Major works entering public domain in 2024
Some notable movies, books, songs, and characters have entered the public domain in 2024, including Peter Pan, Tigger, and Mickey Mouse.
Copyright is what prevents the stealing of art, but at a certain point, all works enter the public domain, meaning anyone can use them.
Such is the case with the early Winnie the Pooh stories by AA Milne. As soon as the title character was outside copyright, a slasher horror movie was make, titled Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey.
While this week two Mickey Mouse horror movies were announced, due to one of Disney’s most prized possessions entering the public domain. As well as some notable books, movies, and songs…
Major works entering public domain in 2024
These are the beloved characters who entered the public domain on January 1, 2024:
–Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, but only the versions that appear in Steamboat Willy. So no high-pitched voices, no white gloves, and no red shorts.
–Peter Pan, from J.M. Barrie’s original stories. So not the 1953 musical Disney version.
–Tigger, from A.A. Milne’s original stories. So the version that debuted in ‘The House at Pooh Corner’ rather than the Disney iteration.
Notable books that entered the public domain this week include:
–The Mystery of the Blue Train (featuring Hercule Poirot) by Agatha Christie
–Orlando: A Biography by Virginia Woolf
–Lady Chatterly’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence
–Dark Princess by W.E.B. Du Bois
–Millions of Cats by Wanda Gág
–Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh
–The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall
–All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
–Story of the Eye by Georges Bataille
Major movies that entered the public domain in 2024:
–The Cameraman (starring Buster Keaton)
–Should Married Men Go Home? (starring Laurel and Hardy)
–The Circus (starring Charlie Chaplin)
–Speedy (starring Harold Lloyd)
–The Passion of Joan of Arc
–Lights of New York
–Irish Rose
–Noah’s Ark
–In Old Arizona
–The Man Who Laughs
Music that entered the public domain on January 1:
–‘I Wanna Be Loved By You’ by Herbert Stothart and Harry Ruby
–‘Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love)’ by Cole Porter
–‘Makin’ Whoopee!’ by Gus Khan and Walter Donaldson
–‘When You’re Smiling’ by Mark Fisher, Joe Goodwin, and Larry Shay
–‘Mack the Knife’ (in German) by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill
These are all in US public domain, but to see what became available elsewhere on January 1, 2024, head here.
