Here are the significant books, films and characters joining the list of works in the public domain on Jan. 1, 2026.

What do "I Got Rhythm," "The Maltese Falcon," and "The Little Engine That Could" have in common? They all went into the ...

Public Domain Day 2026 releases thousands of creative works for free use. As of January 1, literary works from 1930 and sound recordings from 1925 are now available without copyright restrictions. The ...

Books featuring a trio of iconic detectives — Nancy Drew, Sam Spade and Miss Marple — are also entering the public domain this year. By The Associated Press Betty Boop and Blondie are joining Mickey ...

Popeye can punch without permission and Tintin can roam freely starting in 2025. The two classic comic characters who first appeared in 1929 are among the intellectual properties becoming public ...

Many people are purchasing e-readers, tablets, and smartphones with the intention of amassing a large collection of ebooks. Not everyone can afford to purchase books from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or ...

Everything ever said on the internet was just the start of teaching artificial intelligence about humanity. Tech companies are now tapping into an older repository of knowledge: the library stacks.

Jan. 1 marks the dawn of a new era for Popeye and Tintin. It's the day the nonagenarian cartoon characters officially enter the U.S. public domain along with a treasure trove of other iconic works.

A look at some of the works going into the public domain in 2026, like the characters Betty Boop and Miss Marple, the first film adaptation of "All Quiet on the Western Front" and many classic songs ...

King Kong, Superman, and Batman will be in the public domain in 5 years. Will their images be ruined? Copyrights will expire for King Kong and Wonderwoman, among ...