Public Domain Day 2027: What You Can Use From 1931

Every January 1, a whole year of books, films, music and art loses its copyright in the United States. Anyone can copy it, sell it, remix it or put it on a mug. No permission, no credit, no fee.

On January 1, 2027, that year is 1931.

Here’s how the rule works, what’s coming in 2027, and how I find the newly free pictures from that year in a Google Sheet.

TL;DR

In the US, works published in 1931 enter the public domain on January 1, 2027.
Sound recordings follow a different clock: recordings from 1926 come in on the same day.
Many other countries count from the creator’s death instead, so their list is people who died in 1956.
A free sheet can search millions of public domain images, and show you which are safe to use.

Who this is for

Etsy and print-on-demand sellers: new art you can put on products without a license.
YouTubers and filmmakers: old footage and music you can reuse.
Writers, teachers and course creators: books and pictures to quote and adapt.
Anyone curious about why Mickey Mouse and Winnie-the-Pooh show up in horror movies now.

How the rule works

In the US, a work published from 1929 to 1977 with its copyright kept up is protected for 95 years from publication. The protection runs to the end of that calendar year. So:

Published in 1930: free on January 1, 2026.
Published in 1931: free on January 1, 2027.
Published in 1932: free on January 1, 2028.

Sound recordings made before 1972 have their own schedule. Recordings from 1926 come into the public domain on January 1, 2027.

Countries like the UK and the EU count “life plus 70 years” instead: a creator’s work becomes free 70 years after the end of the year they died. On January 1, 2027, that means creators who died in 1956.

Two things that catch people out:

Only the 1931 version is free. A later edition, a new translation, a colorized film or a remastered recording can have its own, newer copyright.
Trademarks don’t expire like copyright. You can use a public domain character’s original look, but you can’t make it look like the company’s official product.

What’s coming on January 1, 2027

Famous works from 1931 that are expected to enter the US public domain:

Films: Frankenstein and Dracula from Universal, Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights, The Public Enemy, the Marx Brothers’ Monkey Business.
Books: Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth, Virginia Woolf’s The Waves, William Faulkner’s Sanctuary, Dashiell Hammett’s The Glass Key.
Songs (the written music and lyrics): “As Time Goes By” and “Minnie the Moocher”. (“Dream a Little Dream of Me” is often listed as 1931, but it already came in on January 1, 2026.)

Note: Frankenstein the novel has been free for over a century. What’s new is the 1931 film itself.

In life-plus-70 countries, work by creators who died in 1956 comes free, including A. A. Milne (the Winnie-the-Pooh books), Bertolt Brecht, Jackson Pollock and Walter de la Mare.

Sources: Wikipedia’s 2027 in public domain list, and Duke’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain, which publishes its own list each December. A title only comes free if its copyright was renewed on time and it was first published in 1931, so check the specific edition before you build a product on it.

Where to find public domain images from 1931 (and every year before)

Wikimedia Commons is the biggest free library of public domain pictures on the internet: old photos, posters, maps, book plates, film stills. Commons only keeps a file if it’s free to use, and it marks each one with its license.

The problem is searching it. You get a page of thumbnails, and you click into each one to read its license.

So I built a free Google Sheet that does the searching and puts the license next to every picture.

Get Free Image Finder, make your copy, and click 🖼️ Free Image Finder > Quick setup.
On the Search tab, type what you want, like 1931 poster, 1931 film still, 1931 photograph or art deco poster.
Set License to Public domain & CC0. Now every result needs no credit.
Set Sort to Oldest uploads or Random to dig past the top results.
Tick Save on the ones you want, then open the Export tab for the file URLs, a download script and the credit lines.

Prefer browsing by topic? Switch Mode to Category and type a Commons category, like 1931 films or 1931 posters.

Expect more 1931 files to show up on Commons in January, as volunteers upload works that just became free.

Common pitfalls

Using a later version. The 1931 film is free; a 2020 restoration with new music may not be.
Copying a modern character design. Use the 1931 original, not the version from later films or merchandise.
Assuming it’s free everywhere. A US-free work can still be protected in life-plus-70 countries, and the other way round. Sell where it’s free.
Trusting a “public domain” label on a random site. Check the license on the file page. On Commons, every file shows its own.
Forgetting the recording rule. A 1931 song’s sheet music is free in 2027. A 1931 recording of it isn’t free until 2032.

Learn the Google Sheets formulas in this post

IMAGE formula: show a picture from a URL right in a cell.
FILTER formula: keep only rows where the license is public domain.
HYPERLINK formula: make each file name a link to its page.

Better Sheets has hundreds more tutorials like these. If you want to get better at Google Sheets, join Better Sheets.

FAQ

What is Public Domain Day?

January 1, the day each year when a new batch of works loses its copyright. In the US in 2027, that’s works published in 1931.

What enters the public domain in 2027?

In the US, books, films, music and art published in 1931, plus sound recordings from 1926. In life-plus-70 countries, work by creators who died in 1956.

When does art become public domain?

In the US, art published from 1929 to 1977 becomes public domain 95 years after publication. Anything published before 1931 is already free in the US.

Can I sell products with public domain art?

Yes. Public domain means anyone can use it, including for business. Make sure it’s the original version and that it’s free in the country where you sell.

Do I need to credit public domain images?

No. A credit is optional. It’s still nice, and it helps people find the source.

Where can I find public domain images?

Wikimedia Commons has millions. Free Image Finder searches it from a Google Sheet and filters to public domain and CC0 with one dropdown.

Get the sheet

Free Image Finder is free. Search public domain pictures from any year, see the license on every one, and download them all at once. More on the tool page. Not sure what the licenses mean? Read how to credit an image.