January 1, 2026 is Public Domain Day: Works from 1930 are open to all, as are sound recordings from 1925! By Jennifer Jenkins and James Boyle[1] CC BY 4.0 Please note that this site is only about US law; the copyright terms in other countries are different.[2] On January 1, 2026, thousands of copyrighted works from 1930 enter the US public domain, along with sound recordings from 1925.
Just think how much culture could be enriched (through derivative works) if US copyright was rolled back to its original term: 14 years with an option to renew it once for 14 more.
Just think how much culture could be enriched (through derivative works) if US copyright was rolled back to its original term: 14 years with an option to renew it once for 14 more.