One of the most exciting things every year is all the new cool stuff that finally enters the public domain in the US. This year the biggie was Mickey Mouse. Let's look at that and some of the other cool things that entered this year.

Copyright length in America was originally meant to reward a content creator for their creation but also encourage them to keep creating. That in mind, it was originally set as seven years. This could be extended once to fourteen years.

The idea was to give the creator of an original work some protection so they could profit from their creation, but then take that protection away to encourage them to create something else instead of just profiting off their original creation forever. The limited nature of copyright was also intended to be a reflection on the fact that things are not created in a vacuum and in fact society itself contributed to the creation, if indirectly. Due to this, after rewarding the creator for a period of time, the work was designed to then enter the public domain so that everyone could benefit from it. Not just benefit from it, but own it. The public owns it, so they can not only consume it freely but do whatever they want with it, such as, in the case of stories, edit and rewrite parts of it and try to sell the remixed version. That may sound wrong somehow, but it's basically how stories were treated for most of humanity. It's also something Disney is good at. We'll come back to them.

This was all the intention, at any rate. It didn't take long, however, before corporation got involved and started pushing for longer and longer copyright length. This led to the joke was that whenever Mickey Mouse was about to go out of copyright, Disney would buy a Congressman and have the copyright length extended. The irony with that is that most of Disney movies are based on stories and characters from the public domain, their remixed versions of the old stories.

As things stand now, copyright length is the life of an author plus 70 years for works published after 1978, and 95 years from publication for works published before 1978. This is insane. Now a creator, or more likely a corporation that buys the rights, can profit from a creation far far longer than originally intended. There no longer is any incentive to go back and create more. This entirely perverts the original intention and idea of copyright.

Ok, rant over. If you want more about why the public domain is a very very good thing, watch this video.

Long story short, the public has finally caught wind of these shenanigans and extending the length any longer has become much harder for corporations to get away with. Due to this, we are starting to get works entering the public domain once again. This year, works created in 1928 entered the public domain. Let's look at some of what we got.

Though now in the public domain, some of these haven't been made available on the internet yet. I'll link to what I can.

Film

The big one is that the first three Mickey Mouse shorts entered the public domain. These are Steamboat Willie, The Gallopin' Gaucho, and the silent version of Plane Crazy. These are now completely free. Go on YouTube and search for them and you can already find many channels offering the shorts. You search for the others, but here's Steamboat Willie.

These shorts introduced us to Mickey, Minnie, and Peg-leg Pete (though he has two legs in Steamboat Willie). Now not only are these shorts public domain, but the versions of Mickey, Minnie, and Peg-leg Pete featured in them are also public domain.

Compared to modern cartoons, it's not very good. More of a showcase of animation and sound (remember, sound in the moving pictures was still a very new thing at the time). But having it freely available, available to use without paying a fee to Disney and to remix is great and is a huge deal.

This release more than anything gives us hope that corporations have abandoned the idea of continually extending copyright due to increased public awareness and hostility at the idea.

Ha. Ok no, no, they haven't. As we will see later in this post. But at least in this case, the public wins out.

I can't wait to see remixes and adaptations of this original Mickey.

Other films entering the public domain include The Cameraman by Buster Keaton and The Circus by Charlie Chaplin. I'm more of a Keaton fan than Chaplin, but both movies are great if you like the old physical gags of silent movies.

Books

The second and final Winnie the Pooh book, The House at Pooh Corner is now in the public domain. This means the original Tigger is now also owned by the public. Read it here

The original Peter Pan play also enters. The book has already been in the public domain for years, but the play upon which it was based wasn't actually published until later so it was still under copyright until now. Now it's free! Another piece of the story is now ours. Now do keep in mind the Peter Pan from the book and first play is a bit different from the Broadway show and the Disney remix that most of us are familiar with. But this original one is now free for anyone to read and spin off into your own story.

The eleventh Tarzen book also enters. I'm not a huge Tarzen fan; I tried to read the first book once but couldn't make it far. Still, if you are a fan, part 11 is now yours. Read it here.

Books 4, 5, and 6 of the Hardy Boys are now public domain. I never read any of the Hardy Boys series when I was a kid, but funny enough they are some of the few English books the local library has and my son loves them. Now I can download these three freely to his Kindle for him to read.

Songs

Now... this category shows that corporation is still trying to get away with things that the public isn't entirely aware of yet. Just a few years ago (in 2018) they paid off Congress to extend copyright for musical performances another five years to 100 years. Bastards!

So in music what is entering the public domain? The sheet music, the song arrangement, and lyrics written in 1928 are entering the public domain. Performances of songs written in 1923 are also entering the public domain, not any 1928 performances of those songs, which have to wait another five years. Whew... yeah. It's complicated. Anyway!

The lyrics and music for When You're Smiling enters the public domain this year. Everyone knows this song. If you want to sing it on a Youtube video as part of your master plan to go viral, you are now free to do so. Read more about the song here

The music for I Wanna Be Loved By You is now in the public domain. The original performance by Helen Kane (Betty Boop) is not (and it won't be till 2029), and the 1959 performance by Marilyn Monroe is definitely not, but if you want to sing it yourself or remix the song in your own way, you are free to do so. Another hit for your Youtube channel. Read more about the song.

Mac the Knife also enters the public domain, but only the original German version. If you want to try your hand at singing that, you now can! Read more about the song here.

If you are a fan of Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? I know you remember Big Rock Candy Mountain, the amazing song by Harry McClintock singing about a hobo's paradise, it is now public domain. The song, not the original performance by McClintock, which will have to wait another five years before it's available. But if you want to sing it yourself without having to pay the man, go for it!

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
You never change your socks
And the little streams of alcohol
Come trickling down the rocks
The brakemen have to tip their hats
And the railroad bulls are blind
There's a lake of stew
And of whiskey too
You can paddle all around them
In a big canoe
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

The performance of the Charleston by James P Johnson is now freely available. It does have lyrics, but you may be more familiar with the piano only version. It's a classic tune and even if you aren't familiar with the name or dance it inspired, you may have heard it before.

Dippermouth Blues featuring a young Louis Armstrong is also now in the public domain. Listen here.

Well, I could go on, but let's end here. Many many others have compiled fuller lists, so instead of just copying what they did, go read them. This article from Duke University covers a lot more. Copyright Lately also has a really great article. And if you still want more, here is a really great (but long) overview.

[misc: Opening banner made by me using an image of Mickey Mouse which is now in the public domain. Suck it, Disney.]

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David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Twitter or Mastodon.