Public domain 2027

United States

1. Coming 2027
   Dracula (1931 film)Tod Browning, Universal (Bela Lugosi) · 1931 · Films

   Lugosi's cape-and-accent Count, the image most people picture as Dracula. The film is free in the US, as is the Spanish-language version shot on the same sets.

   US 2027
2. Coming 2027
   Frankenstein (1931 film)James Whale, Universal (Boris Karloff) · 1931 · Films

   The Universal film that fixed the monster's look: flat head, neck bolts, Karloff's lumbering walk. The film and that 1931 design are free in the US.

   US 2027
3. Coming 2027
   All of Me (song)Gerald Marks, Seymour Simons · 1931 · Music

   One of the most recorded jazz standards. Composition free in the US.

   US 2027
4. Coming 2027
   As Time Goes By (song)Herman Hupfeld · 1931 · Music

   Written in 1931 for a Broadway revue, made immortal by Casablanca (1942). The music and lyrics become free in the US.

   US 2027
5. Coming 2027
   City LightsCharlie Chaplin · 1931 · Films

   Chaplin's silent masterpiece with the Tramp and the blind flower girl. Free in the US from 2027.

   US 2027
6. Coming 2027
   MFritz Lang (Peter Lorre) · 1931 · Films

   Lang's serial killer thriller, one of the most influential crime films ever made. Free in the US from 2027.

   US 2027
7. Coming 2027
   Pluto (named, as Mickey's dog)Walt Disney Productions · 1931 · Characters

   The Moose Hunt (1931) is the first cartoon where the dog is called Pluto and belongs to Mickey. That version joins Rover (1930) in the US public domain.

   US 2027
8. Coming 2027
   The Good EarthPearl S. Buck · 1931 · Books

   Pulitzer Prize novel about a Chinese farming family, a bestseller for two years and a key reason Buck won the Nobel.

   US 2027
9. Coming 2027
   The Persistence of Memory (melting clocks)Salvador Dalí · 1931 · Art

   Dalí's melting clocks. Wikipedia lists it among 1931 works becoming free in the US.

   US 2027
10. Coming 2027
    The Story of Babar (original French)Jean de Brunhoff · 1931 · Books

    The elephant king's first book. Free in Europe since 2008 (de Brunhoff died in 1937); the original French edition becomes free in the US in 2027.

    US 2027Life+70 2008
11. Coming 2027
    Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? (song)Yip Harburg, Jay Gorney · 1931 · Music

    The anthem of the Great Depression.

    US 2027
12. Coming 2027
    Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931 film)Rouben Mamoulian (Fredric March) · 1931 · Films

    The first horror film to win an acting Oscar. Free in the US from 2027.

    US 2027
13. Coming 2027
    Heebie Jeebies (1926 recording)Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five · 1926 · Recordings

    The famous early scat-singing record. US sound recordings from 1926 enter the public domain in 2027 under the Music Modernization Act.

    US 2027
14. Coming 2027
    Ibrutinib (Imbruvica)AbbVie, Johnson & Johnson · 2026 · Patents

    The US compound patent runs to December 2026, with pediatric exclusivity to June 2027.

    US 2027
15. Coming 2027
    Minnie the Moocher (song)Cab Calloway, Irving Mills · 1931 · Music

    The hi-de-ho call-and-response song. Composition free in the US.

    US 2027
16. Coming 2027
    Monkey BusinessThe Marx Brothers · 1931 · Films

    The Marx Brothers as stowaways on an ocean liner.

    US 2027
17. Coming 2027
    Nancy Drew: The Secret at Shadow Ranch and The Secret of Red Gate FarmCarolyn Keene (Mildred Benson) · 1931 · Books

    The 1931 original texts of two Nancy Drew mysteries.

    US 2027
18. Coming 2027
    Palbociclib (Ibrance) and dulaglutide (Trulicity)Pfizer; Eli Lilly · 2027 · Patents

    Two blockbuster drugs whose key US protection is listed as ending in 2027.

    US 2027
19. Coming 2027
    Pietr the Latvian (first Maigret)Georges Simenon · 1931 · Characters

    The first novel with Inspector Maigret, in its original French, is free in the US.

    US 2027
20. Coming 2027
    SanctuaryWilliam Faulkner · 1931 · Books

    Faulkner's darkest and best-selling novel of his early career.

