Each January 1st, an incredible group of creative works—books, films, music, art, and more—becomes freely available for anyone to use, share, adapt, and build upon.
This annual milestone is an important reminder of how the public domain fuels teaching, research, creativity, and innovation across disciplines. In 2026, works from 1930 are open to all, as are sound recordings from 1925.
Literary highlights:
- Agatha Christie's The Murder at the Vicarage
- William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying
- Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon
- Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies
- The first four Nancy Drew books (The Secret of the Old Clock, etc.)
- Watty Piper/Arnold Munk's The Little Engine That Could
Comics and Cartoons highlights:
Films:
- All Quiet on the Western Front (Academy Award for Best Picture)
- Cimarron (Academy Award for Best Picture)
- The Big Trail (with John Wayne)
- Murder! (directed by Alfred Hitchcock)
Musical Compositions and Sound Recordings:
- The St. Louis Blues (recorded by Bessie Smith, featuring Louis Armstrong)
- Sweet Georgia Brown (recorded by Ben Bernie and His Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra)
- Georgia on My Mind (lyrics by Stuart Gorrell, music by Hoagy Carmichael)
- It Happened in Monterey (lyrics by Billy Rose, music by Mabel Wayne)
Art:
- Piet Mondrian, Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow
- Edward Steichen, Fashion for Vogue, October 27, 1930
- Theo Van Doesburg, Simultaneous Counter-Composition
This year's additions open up new opportunities for classroom materials, scholarly projects, digital exhibits, and community engagement. The public domain offers a rich and ever-growing collection of materials without copyright restrictions. "If you need help discovering newly released works or thinking through ways to incorporate them into your teaching and scholarship, please feel free to reach out," said Agnes Gambill, Head of Scholarly Communications at gambillab@appstate.edu. "Thank you for contributing to the vibrant academic community at Appalachian State University, and I hope the newest additions to the public domain in 2026 inspire new ideas and creative exploration."
Public Domain materials now available to use share and adapt
