Social:2026 in public domain

Short description: Overview of works entering public domain

The works of Thomas Mann will enter the public domain in Europe in 2026.

When a work's copyright expires, it enters the public domain. The following is a list of creators whose works enter the public domain in 2026. Since laws vary globally, the copyright status of some works are not uniform.

Entering the public domain in countries with life + 70 years

With the exception of Belarus (Life + 50 years) and Spain (which has a copyright term of Life + 80 years for creators that died before 1987), a work enters the public domain in Europe 70 years after the creator's death, if it was published during the creator's lifetime. For previously unpublished material, those who publish it first will have the publication rights for 25 years. 2026 marks the first year since 2006 that works will enter the public domain in Australia, which changed its copyright term length from a "plus 50" law to a "plus 70" law in 2004. The list is sorted alphabetically and includes a notable work of the creator that entered the public domain on 1 January 2026.

Names	Country	Birth	Death	Occupation	Notable work
James Agee	United States	1909	1955	Novelist, Journalist, Poet, Screenwriter	A Death in the Family
Ruby M. Ayres	United Kingdom	1881	1955	Romance novelist	Bibliography
Johannes Baader	Germany	1875	1955	Writer, Artist, Architect
Lloyd Bacon	United States	1889	1955	Actor, Film director	Filmography as director
Dale Carnegie	United States	1888	1955	Writer	How to Win Friends and Influence People
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin	France	1881	1955	Jesuit priest, Scientist, Paleontologist, Theologian, Philosopher	The Phenomenon of Man
Paul Claudel	France	1868	1955	Poet, Dramatist	Works
Donald Corley	United States	1886	1955	Short story author, illustrator, architect
William C. deMille	United States	1878	1955	Screenwriter, Film director	Filmography
Isaak Dunayevsky	Russia	1900	1955	Composer	Compositions
Albert Einstein	Germany United States	1879	1955	Theoretical physicist	Scientific publications, The Evolution of Physics, The Meaning of Relativity
George Enescu	Romania	1881	1955	Composer	Compositions
Concha Espina	Spain	1879	1955	Writer	Bibliography
Joseph Jefferson Farjeon	United Kingdom	1883	1955	Novelist, Playwright, Screenwriter	Works
José Ortega y Gasset	Spain	1883	1955	Philosopher, Essayist	Works
Rodolfo Graziani	Italy	1882	1955	General	Books
Arthur Honegger	Switzerland	1892	1955	Composer	Compositions
Clemence Housman	United Kingdom	1861	1955	Author
Jaime Ovalle	Brazil	1894	1955	Composer	Works
James P. Johnson	United States	1894	1955	Composer, pianist	Charleston
Fernand Léger	France	1881	1955	Painter, Sculptor, Filmmaker
Thomas Mann	Germany	1875	1955	Writer, Philanthropist, Essayist	Works
Max Pechstein	Germany	1881	1955	Painter
Robert Riskin	United States	1897	1955	Screenwriter, Playwright	Filmography
Nat Schachner	United States	1895	1955	Author and biographer	Space Lawyer
Robert E. Sherwood	United States	1896	1955	Screenwriter, Playwright
Nicolas de Staël	France	1914	1955	Painter
Al. T. Stamatiad	Romania	1885	1955	Poet, Short story writer, Dramatist
Wallace Stevens	United States	1879	1955	Poet	The Auroras of Autumn
Yves Tanguy	France	1900	1955	Painter	Paintings
Yevgeny Tarle	Russia	1874	1955	Historian	Napoleon's Invasion of Russia, 1812
Tin Ujević	Croatia	1891	1955	Poet	Works
Maurice Utrillo	France	1883	1955	Painter
Hermann Weyl	Germany	1885	1955	Mathematician, Theoretical physicist, Philosopher	Bibliography

Entering the public domain in Spain

Spain has a copyright term of life + 80 years for creators that died before 1987. The list is sorted alphabetically and includes a notable work of the creator that entered the public domain on 1 January 2026.

