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What will enter the public domain in 2026?(publicdomainreview.org)
148 points by herbertl 3 hours ago | 36 comments
jonah-archive 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

We'll be celebrating this at the Internet Archive! As a lead-up, we're again hosting our Public Domain Film Remix Contest: https://blog.archive.org/2025/12/01/2026-public-domain-day-r...

We'll be having an in-person celebration at our SF HQ later in January as well, details to come!

Arainach 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

To avoid the advent calendar, this may be more useful:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_public_domain

Fordec 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

What really sends home just how ridiculously long it takes public domain to kick in to me is that Mein Kampf is on that list.

It feels like something that even in 1996 would have been a bit eye-raisingly overdue.

estsauver 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

That is only for Spain, which has copyright of Death of Author + 80.

mikae1 6 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

Are you mistaking William Faulkner's mustache for Hitler's?

rzz3 an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

Then why is he listed in that table? I don’t get it.

chistev 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

What does it mean to be in public domain

teraflop 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

That question is answered by the first sentence on the page that this thread is discussing:

> At the start of each year, on January 1st, a new crop of works enter the public domain and become free to enjoy, share, and reuse for any purpose.

fsckboy 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

that the Hitler estate can't sue you for copyright infringement if you publish it yourself and distribute copies.

chistev 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Interesting that he still has an estate. And thanks for explaining what it means

gbear605 2 hours ago | parent [-]

In practice, there was not a Hitler estate - the government of Bavaria (a state in Germany) took ownership of the copyright.

fsckboy 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Hitler did have a nephew by blood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Stuart-Houston

and I guess a few others, but dwindling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler_family

https://nypost.com/2018/10/08/some-of-hitlers-last-relatives...

venturecruelty 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Neat! I just discovered that Carolyn Keene's first Nancy Drew story, "The Secret of the Old Clock", will be in the public domain next year. I remember reading this in elementary school when I was on a big mystery kick for a while (I had some of the computer games, too). I had no idea it was that old.

aaronbrethorst 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I see that How to Win Friends and Influence People is on there. I'm looking forward to the inevitable And Zombies adaptation coming in 2027.

al_borland 2 hours ago | parent [-]

So is the Diary of Anne Frank, that will surely get some sort of zombie remix in poor taste, I’m sure.

shevy-java 30 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> works by people who died in 1955

70 years. After death.

The rules have to change. 70 years is way too long.

tombert 21 minutes ago | parent [-]

I was actually extremely surprised that Disney didn't bribe congress and stop Mickey Mouse from ending up in the public domain.

acabal 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

For a literature-focused list of items entering the US public domain on 2026, Standard Ebooks has 20 ebooks prepared for release on January 1: https://standardebooks.org/blog/public-domain-day-2026

fsckboy 2 hours ago | parent [-]

I don't think that they are allowed to prepare copyrighted items for release in advance of them being in the public domain.

robin_reala a minute ago | parent | next [-]

I prepared three of the works listed here for Standard Ebooks, and I’m not in the US so I’m definitely not covered by US copyright law on my own machine.

kec 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Why would that be the case? Copyright (at least in the US) only restricts distribution, performance and derivation.

fsckboy an hour ago | parent [-]

no, it restricts copying, making copies

kec an hour ago | parent [-]

“Copying” here refers to distribution and derivation, at least in the US. It is entirely legal to create copies of media for personal usage for instance (so long as you aren’t circumventing DRM, thanks DMCA).

whamlastxmas 13 minutes ago | parent [-]

This isn't correct. It is infringement, for example, to write Harry Potter fan fiction in private on a typewriter, even if another soul never sees it. Copyright includes creation, not just distribution

panja 2 minutes ago | parent [-]

Better let AO3 in on that

Night_Thastus 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Something about this page doesn't seem to work for me. Clicking the tiles doesn't do anything. It's not ad-blocker-related, I disabled those to test.

Jtsummers 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

It's in the style of an advent calendar, the other days will be available later on in the month.

MyOutfitIsVague 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> In our advent-style calendar below, find our top pick of what lies in store for 2026. Each day, as we move through December, we’ll open a new window to reveal our highlights! By public domain day on January 1st they will all be unveiled — look out for a special blogpost from us on that day. (And, of course, if you want to dive straight in and explore the vast swathe of new entrants for yourself, just visit the links above).

Seattle3503 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

The entire page is underwhelming. For someone in the US, I walked away with basically no new information other than some stuff will enter public domain at new years.

jama211 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I would’ve loved to see some notable highlights in this article!

telesilla 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Finally! We'll get the Hollywood cinematic version of How to Win Friends and Influence People..

hristov 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The maltese falcon (the book, not the movie) is entering the public domain next year!

hristov 3 hours ago | parent [-]

Also of interest is vile bodies, which is a very good but characteristically depressing book by evelyn waugh.

samir123766 an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

nice

wahnfrieden 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Nothing in Japan from what I could find here or elsewhere… don’t understand why

edit: thanks to the dead commenter for clarifying. that sucks.

shuoga 2 hours ago | parent [-]

The "TPP11," which includes a provision to extend the term of protection to 70 years, will enter into force on December 30, 2018.

In Japan, the term of copyright protection will, in principle, be 70 years after the death of the author (or 70 years after publication for works published anonymously, under a pseudonym, or in the name of a corporate body).

Copyrights that have already expired at the time of enforcement will not be revived (principle of non-retroactivity of protection).

Consequently, no works will newly enter the public domain for the next 20 years.

From Japan Library Association: https://www.jla.or.jp/hogokikan-encho/#:~:text=%E4%BF%9D%E8%...