With the start of a new year, a new wealth of materials has entered the public domain. When a work enters the public domain, the public no longer needs to seek the artist’s permission to copy, build on, or adapt the work. This opens the door for creative riffs on the classics and makes digital content available free of charge.
As of Jan. 1, 2026, thousands of copyrighted works from 1930 and sound recordings from 1925 are in the public domain. This year, we’re excited this includes the first four Nancy Drew novels, including works by ghost writer Mildred Wirt Benson whose materials are saved and available to the public through the Iowa Women’s Archives. You can also find Agatha Christie’s The Murder at the Vicarage and William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying.
Composers exploring inspiration at the Music Library can now freely share and riff on the following musical compositions: I Got Rhythm, Georgia on My Mind, and Dream a Little Dream of Me. Over at the Art Library, artists can now use and references some works by Piet Mondrian, Edward Steichen, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, José Clemente Orozco, and more. Finally, there are films, sound recordings, characters, comics, and cartoons to peruse, share, and use in new work.
Find creative works recently added to the public domain
- Hathi Trust Digital Library: Discover materials in the public domain that were digitized through the Google Books Project.
- Center for the Study of Public Domain: Duke’s Public Domain Day page has a great selection of highlights.
- The Public Domain Review: This journal specializes in mining the public domain.
- The UI Libraries Catalog: Search InfoHawk+ to find digital versions of public domain works.
Learn more about U.S. copyright law and determine a work’s copyright status
The Scholarly Impact Department helps faculty work through complex copyright issues, such as what can be used in the classroom, how to retain your rights as an author, and how to apply Creative Commons licensing. Email Mahrya Burnett at mahrya-burnett@uiowa.edu to set up a consultation. You might also try the Libraries Copyright Guide. This guide provides the basics on copyright issues, such as Fair Use, seeking permissions, author rights, and licensing.