Happy Public Domain Day! With the start of a new year, we have new works entering the public domain. January 1, 2025 marks the date that items published in the year 1929 enter the public domain in the United States. Items in the public domain are free from copyright protections and can be legally shared and adapted without needing to ask permission or pay fees. January 1st of any given year is the date that items typically enter into the public domain. This happens 70 years after the death of the author, 95 years from the date of publication, or 120 years from the date of creation – typically whichever comes first, but there are lots of exceptions (see this Cornell chart for more details). Also, just because something is in the public domain in the United States doesn’t mean it’s not protected within other countries.
In celebration of the release of copyrighted works into the public domain, I wanted to share a not-at-all-comprehensive list of items that entered the public domain on January 1st. I’ve provided links to UT owned copies where possible to allow users to access materials. Please keep in mind that those copies I’ve linked to may be later editions, translations, recordings, or otherwise modified in ways that still may be protected by copyright.
Disclaimer: I tried to find a couple sources for each item listed, but please use this list with care and do your own research on publication dates.
Film
Ang Mutya Ng Pamilihan (The Pearl of the Markets): Dir. José Nepomuceno (Philippines)
Applause: Dir. Rouben Mamoulian
Арсенал (Arsenal): Dir. Oleksandr Dovzhenko (Russia)
Atlantic: Dir. Ewald André Dupont
Big Business: Dir. James Horne and Leo McCarey
Black and Tan: Dir. Dudley Murphy
Blackmail: Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
The Bridge of San Luis Rey: Dir. Charles Brabin
The Broadway Melody of 1929: Dir. Harry Beaumont (Academy Award for Best Picture)
Bulldog Drummond: Dir. F. Richard Jones (Oscar winner)
Un Chien Andalou (The Andalusian Dog): Dir. Luis Bunuel (France)
The Cock-Eyed World: Dir. Raoul Walsh
The Cocoanuts: Dir. Robert Florey and Joseph Santley
Coquette: Dir. Sam Taylor (Best Actress Mary Pickford)
Dangerous Curves: Dir. Lothar Mendes
The Desert Song: Dir. Roy Del Ruth
Diary of a Lost Girl: Dir. G.W. Pabst
Disraeli: Dir. Alfred E. Green (Best Actor George Arliss)
The Divine Lady: Dir. Frank Lloyd (Academy Award for Best Director)
Dynamite: Dir. Cecil B. DeMille
Finis Terræ: Dir. Jean Epstein (France)
The Flying Scotsman: Dir. Castleton Knight
Frau im Mond (Woman in the Moon): Dir. Fritz Lang (Germany)
Fräulein Else: Dir. Paul Czinner (Germany)
General Crack: Dir. Alan Crosland
Gold Diggers of Broadway: Dir. Roy Del Ruth
Hallelujah: Dir. King Vidor
Hell’s Bells: Dir. Ub Iwerks
The Hollywood Revue of 1929: Dir. Charles Reisner
Der Hund von Baskerville (The Hound of the Baskervilles): Dir. Richard Oswald (Germany)
The Iron Mask: Dir. Allan Dwan
The Kiss: Dir. Jacques Feyder
The Lady Fare: Dir. William Watson
Das Land ohne Frauen (The Land Without Women): Dir. Carmine Gallone (Germany)
The Letter: Dir. Jean de Limur
The Love Parade: Dir. Ernst Lubitsch
Madame X: Dir. Lionel Barrymore
Человек с киноаппаратом (Man with a Movie Camera): Dir. Dziga Vertov (Russia)
The Manxman: Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Melodie des Herzens (Melody of the Heart): Dir. Hanns Schwarz (Germany)
Mickey Mouse films from 1929 (including The Barn Dance, The Opry House, When the Cat’s Away, The Barnyard Battle, The Plowboy, The Karnival Kid, Mickey’s Follies, Mickey’s Choo-Choo, The Jazz Fool, Jungle Rhythm, The Haunted House, and Wild Waves)
The Mysterious Island: Dir. Lucien Hubbard
On With the Show!: Dir. Alan Crosland and Larry Ceballos
Die Büchse der Pandora (Pandora’s Box): Dir. G.W. Pabst (Germany)
Páter Vojtěch (Father Vojtech): Dir. Martin Frič (Czech Republic)
Patria Amore: Dir. Julian Manansala (Philippines)
Pointed Heels: Dir. A. Edward Sutherland
Regen (Rain): Dir. Mannus Franken and Joris Ivens (Netherlands)
The Return of Sherlock Holmes: Dir. Basil Dean
Sa Landas ng Pag-ibig (The Path of Love): Dir. José Nepomuceno (Philippines)
St. Louis Blues: Dir. Dudley Murphy
Sally: Dir. John Francis Dillon
Say it with Songs: Dir. Lloyd Bacon
Show Boat: Dir. Harry A. Pollard
The Show of Shows: Dir. John G. Adolfi
Side Street: Dir. Malcolm St. Clair
The Skeleton Dance: Dir. Walt Disney
Spite Marriage: Dir. Edward Sedgwick and Buster Keaton
Den Starkaste (The Strongest): Dir. Alex Lindblom and Alf Sjöberg (Sweden)
Street Girl: Dir. Wesley Ruggles