Names	Country	Birth	Death	Occupation	Notable work
Béla Bartók	Hungary	1881	1945	Composer	Compositions
Dietrich Bonhoeffer	Germany	1906	1945	Lutheran pastor, Theologian	The Cost of Discipleship
Theodore Dreiser	United States	1871	1945	Novelist, Journalist	Sister Carrie, An American Tragedy
Anne Frank	Germany	1929	1945	Diarist	The Diary of a Young Girl
Zinaida Gippius	Russia	1869	1945	Poet, Playwright, Novelist	Bibliography
Adolf Hitler	Germany	1889	1945	Führer of Germany	Mein Kampf
Benito Mussolini	Italy	1883	1945	Prime Minister of Italy, Duce of Fascism	Writings
Kitaro Nishida	Japan	1870	1945	Philosopher	Works
Franklin D. Roosevelt	United States	1882	1945	President of the United States	Looking Forward
Felix Salten	Austria	1869	1945	Writer	Bambi, a Life in the Woods
Josep Maria Sert	Spain	1874	1945	Muralist
Ignacio Zuloaga	Spain	1870	1945	Painter
Franz Werfel	Austria Czechia	1890	1945	Novelist, Playwright, Poet	The Forty Days of Musa Dagh
Ignacio Zuloaga	Spain	1870	1945	Painter

Countries with life + 60 years

India

Names	Country	Birth	Death	Occupation	Notable work

Entering the public domain in countries with life + 50 years

In most countries of Africa and Asia, as well as Belarus , Bolivia, Canada , New Zealand, Egypt and Uruguay; a work enters the public domain 50 years after the creator's death.

Names	Country	Birth	Death	Occupation	Notable work
Leroy Anderson	United States	1908	1975	Composer	Sleigh Ride, Blue Tango, The Typewriter, The Syncopated Clock
Ivo Andrić	Yugoslavia	1892	1975	Writer, Poet	The Bridge on the Drina
Hannah Arendt	Germany United States	1906	1975	Writer, Political philosopher	The Human Condition, Eichmann in Jerusalem
Mikhail Bakhtin	Russia	1895	1975	Philosopher	Works
Thomas Hart Benton	United States	1889	1975	Painter
James Blish	United States	1921	1975	Writer	Cities in Flight, Star Trek novelizations
Arthur Bliss	United Kingdom	1891	1975	Composer	Compositions
Tim Buckley	United States	1947	1975	Guitarist, Singer, Songwriter	Discography
Luigi Dallapiccola	Italy	1904	1975	Composer	Compositions
Lefty Frizzell	United States	1928	1975	Singer, Songwriter	Discography
Konstantine Gamsakhurdia	Georgia	1893	1975	Writer	The Right Hand of the Grand Master
Bernard Herrmann	United States	1911	1975	Composer	Film scores
Julian Huxley	United Kingdom	1887	1975	Evolutionary biologist	Works
Chiang Kai-shek	Taiwan	1887	1975	President of the Republic of China	China's Destiny (中国之命运)
Rowland V. Lee	United States	1891	1975	Director, Actor, Screenwriter, Producer
Murray Leinster	United States	1896	1975	Writer	Bibliography
Elijah Muhammad	United States	1897	1975	Leader of the Nation of Islam	Message to the Blackman in America
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan	India	1888	1975	Philosopher, President of India	The Dhammapada, The Principal Upanishads
Alfred Hamish Reed	New Zealand	1875	1975	Writer, publisher	The Gumdiggers: The Story of Kauri Gum
Maria Elizabeth Rothmann	South Africa	1875	1975	Author	Kinders van die Voortrek
Nora Sanderson	New Zealand	1905	1975	Romance writer	Hospital in New Zealand
Rod Serling	United States	1924	1975	Screenwriter, Playwright, Television producer	The Twilight Zone
Dmitri Shostakovich	Russia	1906	1975	Composer	Compositions
Noble Sissle	United States	1889	1975	Jazz composer, Lyricist	Shuffle Along, I'm Just Wild About Harry
Christopher Strachey	United Kingdom	1916	1975	Computer scientist	CPL, Fundamental Concepts in Programming Languages
Bill Sutch	New Zealand	1907	1975	Economist	Poverty and Progress in New Zealand, The Quest for Security in New Zealand
Arnold J. Toynbee	United Kingdom	1889	1975	Historian	A Study of History
Thornton Wilder	United States	1897	1975	Playwright, Novelist	The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Our Town
P. G. Wodehouse	United Kingdom	1881	1975	Playwright, Novelist	Bibliography

