There are some new Mickey Mouse animations, too.

Summary

As of 2025, works from 1929, including early versions of Popeye and Tintin, have entered the public domain in the U.S., allowing free reuse and adaptation.

Iconic works now public include The Skeleton Dance (Disney’s Silly Symphonies), Alfred Hitchcock’s Blackmail, William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury, Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials Mystery, and Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own.

However, Tintin remains under copyright in the EU until 2054.

This follows recent public domain entries like Steamboat Willie-era Mickey Mouse in 2024, with Betty Boop and Pluto set to join in 2026.

  • @Buddahriffic
    4•3 days ago

    A trademark is just a symbol used to show something was made by a certain entity. They aren’t about the things themselves.

    Eg the Nintendo logo is a trademark but the characters like Mario, Link, and Sonic aren’t.

    Though it can get a bit fuzzy when characters are used as trademarks, Nintendo couldn’t just say “Mario is our spokesman” to gain indefinite protection on him. But, even if Mario wasn’t covered by copyright, someone else couldn’t use him to act as if Nintendo endorsed their product.

      • @Buddahriffic
        1•3 days ago

        Not sure where anything in that link contradicts what I said. A character used in a logo is one of those cases where a character is used as a trademark, but it only applies to that logo. Having a trademark of a Mario logo wouldn’t mean that Mario couldn’t show up in works that aren’t by Nintendo, it’s purely the copyright that prevents that.

        The part where it gets complicated is more about, for example, a video of Mario playing Palworld and saying “This is-a better than-a pokemon!” was used to try to imply Nintendo themselves recommended Palworld over Pokemon, since Mario is a trademark of Nintendo and strongly associated with them.

        Trademarks are about marketing and the origin and/or endorsement of something. Copyrights are about the presentation and creative use of the copyrighted works.

        That said, if trademarks are used in the creative work, it seems as though they would need to be removed for someone else to sell that work. So if steamboat Willie has the Disney logo as a part of its opening credits and someone else tries to show it without removing that logo, Disney world likely have a trademark infringement case. But they wouldn’t have a case simply because Mickey mouse could be considered they spokesman and is a character in it.

        For the Nintendo ones, once super Mario Bros’ copyright lapses, “Super Mario” might need to be removed from the title for others to sell it to avoid infringing on Nintendo’s trademark. But the characters of Mario, Luigi, Mushroom Man, King Koopa, and the Princess would be fair game, either in the game’s original format or derivative works.