Est. under public law · Verified against Duke CSPD & the U.S. Copyright Act
Every year on January 1, a new class of books, films, songs, and characters sheds its copyright and becomes free for anyone to copy, remix, and sell. This is their register — a living archive of the public domain, and a map of how to turn each freed work into profit.
Public Domain Day · January 1, 2026
Works first published in 1930 — and sound recordings from 1925 — completed their 95-year term and were naturalized into the public domain. Here are the newest free citizens.
The National Register
Search the full population of free works. Filter by category or class, and see a way to profit from each.
No citizens match that search. Try clearing a filter.
Where to get it — free
The public domain is free by definition. Here's where to actually download it — the best open archives and museum collections, by medium. No sign-ups, no fees, no catch.
We route you to these for free on purpose. When you'd rather skip the hunt, the curated packs & guide below do the sourcing, cleaning, and licensing for you.
The Mint · where free becomes profitable
Public domain means no rights fees and no permission — but the raw text or image is a commodity. These are the proven models for making a business out of freed works. The value you add is the value you keep.
Rule of thumb: you can't own the public-domain source, but you can own what you make from it — your edition, recording, adaptation, illustrations, or curation. Sell that.
Awaiting naturalization
Works from 1931 are counting down. On January 1, 2027 they join the Republic. Start planning your edition, adaptation, or product now.
Know the law before you profit
Works published in the United States before 1978 enter the public domain 95 years after their publication year. That is why 1930's works became free on January 1, 2026 — and 1931's will follow in 2027.
Older recordings follow a special track under the Music Modernization Act: recordings first published in 1925 entered the public domain in 2026. A song's composition and any specific recording of it are separate works with separate clocks.
Public domain is territorial. Many countries use "life of the author plus 70 years," so a work free in the U.S. may still be protected abroad — and vice versa. This register tracks U.S. status. Confirm your own jurisdiction before selling.
A work entering the public domain does not free everything attached to it. Trademarks (brand names, logos, character marks) can live forever, and later versions of a character stay protected. The 1928 Mickey is free; the modern one is not. Use the freed work — not the living brand.
This is an open, CC0 archive. Know a freed work we're missing, or a sharper profit angle? The whole dataset is one readable JSON file — open a pull request and add a citizen.