2025 in public domain

When a work's copyright expires, it enters the public domain. The following is a list of works that enter the public domain in 2025. 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 For previously unpublished material, those who publish it first will have the publication rights for 25 years. The list is sorted alphabetically and includes a notable work of the creator that entered the public domain on 1 January 2025.

Names	Country	Birth	Death	Occupation	Notable work
Sait Faik Abasıyanık	Turkey	18 November 1906	11 May 1954	Writer
Franco Alfano	Italy	8 March 1875	27 October 1954	Composer	List of operas by Franco Alfano
Oswald de Andrade	Brazil	11 January 1890	22 October 1954	Writer
Lionel Barrymore	United States	28 April 1878	15 November 1954	Actor, film director	Lionel Barrymore on stage, screen and radio
Jacinto Benavente	Spain	12 August 1866	14 July 1954	Writer
Werner Bischof	Switzerland	26 April 1916	16 May 1954	Photographer
Robert Capa	Hungary	22 October 1913	25 May 1954	Photographer
Colette	France	28 January 1873	3 August 1954	Writer
André Derain	France	10 June 1880	8 September 1954	Painter, sculptor
Wilhelm Furtwängler	Germany	10 June 1880	8 September 1954	Conductor, composer
E. Ray Goetz	United States	12 June 1886	12 June 1954	Composer, lyricist	"For Me and My Gal"
Heinz Guderian	Germany	17 June 1888	14 May 1954	General	Achtung – Panzer!, Panzer Leader
James Hilton	United Kingdom	9 September 1900	20 December 1954	Writer	Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Lost Horizon
Sydney Horler	United Kingdom	18 July 1888	27 October 1954	Writer
Raymond Hubbell	United States	1 June 1879	13 December 1954	Composer, lyricist	"Poor Butterfly"
Charles Ives	United States	20 October 1874	19 May 1954	Composer	List of compositions by Charles Ives
Hans Janowitz	Germany	2 December 1890	25 May 1954	Screenwriter	The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Frida Kahlo	Mexico	6 July 1907	13 July 1954	Painter	List of paintings by Frida Kahlo
Kalki Krishnamurthy	India	9 September 1899	5 December 1954	Writer	Ponniyin Selvan
Achille Longo	Italy	28 March 1900	28 May 1954	Composer
Gino Loria	Italy	19 May 1862	30 January 1954	Mathematician
Henri Matisse	France	31 December 1869	3 November 1954	Painter, sculptor	List of works by Henri Matisse
Getúlio Vargas	Brazil	19 April 1882	24 August 1954	Politician	Carta Testamento
Alpheus Hyatt Verrill	United States	23 July 1871	14 November 1954	Writer, zoologist
Dziga Vertov	Soviet Union	2 January 1896	12 February 1954	Film director
Francis Brett Young	United Kingdom	29 June 1884	28 March 1954	Writer, composer

Entering the public domain in countries with life + 80 years

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 2025.

Names	Country	Birth	Death	Occupation	Notable work
Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński	Poland	22 January 1921	4 August 1944	Poet
George Herriman	United States	22 August 1880	25 April 1944	Cartoonist	Krazy Kat
Winsor McCay	United States	1866–71	26 July 1944	Cartoonist, illustrator and animator	Little Nemo Dream of the Rarebit Fiend Gertie the Dinosaur
Piet Mondrian	Netherlands	7 March 1872	1 February 1944	Painter and art theoretician	Gray Tree Composition with Red Blue and Yellow Broadway Boogie Woogie
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry	France	29 June 1900	31 July 1944	Writer	The Little Prince
W. Heath Robinson	United Kingdom	13 May 1872	13 September 1944	Cartoonist, illustrator, artist

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, 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
Farid al-Atrash	Syria   Egypt	1917	26 December 1974	Musician
Hector Bolitho	New Zealand	28 May 1897	12 September 1974	Author
Maurice Duggan	New Zealand	25 November 1922	11 December 1974	Writer
Julius Evola	Italy	19 May 1898	11 June 1974	Philosopher	Revolt Against the Modern World
Eve Langley	New Zealand	1 September 1904	1 June 1974	Writer
Margaret MacPherson	New Zealand	19 June 1895	14 September 1974	Writer, journalist
Robert Charles Zaehner	United Kingdom	8 April 1913	24 November 1974	Historian of religion, Spy	Zurvan. A Zoroastrian Dilemma, Mysticism: Sacred and Profane, Our Savage God

Australia and Canada

See also: Copyright law of Australia and Copyright law of Canada

In 2004 copyright in Australia changed from a "plus 50" law to a "plus 70" law, in line with the United States and the European Union. But the change was not made retroactive (unlike the 1995 change in the European Union which bought some e.g. British authors back into copyright, especially those who died from 1925 to 1944). Hence the work of an author who died before 1955 is normally in the public domain in Australia; but the copyright of authors was extended to 70 years after death for those who died in 1955 or later, and no more Australian authors will come out of copyright until 1 January 2026 (those who died in 1955).^[1]

Similarly, Canada amended its Copyright Act in 2022 from a "plus 50" law to a "plus 70" law, coming into force on December 30, 2022, but does not revive expired copyright.^[2][3] No more new Canadian authors will come out of copyright until 1 January 2043 (those who died in 1972).

United States

See also: Public domain in the United States

 

Among the works entering the public domain in the United States in 2025 is the Marx Brothers film The Cocoanuts

Under the Copyright Term Extension Act, books published in 1929, films released in 1929, and other works published in 1929, will enter the public domain in 2025.^[4] Sound recordings that were published in 1924 will enter the public domain.^[5] The character Popeye the Sailor Man will enter the public domain in 2025.^[6]

Unpublished works whose authors died in 1954 will enter the public domain in 2025.

Among the works that will enter public domain in 2025 is the first film of The Marx Brothers, The Cocoanuts, second Academy Award for Best Picture winner The Broadway Melody, Buster Keaton's final full-length feature as a director, Spite Marriage, Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali's film Un Chien Andalou, René Magritte's painting The Treachery of Images, Ernest Hemingway's novel A Farewell to Arms, the first part of the 14th edition of Encyclopædia Britannica, and the first Silly Symphony cartoons, including The Skeleton Dance. It also includes the first appearance of Herge's Tintin.

See also

• 1954 in literature and 1974 in literature for deaths of writers
• Public Domain Day
• Creative Commons

References

1. "How long does copyright last?". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
2. "An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on April 7, 2022 and other measures". Parliament of Canada. 2022-06-23. Retrieved 2022-11-28.
3. "PC Number: 2022-1219". Government of Canada. 2022-11-17. Retrieved 2022-11-28.
4. . Public Domain Information Project. Archived from the original on 2014-08-01. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
5. Hirtle, Peter B. (3 January 2020). "Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States". Cornell University Library Copyright Information Center. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
6. "Eat Your Spinach with a Side of Public Domain". Harris County Robert W. Hainsworth Law Library. 2021-03-26. from the original on 2021-03-26. Retrieved 2023-06-23.

External links

•   Media related to Undelete in 2025 at Wikimedia Commons
• "Authors by Year of Death – 1954". AuthorAndBookInfo.com.
• Popular Books of 1929 at Goodreads