United States

The earliest Betty Boop cartoons will enter the public domain in the United States in 2026.

Under the Copyright Term Extension Act, books published in 1930, films released in 1930, and other works published in 1930, will enter the public domain in 2026. Sound recordings that were published in 1925 will enter the public domain.

Unpublished works whose authors died in 1955 will enter the public domain.

Among the literary works that will enter public domain in 2026 are Dashiell Hammett's detective novel The Maltese Falcon, Agatha Christie's Miss Marple-novel The Murder at the Vicarage, William Faulkner's novel As I Lay Dying, H. Rider Haggard's final work Belshazzar, Armitage Trail's novel Scarface, Noël Coward's play Private Lives, Milt Gross's graphic novel He Done Her Wrong, Bertold Brecht's play The Decision in its original German, the first appearance of Herge's Tintin in Tintin in the Land of the Soviets in it original French, the first English translation of Franz Kafka's The Castle, the first English translation of Hermann Sudermann's The Excursion to Tilsit and Carolyn Keene's The Secret of the Old Clock and the character Nancy Drew (although only the original 1930 text).

Significant films entering the public domain this year include All Quiet on the Western Front, Greta Garbo's first sound film Anna Christie, Jean Harlow's film debut Hell's Angels, John Wayne's film debut in the The Big Trail, The Love Parade, Animal Crackers starring the Marx Brothers, Soup to Nuts featuring an early iteration of The Three Stooges, George Cukor's directorial debut Grumpy, Josef von Sternberg's The Blue Angel and Morocco, both starring Marlene Dietrich (the first of eight films they made together), G.W. Pabst's Westfront 1918, Robert Siodmak's directorial debut People on Sunday, Jean Vigo's directorial debut À propos de Nice, Luis Buñuel's The Golden Age, the first Italian soundfilm The Sound of Love, the first Polish sound film Niebezpieczny romans, the first Czech sound film Tonka of the Gallows, the first Argentinian sound film Goodbye Argentina and the oldest surviving television broadcast The Man with the Flower in His Mouth. The earliest Betty Boop works will enter into the public domain including Dizzy Dishes. The Disney character Pluto will also enter the public domain, debuting in the 1930 cartoon The Chain Gang.

The first comic appearances of Hergé's Quick & Flupke and Chic Young's Blondie will also enter the public domain.

Some of the better-known works of art entering the public domain are Grant Wood's painting American Gothic, Piet Mondrian's Composition with Red Blue and Yellow, Frederick Judd Waugh's painting Wild Weather, José Clemente Orozco's fresco Prometheus, Ansel Adams' photobook Taos Pueblo with writing by Mary Hunter Austin, Martin Munkácsi's photograph Three Boys at Lake Tanganyika, Edward Weston's photograph Pepper No. 30, early prints of M.C. Escher (The Bridge and Castrovalva), and the first designs of the Brno chair and the Tugendhat chair.

See also

• 1955 in literature and 1975 in literature for deaths of writers
• Public Domain Day
• Creative Commons

External links

• "Authors by Year of Death – 1955". AuthorAndBookInfo.com. http://www.authorandbookinfo.com/abyod/1955.htm. 
• Popular Books of 1930 at Goodreads