[But first … Let’s all send healing good wishes to Silverback John (Mendocino Bonobos) who has just undergone surgery to get himself a new knee! Some folks will stop at nothing to give themselves an advantage on the pickleball court!
Various countries, various copyright protections. And yet, every New Year’s Day new treasures come into common ownership. Here’s a sampling of this year’s crop. SB SM]
January 1, 2026
The calendar turns, and once again a lively procession of books, images, films, and music leaves copyright behind and steps into the ever-growing public domain! On this year’s Public Domain Day (which falls each January 1st) we welcome, in lots of countries around the world, the words of Wallace Stevens, Thomas Mann, Hannah Arendt, and Albert Einstein, and in the US a bevy of brilliant books including William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, Langston Hughes’ Not Without Laughter, Agatha Christie’s The Murder at the Vicarage, and, in their original German, Robert Musil’s The Man Without Qualities and Hermann Hesse’s Narcissus and Goldmund.
Due to differing copyright laws around the world, there is no one single public domain, but there are three main types of copyright term for historical works which cover most cases. For these three systems, newly entering the public domain today are:
- works by people who died in 1955, for countries with a copyright term of “life plus 70 years” (relevant in UK, most of the EU, and South America);
- works by people who died in 1975, for countries with a term of “life plus 50 years” (relevant to most of Africa and Asia);
- films and books (incl. artworks featured) published in 1929 (relevant solely to the United States).
Some of you may have been following our advent-style countdown calendar which revealed day-by-day through December our highlights for these new public domain entrants. The last window was opened yesterday, and while such a format was fun for the slow reveal, for the sake of a good gorgeable list we’ve exploded the calendar out into a digestible array below. Enjoy!
Entering the public domain in the US
William Faulkner – As I Lay Dying
As I Lay Dying is a Southern Gothic novel by American author William Faulkner, consistently ranked among the best novels of the 20th century. The title is derived from William Marris’s 1925 translation of Homer’s Odyssey, referring to the similar themes of both works.
The novel traces the story of the death of Addie Bundren and her poor, rural family’s quest to honor her wish to be buried in her hometown of Jefferson, Mississippi, as well as the motives—noble or selfish—they show on the journey. It uses a stream-of-consciousness writing technique and varying chapter lengths, and is narrated by 15 different characters over 59 chapters.
Langston Hughes – Not Without Laughter
Not Without Laughter* is the debut novel of Langston Hughes, the American writer, activist, and leader of the Harlem Renaissance.
The novel portrays African-American life in Kansas in the 1910s, focusing on the effects of class and religion on the community. In telling the story of Sandy Rogers, a young African American boy in small-town Kansas, and of his family—his mother, Annjee, a housekeeper for a wealthy white family; his irresponsible father, Jimboy, who plays the guitar and travels the country in search of employment; his strong-willed grandmother Hager, who clings to her faith; his Aunt Tempy, who marries a rich man; and his Aunt Harriet, who struggles to make it as a blues singer—Hughes gives the longings and lineaments of Black life in the early twentieth century an important place in the history of racially divided America.
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930 film)
All Quiet on the Western Front is a 1930 American pre-Code epic anti-war film based on the 1929 novel of the same name by German novelist Erich Maria Remarque. Directed by Lewis Milestone, it stars Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim, John Wray, Slim Summerville, and William Bakewell.
The movie follows a group of German students moved to enlist in the army as part of the new 2nd Company. Their romantic delusions are quickly shattered during their brief but rigorous training under the abusive Sergeant Himmelstoss. After being sent to the Western Front, their idealism is destroyed by the harsh realities of combat.
Considered a realistic and harrowing account of warfare in World War I, the film opened to wide acclaim in the United States and made the American Film Institute’s first 100 Years… 100 Movies list in 1997. (Wikipedia)
Agatha Christie – The Murder at the Vicarage
The Murder at the Vicarage is a work of detective fiction by the British writer Agatha Christie. It is the first novel to feature the character of Miss Marple and her village of St Mary Mead (characters that had previously appeared in short stories).
The story is set in the quiet English village of St Mary Mead, where life is seemingly peaceful until Colonel Protheroe, the local magistrate and a widely disliked man, is found shot dead in the vicar’s study. The vicar, Leonard Clement, is the narrator of the story. Just before the murder, he had remarked that “anyone who murdered Colonel Protheroe would be doing the world a service” — a comment that comes back to haunt him.
Several suspects quickly emerge, as well as Miss Marple, who proves, though she appears at first as a nosy old spinster, to have unmatched observational skills and a deep understanding of human nature. (Wikipedia)
Dashiell Hammett – The Maltese Falcon
The Maltese Falcon is a detective novel by American writer Dashiell Hammett, originally serialized in the magazine Black Mask beginning with the September 1929 issue. The story is told entirely in external third-person narrative; there is no description whatsoever of any character’s thoughts or feelings, only what they say and do, and how they look. The novel has been adapted several times for the cinema and is considered part of the hardboiled genre, which Hammett played a major part in popularizing.
The novel follows Sam Spade, a private detective in San Francisco, in partnership with Miles Archer. The beautiful “Miss Wonderley” hires them to follow Floyd Thursby, who she claims has run off with her sister. Archer takes the first stint but is found shot dead that night. “Miss Wonderley” is soon revealed to be an acquisitive adventuress named Brigid O’Shaughnessy, who is involved in the search for a black statuette of unknown but substantial value. Red herrings abound.