Overview
- The Duke Law School Center for the Study of the Public Domain published a catalog guiding creators to notable books, films, cartoons, songs, and 1925 recordings now available without permission.
- Literary entrants include William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon, Agatha Christie’s The Murder at the Vicarage, and the first four Nancy Drew mysteries.
- Screen highlights include All Quiet on the Western Front, the Marx Brothers’ Animal Crackers, Betty Boop’s 1930 debut Dizzy Dishes, and Disney shorts featuring Rover, the early version of Pluto.
- Musical additions range from George and Ira Gershwin standards such as I Got Rhythm and Embraceable You to Dream a Little Dream of Me, with 1925 recordings like Bessie Smith’s The St. Louis Blues.
- Only original iterations are free to use, with trademarks and later redesigns or restorations still limiting certain uses, exemplified by the dog-like Betty Boop debut and Pluto’s first appearance.