# January 1, 2025 is Public Domain day for 1929 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 14, 2024, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-1-2025-is-public-domain-day-for-1929/1011643 "2024-12-14T23:42:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-1-2025-is-public-domain-day-for-1929/1011643/1 "2024-12-14T23:42:13Z")
Copyright law today puts anything that is over 95 years old into public domain. For ease of handling, all of 1929 goes into the public domain as of January 1 in the 95th year. That means on January 1, 2025 all works from 1929 are in the public domain. Sound recordings are under a separate law and go into the public domain after 100 years. And what a bounty there will be. > **[Public Domain Day 2025 | Duke University School of Law](https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2025/)** > > Tweet January 1, 2025 is Public Domain Day: Works from 1929 are open to all, as are sound recordings from 1924! By Jennifer Jenkins and James Boyle Directors, Duke Center for the Study of the Public Domain CC BY 4.0 Please note that this site is only... > On January 1, 2025, thousands of copyrighted works from 1929 will enter the US public domain, along with sound recordings from 1924. They will be free for all to copy, share, and build upon. This year’s literary highlights include _The Sound and the Fury_ by William Faulkner, _A Farewell to Arms_ by Ernest Hemingway, and _A Room of One’s Own_ by Virginia Woolf. In film, Mickey Mouse speaks his first words, the Marx Brothers star in their first feature film, and legendary directors from Alfred Hitchcock to John Ford made their first sound films. From comic strips, the original Popeye and Tintin characters will enter the public domain. Among the newly public domain compositions are Gershwin’s _An American in Paris_, Ravel’s _Bolero_, Fats Waller’s _Ain’t Misbehavin’_, and the musical number _Singin’ in the Rain_. Below is just a handful of the works that will be in the US public domain in 2025. To find more material from 1929, you can visit the _[Catalogue of Copyright Entries](https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/cce/)_. Probably because I was born only 21 years later, I grew up with Hemingway and Mickey Mouse and Ellery Queen. They were still putting out new stuff in my lifetime. So they don’t seem to be musty works from a distant past, but a world still fresh, familiar, and modern. Copyright law has numbers of quirks, so be careful if you want to use 1929 works. Popeye’s representation as he was in 1929 is now in the public domain, as are other characters from the strip, but not anything introduced 1930 and after. Now we get to speculate what works will be celebrated in 2120. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-1-2025-is-public-domain-day-for-1929/1011643/2 "2024-12-15T20:05:09Z")
I forgot that Popeye will be in public domain in 2025. Somebody’s already done a horror movie! 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![Cee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cee/32/18345_2.png) [@Cee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cee)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-1-2025-is-public-domain-day-for-1929/1011643/3 "2024-12-15T20:14:05Z")
Ugh, I love those old Popeye cartoons! I remember distinctly of the one where the termites eat his house and he makes a house of metal by the end of it. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-1-2025-is-public-domain-day-for-1929/1011643/4 "2024-12-16T01:20:02Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > I forgot that Popeye will be in public domain in 2025. Somebody’s already done a horror movie! 🙄 Is that forthcoming, though? I did see an ad or something. It did not come out in 2024, but must be holding for 2025. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/5AoLqkbu6Xo/maxresdefault.jpg "POPEYE THE SLAYER MAN (2025) Official Trailer (HD) POPEYE HORROR MOVIE") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AoLqkbu6Xo&t=34) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-1-2025-is-public-domain-day-for-1929/1011643/5 "2024-12-16T12:44:57Z")
So 1929’s **The Lost Zeppelin** will be in the public domain? Great. But nobody will care. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-1-2025-is-public-domain-day-for-1929/1011643/6 "2024-12-16T19:30:44Z")
Well, no, given the reviews it got. But it means that all the silent science fiction is now public. I list every surviving silent science fiction film available on YouTube on my website, and the latest is from 1929. That means Fritz Lang’s fantantic \*Frau im Mond ([Woman in the Moon\*)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019901/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt) - the film that invented the rocket ship countdown - is public, as are _Mysterious Island_, and _High Treason_. Credits, notes, and links attached to each movie. They’re slow loading, so I broke them down into four chronological pages. Go to the [introductory page on my website](https://www.flyingcarsandfoodpills.com/silent-f-sf-movies-on-youtube-1895-) for info and links to the pages. Some of them come and go; I think I have all but one running now. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-1-2025-is-public-domain-day-for-1929/1011643/7 "2024-12-16T19:37:41Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > forgot that Popeye will be in public domain in 2025. Somebody’s already done a horror movie! 🙄 > [@Mahaloth](#): > > Is that forthcoming, though? I did see an ad or something. It did not come out in 2024, but must be holding for 2025. I hadn’t heart about this one, but I am a fan of the genre, at least in theory. I enjoyed the Winnie the Pooh slasher movies. The Mickey Mouse one, based on Steamboat Willie, was terrible. IMHO the concept was interesting, they just did it poorly. I’ll be first in line to watch Popeye as a slasher, should that be a real trailer and not just some AI generated crap that’s all over the web these days. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-1-2025-is-public-domain-day-for-1929/1011643/8 "2024-12-16T19:52:27Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I list every surviving silent science fiction film available on YouTube on my website, and the latest is from 1929. I mean this sincerely and not snarkily or sarcasticly, Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-1-2025-is-public-domain-day-for-1929/1011643/9 "2024-12-16T20:11:01Z")
