Entering the public domain in 2026

Every January 1st, a fresh year of American culture crosses into the public domain — and for a few years yet, it arrives on two clocks at once. Under current U.S. copyright law, works first published in 1930 entered the public domain on January 1, 2026 (their 95-year term complete), and — under the Music Modernization Act's staggered schedule — sound recordings first released in 1925 joined them. Anyone can now copy, share, remix, or restore both classes without asking permission or paying a licensing fee. For film, 1930 was deep in the early talkie era; for recordings, 1925 is the acoustic golden age — Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong's St. Louis Blues, Marian Anderson's spirituals — and every January rolls a new cohort free until the whole pre-1947 catalog is out by 2047.

What "entering the public domain" means here

A work crossing into the public domain on paper isn't the same as it being ready for this site. Squirrel Away only lists a title once we've verified its status ourselves — and separately for each layer of it, because a freshly-PD film can still carry a copyrighted score or restoration, and a PD song can sit on a not-yet-free recording. That verification takes real research: renewal records where they exist, publication history where they don't, and a careful read of exactly which elements of a copy are actually free and clear.

Where the 2026 class stands

We're still working through the newly eligible titles to see which ones clear our bar for inclusion — same standard as everything else in the catalog: airtight, conservative, and documented on the title's own page once it's in. Rather than publish a list before that work is done, we're leaving this page as an honest placeholder. Check back, or watch Now Showing — as titles clear verification, they'll appear there first.

This page gets refreshed every January 1st for the new incoming class.