, like Tintin’s red hair, are still copyrighted.

Public Domain Day, meaning artworks from 1929 (or 1924 in the case of sound recordings) are now free for all creators to use and abuse to their hearts' content. The works of art, music, literature, and film now entering the public domain will be yours,

The copyrights of thousands of 20th-century films, books, compositions and sound recordings expire on Jan. 1, making them free for anyone to share and adapt. Here are some of the highlights.

A new year means a new start and for some pieces of media, it also means entering the public domain. In 2024, one of the most famous additions to the public domain was the first iteration of Mickey Mouse,

Mickey Mouse animations, the original Popeye character and hundreds of other works entered the public domain on January 1, 2025.

At the turn of the new year, several pieces of classic media entered the public domain, making them free to use by anyone. Some of the best-known characters include the earliest Popeye cartoon, as he appeared in the Thimble Theatre comic strip Gobs of Work.