LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� and are joining and in the public domain.
The first appearances of the classic cartoon and comic characters are among the pieces of intellectual property whose 95-year U.S. copyright maximum has been reached, putting them in the public domain on Jan. 1. That means creators can use and repurpose them without permission or payment.
The 2026 batch of newly public artistic creations doesn’t quite have the sparkle of the recent first entries into the public domain of or . But ever since 2019 鈥� the end of a 20-year IP drought brought on by congressional copyright extensions 鈥� every annual crop has been a bounty for advocates of more work belonging to the public.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a big year,鈥� said Jennifer Jenkins, law professor and director of , for whom New Year’s Day is celebrated as . 鈥淚t’s just the sheer familiarity of all this culture.鈥�
Jenkins said that, collectively, this year’s work shows 鈥渢he fragility that was between the two wars and the depths of the Great Depression.鈥�
Here鈥檚 a closer look at what will enter the public domain on Thursday, based on the research of Jenkins and her center.
Cartoons and comics bring the boop-a-doop
Betty Boop began as a dog. Seriously.
When she first appears in the 1930 short 鈥淒izzy Dishes,鈥� one of four of her cartoons entering the public domain, she’s already totally recognizable as the Jazz Age flapper later memorialized in countless tattoos, T-shirts and bumper stickers. She has her baby face, short hair with groomed curls, flashy eyelashes and miniature mouth. But she’s also got dangling poodle ears and a tiny black nose. Those would soon morph into dangling earrings and a tiny white nose.
She started as essentially the Minnie Mouse to a popular anthropomorphic dog named Bimbo, whom she would eventually outshine 鈥� and push aside. She’s got a supporting role in 鈥淒izzy Dishes,鈥� performing a slinky song-and-dance in a tiny black dress. She’s not named, but sings 鈥渂oop boop, a doop.鈥�
Jenkins suggests this canine Betty Boop could be rich for exploitation in new works, and has a free idea: 鈥淪he was bitten by a radioactive dog, that鈥檚 why she had this weird backstory,鈥� she said with a laugh. 鈥淭his movie needs to be made.鈥�
The character was designed and owned by Fleischer Studios, and the shorts were released by Paramount Pictures. She was based at least in part on singer Helen Kane, known as the 鈥淏oop-Oop-a-Doop Girl,鈥� thanks to a hit 1929 song. Kane would lose a lawsuit over Betty Boop’s character and use of the phrase. During the proceedings the defense alleged Black singer Esther Lee Jones used similar phrases first.
Artists are now free to use this earliest Boop in films and similar work. But making merch won’t be free. In an important distinction often raised by Disney over Mickey Mouse, a character’s trademark is distinct from the copyright of works that feature them. The Fleischer Productions trademark of Betty Boop remains intact.
Boops and doops were apparently in the air in 1930. Blondie Boopadoop was, like Betty, a young flapper, and the central character of Chic Young’s newspaper comic strip that debuted in 1930. It inspired a film series and radio show, and is still running today in papers that still have comics.
The strip followed her carefree breeze through life with her boyfriend, Dagwood Bumstead. The two would marry (and she would change her name) in 1933, and the strip would become the sandwich-heavy domestic comedy familiar to later readers. Though the strip was meant to be based on a woman’s life, Dagwood would in many ways become its breakout star 鈥� a proto- , if you will, as the breakout actor from
Nine new Mickey Mouse cartoons also are becoming public domain, two years after 鈥淪teamboat Willie鈥� made the first version of him public property. He’s joined this year by his dog Pluto, who, in 1930, was known as Rover. (He would get his long-term moniker the following year.)
Books bring big detective debuts
The books entering the public domain this year open the door to three iconic detectives from the 20th century:
鈥� The teen sleuth Nancy Drew, whose first four books came in 1930, starting with 鈥淭he Secret of the Old Clock.鈥� They were written by Mildred Benson under the pen name Carolyn Keene.
鈥� The middle-aged(-ish) sleuth Sam Spade, who debuted via the full-book version of Dashiell Hammett鈥檚 鈥淭he Maltese Falcon.鈥� (It had been serialized in a magazine the previous year.)
鈥� The elderly sleuth Miss Marple, who solves her first mystery in Agatha Christie’s 鈥淢urder at the Vicarage.鈥�
A year after his 鈥淭he Sound and the Fury鈥� became public, 鈥淎s I Lay Dying鈥� becomes public domain. It would help lead to his Nobel Prize in literature.
And kiddie lit legends Dick and Jane, who taught generations to read and became essential parody fodder for decades, become public via the 鈥淓lson Basic Readers鈥� textbooks.
Films include Marxes, Marlene and Oscar winners
A year after their film debut, 鈥淭he Cocoanuts,鈥� entered the public domain, the Marx Brothers’ beloved 鈥淎nimal Crackers鈥� joins it, as they entered their prime of high cinematic antics. The film finds Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo invading a Long Island society party celebrating an explorer of Africa.
Other movies entering the public domain include:
鈥� 鈥淭he Blue Angel,鈥� the German film from Josef von Sternberg that emblazoned Marlene Dietrich’s top-hatted image into film lore.
鈥� 鈥淜ing of Jazz,鈥� featuring the first screen appearance of Bing Crosby.
鈥� A pair of Oscar best picture winners, 鈥淎ll Quiet on the Western Front,鈥� which won in 1930, and 鈥淐imarron,鈥� which won in 1931. The award was known as 鈥淥utstanding Production鈥� then, and the Academy Awards eligibility period didn’t sync with the calendar year.
The coming decade will bring a true bounty of Hollywood Golden Age films into the public domain. 2027 will be a truly monster year, literally, with the original 1931 Universal Pictures versions of 鈥淒racula鈥� and 鈥淔rankenstein鈥� among the titles due.
Dreamy and embraceable tunes ring in the 1930s
As in the last several years, a whistle-worthy stream of tunes from the Great American Songbook will become public:
鈥� Four cherished classics written by George Gershwin, with lyrics by his brother Ira: 鈥淓mbraceable You,鈥� 鈥淚’ve Got a Crush on You,鈥� 鈥淏ut Not for Me鈥� and 鈥淚 Got Rhythm.鈥�
鈥� 鈥淕eorgia on My Mind,鈥� written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell.
鈥� 鈥淒ream a Little Dream of Me,鈥� written by Gus Kahn, Fabian Andre and Wilbur Schwandt.
Different laws regulate the actual recordings of songs, and those newly in the public domain this week date to 1925. They include by the Knickerbockers, 鈥淣obody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen鈥� by Marian Anderson and 鈥淭he St. Louis Blues鈥� by Bessie Smith, featuring Louis Armstrong.
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