Here's a list of notable materials entering the public domain as of 1/1/25

As of January 1, 2025, numerous notable works from 1929 have entered the public domain in the United States, allowing for their free and unrestricted use. Here are some of the most significant additions:

Literature:

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
All Quiet on the Western Front (English translation) by Erich Maria Remarque
The Roman Hat Mystery by Ellery Queen
The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham

Books and Poetry

Herman Hesse: Steppenwolf (German original, English translations may vary based on translator's rights).
H.P. Lovecraft: Many short stories published in 1929, including The Dunwich Horror.
Thornton Wilder: The Bridge of San Luis Rey (republished editions may vary).

Comics and Pulp Fiction

Tarzan at the Earth's Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Various serialized pulp stories, including early adventures of characters like Doc Savage.

Films:

Blackmail – Alfred Hitchcock's first sound film
The Cocoanuts – The Marx Brothers' first feature-length movie
The Broadway Melody – MGM's first musical film and the first sound film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture
Un Chien Andalou – Directed by Luis Buñuel and co-written by Salvador Dalí
The Skeleton Dance – A Walt Disney animated short
The Karnival Kid – A Mickey Mouse cartoon where Mickey speaks his first words

Music:

"Singin' in the Rain" by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown
"Ain't Misbehavin'" by Fats Waller
"What Is This Thing Called Love?" by Cole Porter
"Stardust" (1929 version with lyrics by Mitchell Parish)
"Honeysuckle Rose" by Fats Waller

Art:

The Treachery of Images by René Magritte
The Great Masturbator by Salvador Dalí
Chop Suey by Edward Hopper
Upward by Wassily Kandinsky

Characters:

Popeye the Sailor Man – First appeared in E.C. Segar's "Thimble Theatre" comic strip
Tintin – Debuted in Hergé's "Les Aventures de Tintin"
These works are now available for public use, enabling creative reinterpretations and new adaptations without the need for permissions or royalties.

Other Media
Early radio broadcasts and scripts, if recorded or transcribed in 1929.
Musical scores and arrangements from lesser-known composers.




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