The iconic comic characters Tintin and Popeye, alongside literary, cinematic, and musical masterpieces by Faulkner, Hemingway, and Hitchcock— all dating back to 1929—will enter the public domain in the U.S. on Wednesday, according to various media reports.
Every January 1, thousands of books, films, songs, musical compositions, works of art, and comic book characters that are 95 years old lose their copyright protections in the United States. This change allows for free copying, sharing, reproduction, or adaptation without any payment required.
The Public Domain Study Center at Duke University’s law school in North Carolina releases a list each late December detailing the cultural works that will enter the public domain.
Following beloved characters like Winnie the Pooh (2022) and Mickey Mouse (2024), attention now turns to the famous figures of Popeye, created in 1929 by American artist Elzie Crisler Segar, and the reporter Tintin, introduced by Belgian artist Hergé in the same year.
1929 also saw the release of significant works in both American and European literature, many of which have been adapted for the big screen. These include “The Sound and the Fury” by William Faulkner, “A Farewell to Arms” by Ernest Hemingway, “A Room of One’s Own” by Virginia Woolf, and the first English translation of “All Quiet on the Western Front” by German author Erich Maria Remarque—these legendary novels will also enter the public domain on Wednesday.
In the realm of cinema, Duke University highlights Alfred Hitchcock’s “Blackmail,” noted as the first British talking picture, along with John Ford’s “The Black Watch,” both released in 1929.
In music, the original version of “Singin’ in the Rain,” by Americans Ignacio Herbert Brown and Arthur Freed—which has inspired numerous adaptations—will also lose its copyright protections.
