Public Domain Day 2026 | Duke University School of Law
web.law.duke.edu
January 1, 2026 is Public Domain Day: Works from 1930 are open to all, as are sound recordings from 1925! By Jennifer Jenkins and James Boyle[1] CC BY 4.0 Please note that this site is only about US law; the copyright terms in other countries are different.[2] On January 1, 2026, thousands of copyrighted works from 1930 enter the US public domain, along with sound recordings from 1925.

Direct quote from the page:

Please note that this site is only about US law; the copyright terms in other countries are different.[2]

On January 1, 2026, thousands of copyrighted works from 1930 enter the US public domain, along with sound recordings from 1925. They will be free for all to copy, share, and build upon

  • gwl@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOPEnglish
    211·
    10 days ago

    Yeah, it’s currently Life of Creator + 70 years, which is fucking ridiculous

    • Limonene@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      10 days ago

      Has any software ever entered the public domain through copyright expiration? I think software at least 70 years old (125 years for corporate created) when its copyright expires prevents it from being any benefit at all.

      • gwl@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOPEnglish
        13·
        10 days ago

        Software in general is actually very hard to copyright, as you cannot legally copyright code, the most you’re allowed to do is patent the process the code is doing.

        More often the copyright applies to everything else, like the brand, and the UI