Who doesn't remember that infamous moment when Winnie-the-Pooh became public domain and Rhys Frake-Waterfield came up with the infamous and iconic Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey? It feels like it was just yesterday, instead of almost three years ago. The rise and fall of copyright.

The fact that a character or work enters the public domain is usually a milestone in certain sectors, and this year, several well-known figures join the list of potential horror films, indie video games, and other derivative products that no one needed.

In the United States of America, Public Domain Day is "celebrated" every January 1st. This 2026, the commemoration marks the release of rights for the first Betty Boop, an anthropomorphic French poodle who debuted in Dizzy Dishes. In the film industry, the Oscar winner All Quiet on the Western Front, by Lewis Milestone, also enters the public domain. Blondie and Dagwood can now also be converted into anything you can think of without fear of receiving a cease and desist letter.

In the field of music, "Georgia on My Mind" by Stuart Gorrell and Hoagy Carmichael, "I Got Rhythm" by George and Ira Gershwin, and "Dream a Little Dream of Me" by Gus Kahn, Fabian Andre, and Wilbur Schwandt can now be used by university students to musicalize their short films or if you want to upload a reel to Instagram and then promote it without being forced to change the music.

In the field of art, if, for example, you wanted to release an album, your cover could be Piet Mondrian and his Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow, Tierfreundschaft (Animal Friendship) by Paul Klee, The Prometheus Mural by José Clemente Orozco, Composition of Overlapping Circles and Angles by Sophie Taeuber-Arp, or Tables for Ladies by Edward Hopper by Marc Chagall, among others.

Now, moving on to literature, Civilization and Its Discontents by Sigmund Freud, As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, The first four Nancy Drew novels, written by Mildred Wirt Benson under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. This information is useful if you want to adapt any of them to film or something similar.

There are great opportunities for creators to take advantage of these works. We will see what surprises this year brings us.