Sunny Side Up: Dir. David Butler
Thunderbolt: Dir. Josef von Sternberg
Prapancha Pash (A Throw of Dice): Dir. Franz Osten (India)
Турксиб (Turksib): Dir. Viktor Alexandrovitsh Turin (Russia)
The Vagabond Lover: Dir. Marshall Neilan
The Virginian: Dir. Victor Fleming
Die weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü (The White Hell of Pitz Palu): Dir. Arnold Fanck and G.W. Pabst (Germany)
The Wild Party: Dir. Dorothy Arzner
Wolf Song: Dir. Victor Fleming
Die wunderbare Lüge der Nina Petrowna (The Wonderful Lies of Nina Petrovna): Dir. Hanns Schwarz (Germany)
Literature
Adams, Léonie: High Falcon
Aiken, Conrad: Selected Poems (Pulitzer Prize winner in 1930)
Akat, M.C.: Lakhǫn Haeng Chiwit (The Circus of Life) (Thai)
Alberti, Rafael: Cal y Canto (Spanish)
Aldington, Richard: Death of a Hero
Allingham, Margery: The Crime at Black Dudley
Alverdes, Paul: Die Pfeiferstube (The Whistler’s Room) (German)
Arlt, Roberto: Los siete locos (The Seven Madmen) (Spanish)
Bandyopadhyay, Bibhutibhushan: Pather Panchali (Song of the Road) (Bengali)
Baum, Vicki: Menschen im Hotel (People at a Hotel) (German)
Berkeley, Anthony: The Poisoned Chocolates Case and The Piccadilly Murder
Bernanos, Georges: La Joie (French)
Bogan, Louise: Dark Summer
Borden, Mary: The Forbidden Zone
Bowen, Elizabeth: The Last September
Brecht, Bertolt: Badener Lehrstück vom Einverständnis (The Baden-Baden Lesson on Consent) (German) (play)
Caragiale, Mateiu: Craii de Curtea-Veche (Rakes of the Old Court) (Romanian)
Christie, Agatha: The Seven Dials Mystery
Cocteau, Jean: Les Enfants terribles (French)
Crnjanski, Miloš: Сеобе (Migrations) (Serbian)
Cullen, Countee: The Black Christ
De la Roche, Mazo: Whiteoaks of Jalna
Döblin, Alfred: Berlin Alexanderplatz
Douglas, Lloyd: Magnificent Obsession
Eliot, T.S.: Animula
Ertz, Susan: The Milky Way (The Galaxy)
Faulkner, William: The Sound and the Fury
Forester, C.S.: Brown on Resolution
Gale, Zona: Borgia
Gallegos, Rómulo: Doña Bárbara (Lady Barbara) (Spanish)
Gazdanov, Gaito: Ве́чер у Клэр (An Evening with Claire) (Russian)
Giono, Jean: Colline (French)
Goebbels, Joseph: Michael: Ein deutsches Schicksal in Tagebuchblättern (Michael: A German Destiny in Diary Form) (German)
Graves, Robert: Good-Bye to All That
Green, Henry: Living
Greene, Graham: The Man Within
Hamilton, Patrick: Rope (play)
Hammett, Dashiell: The Dain Curse and Red Harvest
Hemingway, Ernest: A Farewell to Arms
Hughes, Richard: A High Wind in Jamaica
Huxley, Aldous: Arabia Infelix, and Other Poems
James, Marquis: The Raven: A Biography of Sam Houston (Pulitzer Prize in 1930)
Kashmiri, Agha Hashar: Rustom O Sohrab (Urdu) (play)
Kästner, Erich: Emil und die Detektive (Emil and the Detectives) (German)
Kavan, Anna: A Charmed Circle
Kobayashi, Takiji: 蟹工船 (The Cannery Boat) (Japanese)
La Farge, Oliver: Laughing Boy (Pulitzer Prize in 1930)
Larsen, Nella: Passing
Lawrence, D.H.: Pansies
Lewis, Sinclair: Dodsworth
McKay, Claude: Banjo
Mew, Charlotte: The Rambling Sailor
Milne, A.A.: Toad of Toad Hall (play)
Mitchell, Gladys: Speedy Death
Moravia, Alberto: Gli Indifferenti (The Time of Indifference) (Italian)
Némirovsky, Irène: David Golder
Priestley, J.B.: The Good Companions (James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1929)
Remarque, Erich Maria: All Quiet on the Western Front (English translation)
Rice, Elmer: Street Scene (play) (Pulitzer Prize in 1929)
Ridge, Lola: Firehead
Robinson, Edwin Arlington: Cavender’s House
Robinson, Jeffers: Dear Judas and Other Poems
Shawqī, Ahmed: مصرع كليوباترا (The Death of Cleopatra) (Arabic)
Smedley, Agnes: Daughter of Earth
Steinbeck, John: Cup of Gold: A Life of Sir Henry Morgan, Buccaneer, with Occasional Reference to History
Tanizaki, Jun’ichirō: 蓼喰う蟲 (Some Prefer Nettles) (Japanese)
Tey, Josephine: The Man in the Queue
Thompson, Ruth Plumly: Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz
Thurman, Wallace: The Blacker the Berry
Uttley, Alison: The Squirrel, The Hare, and the Little Grey Rabbit
Various authors: Our Exagmination Round His Factification for Incamination of Work in Progress
Van Tyne, Claude H.: The War of Independence (Pulitzer Prize in 1930)
Wade, Henry: The Duke of York’s Steps
Ward, Lynd: Gods’ Man
White, E.B. and Thurber, James: Is Sex Necessary? Or, Why You Feel the Way You Do
Wolfe, Thomas: Look Homeward, Angel
Woolf, Virginia: A Room of One’s Own
Wylie, Elinor: Angels and Earthly Creatures
Music
Note – this list refers only to the musical compositions (lyrics and music) and not recordings of these songs.
