Neat! I just discovered that Carolyn Keene's first Nancy Drew story, "The Secret of the Old Clock", will be in the public domain next year. I remember reading this in elementary school when I was on a big mystery kick for a while (I had some of the computer games, too). I had no idea it was that old.
Fordec•Dec 2, 2025
What really sends home just how ridiculously long it takes public domain to kick in to me is that Mein Kampf is on that list.
It feels like something that even in 1996 would have been a bit eye-raisingly overdue.
chistev•Dec 2, 2025
What does it mean to be in public domain
fsckboy•Dec 2, 2025
that the Hitler estate can't sue you for copyright infringement if you publish it yourself and distribute copies.
chistev•Dec 2, 2025
Interesting that he still has an estate. And thanks for explaining what it means
gbear605•Dec 2, 2025
In practice, there was not a Hitler estate - the government of Bavaria (a state in Germany) took ownership of the copyright.
That question is answered by the first sentence on the page that this thread is discussing:
> At the start of each year, on January 1st, a new crop of works enter the public domain and become free to enjoy, share, and reuse for any purpose.
estsauver•Dec 2, 2025
That is only for Spain, which has copyright of Death of Author + 80.
rzz3•Dec 2, 2025
Then why is he listed in that table? I don’t get it.
aaronbrethorst•Dec 2, 2025
I see that How to Win Friends and Influence People is on there. I'm looking forward to the inevitable And Zombies adaptation coming in 2027.
al_borland•Dec 2, 2025
So is the Diary of Anne Frank, that will surely get some sort of zombie remix in poor taste, I’m sure.
jama211•Dec 2, 2025
I would’ve loved to see some notable highlights in this article!
Night_Thastus•Dec 2, 2025
Something about this page doesn't seem to work for me. Clicking the tiles doesn't do anything. It's not ad-blocker-related, I disabled those to test.
Jtsummers•Dec 2, 2025
It's in the style of an advent calendar, the other days will be available later on in the month.
Seattle3503•Dec 2, 2025
The entire page is underwhelming. For someone in the US, I walked away with basically no new information other than some stuff will enter public domain at new years.
MyOutfitIsVague•Dec 2, 2025
> In our advent-style calendar below, find our top pick of what lies in store for 2026. Each day, as we move through December, we’ll open a new window to reveal our highlights! By public domain day on January 1st they will all be unveiled — look out for a special blogpost from us on that day. (And, of course, if you want to dive straight in and explore the vast swathe of new entrants for yourself, just visit the links above).
I don't think that they are allowed to prepare copyrighted items for release in advance of them being in the public domain.
kec•Dec 2, 2025
Why would that be the case? Copyright (at least in the US) only restricts distribution, performance and derivation.
fsckboy•Dec 2, 2025
no, it restricts copying, making copies
kec•Dec 2, 2025
“Copying” here refers to distribution and derivation, at least in the US. It is entirely legal to create copies of media for personal usage for instance (so long as you aren’t circumventing DRM, thanks DMCA).
hristov•Dec 2, 2025
The maltese falcon (the book, not the movie) is entering the public domain next year!
hristov•Dec 2, 2025
Also of interest is vile bodies, which is a very good but characteristically depressing book by evelyn waugh.
wahnfrieden•Dec 2, 2025
Nothing in Japan from what I could find here or elsewhere… don’t understand why
edit: thanks to the dead commenter for clarifying. that sucks.
shuoga•Dec 2, 2025
The "TPP11," which includes a provision to extend the term of protection to 70 years, will enter into force on December 30, 2018.
In Japan, the term of copyright protection will, in principle, be 70 years after the death of the author (or 70 years after publication for works published anonymously, under a pseudonym, or in the name of a corporate body).
Copyrights that have already expired at the time of enforcement will not be revived (principle of non-retroactivity of protection).
Consequently, no works will newly enter the public domain for the next 20 years.
10 Comments
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_public_domain
It feels like something that even in 1996 would have been a bit eye-raisingly overdue.
and I guess a few others, but dwindling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler_family
https://nypost.com/2018/10/08/some-of-hitlers-last-relatives...
> At the start of each year, on January 1st, a new crop of works enter the public domain and become free to enjoy, share, and reuse for any purpose.
edit: thanks to the dead commenter for clarifying. that sucks.
In Japan, the term of copyright protection will, in principle, be 70 years after the death of the author (or 70 years after publication for works published anonymously, under a pseudonym, or in the name of a corporate body).
Copyrights that have already expired at the time of enforcement will not be revived (principle of non-retroactivity of protection).
Consequently, no works will newly enter the public domain for the next 20 years.
From Japan Library Association: https://www.jla.or.jp/hogokikan-encho/#:~:text=%E4%BF%9D%E8%...
We'll be having an in-person celebration at our SF HQ later in January as well, details to come!
70 years. After death.
The rules have to change. 70 years is way too long.