    US 2027
21. Coming 2027
    The Glass KeyDashiell Hammett · 1931 · Books

    Hammett's own favourite of his novels, a political crime story.

    US 2027
22. Coming 2027
    The Living Shadow (The Shadow)Walter B. Gibson · 1931 · Characters

    The first pulp novel starring The Shadow, the cloaked vigilante who inspired Batman.

    US 2027
23. Coming 2027
    The Public EnemyWilliam A. Wellman (James Cagney, Jean Harlow) · 1931 · Films

    The gangster film with the grapefruit scene that made Cagney a star.

    US 2027
24. Coming 2027
    The Sittaford MysteryAgatha Christie · 1931 · Books

    A snowbound Christie mystery that starts with a séance.

    US 2027
25. Coming 2027
    The WavesVirginia Woolf · 1931 · Books

    Woolf's most experimental novel. Already free in Europe since 2012; the US catches up in 2027.

    US 2027Life+70 2012
26. Coming 2027
    Tintin in the Congo (original black-and-white)Hergé · 1931 · Characters

    The original French album of Tintin's second adventure is free in the US, along with the first pages of Tintin in America.

    US 2027

Life+70 countries: EU, UK, Australia, Turkey, Russia, most of South America

1. Coming 2027
   Winnie-the-Pooh (UK, EU and life+70 countries)A. A. Milne · 1926 · Books

   Milne died in January 1956, so his Pooh books, poems (When We Were Very Young, Now We Are Six) and plays become free across the UK, the EU and other life+70 countries. The US freed the 1926 book in 2022 and The House at Pooh Corner (Tigger) in 2024.

   Life+70 2027US 2022
2. Coming 2027
   Bertolt Brecht (plays and poems)Bertolt Brecht · 1956 · Books

   The Threepenny Opera, Mother Courage, Life of Galileo, The Caucasian Chalk Circle. Brecht died in August 1956, so his works become free in life+70 countries, ending one of the strictest estates in theatre.

   Life+70 2027
3. Coming 2027
   Futura (Paul Renner's design)Paul Renner · 1927 · Typefaces

   Renner, who designed Futura, died in 1956, so his own drawings and writings become free in life+70 countries. Typeface designs have never been protected by copyright in the US.

   Life+70 2027
4. Coming 2027
   Jackson Pollock (paintings)Jackson Pollock · 1956 · Art

   Pollock died in August 1956: his drip paintings become free in life+70 countries.

   Life+70 2027
5. Coming 2027
   Çalıkuşu (The Wren)Reşat Nuri Güntekin · 1922 · Books

   One of Turkey's best-loved novels; Güntekin died in December 1956, so Turkey (life+70) frees it in 2027.

   Life+70 2027
6. Coming 2027
   Walter de la Mare (poems and stories)Walter de la Mare · 1956 · Books

   The British poet and ghost-story writer (The Listeners, Memoirs of a Midget).

   Life+70 2027

Life+50 countries: e.g. China, Egypt, South Africa, UAE, Saudi Arabia

1. Coming 2027
   Agatha Christie (all works, life+50 countries)Agatha Christie · 1976 · Books

   Christie died on 12 January 1976. In countries with a life+50 term (for example China, Egypt, South Africa, the UAE and Saudi Arabia) her whole catalogue, Poirot and Marple included, becomes free in 2027.

   Life+50 2027
2. Coming 2027
   Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1939 story)Robert L. May · 1939 · Books

   May's original story poem; he died in 1976.

   Life+50 2027
3. Coming 2027
   Max Ernst, Alexander Calder, Man Ray, L. S. Lowry (art)Various · 1976 · Art

   Major 20th-century artists who died in 1976 become free in life+50 countries.

   Life+50 2027
4. Coming 2027
   The Story of FerdinandMunro Leaf · 1936 · Books

   The peaceful bull. Leaf died in 1976.

   Life+50 2027

India and other life+60 countries

1. Coming 2027
   C. S. Forester (Hornblower, The African Queen)C. S. Forester · 1966 · Books

   Forester died in 1966, so India (life+60) frees Hornblower and The African Queen in 2027.

   India 2027
2. Coming 2027
   Vile BodiesEvelyn Waugh · 1930 · Books

   Waugh's satire of the Bright Young Things.

   India 2027US 2026