“Ain’t Misbehavin” lyrics by Andy Razaf with music by Thomas “Fats” Waller and Harry Brooks
“Am I Blue?” lyrics by Grant Clarke with music by Harry Akst
“The Banjo (That Man Joe Plays)” lyrics and music by Cole Porter
“Black and Blue” lyrics by Andy Razaf with music by Thomas “Fats” Waller
“Blue, Turning Grey Over You” lyrics by Andy Razaf with music by Thomas “Fats” Waller
“Can’t We Be Friends?” lyrics by Paul James with music by Kay Swift
“Deep Night” lyrics by Rudy Vallee with music by Charlie Henderson
“Do Something” lyrics by Bud Green with music by Sam H. Stept
“Do What You Do” lyrics by Ira Gershwin and Gus Kahn with music by George Gershwin
“Feeling Sentimental” lyrics by Ira Gershwin with music by George Gershwin
“Happy Days Are Here Again” lyrics by Jack Yellen with music by Milton Ager
“He’s So Unusual” lyrics and music by Al Sherman, Al Lewis, and Abner Silver
“Honeysuckle Rose” lyrics by Andy Razaf with music by Thomas “Fats” Waller
“The Hums of Pooh” lyrics by Pooh with music by H. Fraser-Simson
“I May Be Wrong” lyrics by Harry Ruskin with music by Henry Sullivan
“If Love Were All” lyrics and music by Noël Coward
“I’ll See You Again” lyrics and music by Noël Coward
“I’ve Got a Feeling I’m Falling” lyrics by Billy Rose with music by Thomas “Fats” Waller and Harry Link
“Just You, Just Me” lyrics by Raymond Klages with music by Jesse Greer
“Let Me Sing and I’m Happy” lyrics and music by Irving Berlin
“Looking at You” lyrics and music by Cole Porter
“Love, Your Magic Spell is Everywhere” lyrics by Elsie Janis and music by Edmund Goulding
“Mean to Me” lyrics by Roy Turk and music by Fred E. Ahlert
“More Than You Know” lyrics by Edward Eliscu and Billy Rose and music by Vincent Youmans
“Painting the Clouds with Sunshine” lyrics by Al Dubin and music by Joe Burke
“Puttin’ on the Ritz” lyrics and music by Irving Berlin
“Rockin’ Chair” lyrics and music by Hoagy Carmichael
“Should I?” lyrics by Arthur Freed and music by Nacio Herb Brown
“Then You’ve Never Been Blue” lyrics by Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young and music by Ted Fiorito
“Walk Right In” lyrics and music by Gus Cannon and Hosea Woods
“Wedding Bells are Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine” lyrics by Irving Kahal and Willie Raskin and music by Sammy Fain
“What is This Thing Called Love?” lyrics and music by Cole Porter
“Without a Song” lyrics by Edward Eliscu and Billy Rose and music by Vincent Youmans
“You Do Something to Me” lyrics and music by Cole Porter
“You Were Meant for Me” lyrics by Arthur Freed and music by Nacio Herb Brown
January 1, 2025 also marks the date that sound recordings from the year 1924 enter public domain. Here is just a handful of recordings from 1924. You can listen to many more recordings from 1924 at the Library of Congress National Jukebox.
- “California, Here I Come” performed by Al Jolson with the Isham Jones Orchestra
- “Fare You Well, Old Joe Clark” performed by Fiddlin’ John Carson
- “It Had to Be You” performed by Isham Jones Orchestra and performed by Marion Harris\
- “I’m Goin’ South” performed by Al Jolson with Isham Jones Orchestra
- “Last Night on the Back Porch” performed by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra
- “Linger Awhile” performed by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra
- “Mandalay” performed by Al Jolson with Abe Lyman’s California Orchestra
- “Memory Lane” performed by Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians
- “Nobody’s Sweetheart” performed by Isham Jones Orchestra
- “The One I Love (Belongs to Somebody Else)” performed by Al Jolson with Isham Jones Orchestra
- “Rhapsody in Blue” performed by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra
- “Somebody Loves Me” performed by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra
- “Somebody Stole My Gal” performed by Ted Weems and his Orchestra
- “What’ll I Do” performed by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra
- “You Will Never Miss Your Mother Until She is Gone” performed by Fiddlin’ John Carson