I’d like to see a comedy, doesn’t even have to be live action. Unfortunately I feel that the movie makers would have to have an actual interest in Popeye rather than a cash grab. Maybe someday. Too bad the last effort was axed, it looked really good. If your interested, a recent comic book _Eye Lie Popeye_ is quite good. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-1-2025-is-public-domain-day-for-1929/1011643/10 "2024-12-17T03:51:24Z")
I was surprised that nobody had done this before. I own several histories/encyclopedia of science fiction movies, so the work was more drudgery than invention. I just went through the books looking for the titles mentioned. If I found them I looked through the possibilities for what seemed to have the best quality and most content. I linked each to YouTube and used the books and other sources to compile as complete a list of credits as possible. I also looked for any content that the films adapted, since I always try to give credit to authors. Then, like a newly planted and glorious garden, it needed constant weeding, pruning dead links, finding replacements, and adjusting any information on them or others. The pages have been up for many years. I probably should go through the books again and see if any unfindable titles have miraculously appeared. Georges Méliès is a good candidate for that. But my current to do list already mocks me daily, so don’t hold your breath. Nevertheless, thanks for the thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-1-2025-is-public-domain-day-for-1929/1011643/11 "2024-12-17T04:35:15Z")
Songs written in 1929 will become public domain, but recordings from that year will not. It wasn’t until 1972 that recordings could be copyrighted. In the U.S., recordings made before then were protected by individual state anti-piracy laws that didn’t specify any term of protection, so in effect they’re protected forever. Some songs from 1929: Ain’t Misbehavin’ Am I Blue? Black and Blue Button Up Your Overcoat Carolina Moon Happy Days Are Here Again Honeysuckle Rose How Long, How Long Blues Singin’ in the Rain Sunny Side Up ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-1-2025-is-public-domain-day-for-1929/1011643/12 "2024-12-17T04:46:46Z")
1929 wasn’t a particularly good year for movies. They were still making the transition from silents to talkies, which resulted in a lot of mediocre films for a few years. The Oscar for best picture that year went to _The Broadway Melody_, which hasn’t help up well. Other notable movies from that year include _The Cocoanuts_, _Spite Marriage,_ _The Bridge of San Luis Rey_, _Man with a Movie Camera_, and _The Wild Party_. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2025, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-1-2025-is-public-domain-day-for-1929/1011643/13 "2025-03-21T22:42:10Z")
There is a new 100 acre wood themed RPG – much better use than a slasher flick IMHO. > **[Brambletrek - Tales in the Hundred Acre Woods](https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/crossed-paths/brambletrek-tales-in-the-Hundred-Acre-Woods)** > > Start a new adventure as a Gnawborn or one of the characters from Winnie the Pooh! It's up to you to help the Woods break a curse that's affecting everything from Heffalumps to Woozles. Tell your story with friends or on your own! I have no connection to this, and not in the market for an RPG, but do find it somewhat interesting. Brian ---
**Author:** ![Loggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Loggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loggins)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-1-2025-is-public-domain-day-for-1929/1011643/14 "2025-03-28T11:47:14Z")
Does it mean that they can remake “Metropolis”? Or are remakes under a less strict rule than what we are discussing here? We’ve seens 100s of remakes over the years, but that has perhaps been done by the rights holders? Wonder what a remake of “Metropolis” would be like, and if its worth it, seeing as good the original already is… That was Fritz Lang too wasnt it? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-1-2025-is-public-domain-day-for-1929/1011643/15 "2025-03-28T17:28:20Z")
It’s hard to think of any movie more of its time than Fritz Lang’s _Metropolis_. But that’s also true of _Casablanca_ and look at how many remakes that’s had. ---
**Author:** ![Loggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Loggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loggins)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-1-2025-is-public-domain-day-for-1929/1011643/16 "2025-03-28T17:31:29Z")
Not seen remake of Casablanca, but i can imagine it was bad. Metropolis remake = bad ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-1-2025-is-public-domain-day-for-1929/1011643/17 "2025-03-28T19:23:51Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > It’s hard to think of any movie more of its time than Fritz Lang’s _Metropolis_. But that’s also true of _Casablanca_ and look at how many remakes that’s had. Giorgio Moroder composed a new soundtrack for Metropolis, I think in the eighties. Have you seen this version? I haven’t, but I heard good things about it and I like and respect Moroder for the work he’s done otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-1-2025-is-public-domain-day-for-1929/1011643/18 "2025-03-29T01:04:18Z")
I’ve seen various versions. But I pay no attention to soundtracks whatsoever, new, old, or any other kind. I know other people do, but that’s not how my brain works. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2025, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-1-2025-is-public-domain-day-for-1929/1011643/19 "2025-03-30T20:30:33Z")
One of my favorite movies of all time. I feel that the sound track really adds to it.