It's a new year, and that means a new crop of iconic characters—some more than others—entering the public domain. According to Title 17 of the United States Code, once 95 years have passed since the creation of any "anonymous work,

It’s a new year, and that means more works are headed to the public domain. This year, thousands of copyrighted works created in 1929, including the earliest versions of Popeye and the Belgian comic book character Tintin, are now free to reuse and repurpose in the US.

Tintin, now in the Public Domain, gets a modern revival in The Big Lie, to be Kickstartered this year from Fabrice Sapolsky.

In 2025, the works unbound from copyright cap off the 1920s with literature, characters and more from 1929 entering the public domain.

The sailor and boy detective can be reproduced without permission from 2025, but some details, like Tintin’s red hair, are still copyrighted.

The copyrights of thousands of 20th-century films, books, compositions and sound recordings expire on Jan. 1, making them free for anyone to share and adapt. Here are some of the highlights.

Walt Disney directed the iconic Skeleton Dance short animated by Ub Iwerks, as well as when Mickey Mouse starred in his first talkie. The intrepid Tintin and original Popeye characters have arrived in the public domain as well.

A new year means a new start and for some pieces of media, it also means entering the public domain. In 2024, one of the most famous additions to the public domain was the first iteration of Mickey Mouse,

At the turn of the new year, several pieces of classic media entered the public domain, making them free to use by anyone. Some of the best-known characters include the earliest Popeye cartoon, as he appeared in the Thimble Theatre comic strip Gobs of Work.