Several Gershwin classics, plus cartoons like Betty Boop and Blondie, have reached the U.S. copyright maximum
Each year, dozens of classic songs, movies, and other cultural works reach the 95-year copyright maximum in the U.S., officially becoming part of the public domain. In 2026, a few beloved compositions from the 1930s are now free for anyone to use.
Some of the songs that hit the copyright limit include “Dream a Little Dream of Me,” written by Gus Kahn, Fabian Andre and Wilbur Schwandt, and “Georgia on My Mind,” written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell. Both songs have been popularized by some of the biggest names in music: Cass Elliot with the Mamas & the Papas, Ella Fitzgerald, and Michael Bublé are just a few of the names to cover “Dream a Little Dream of Me,” while Ray Charles gets credit for the best-known version of “Georgia on My Mind.”
Four songs by George Gershwin, with lyrics by his brother Ira, also entered the public domain. Those include “Embraceable You,” “I’ve Got a Crush on You,” “But Not for Me,” and “I Got Rhythm.”
Several other beloved favorites entered the public canon as well. An early version of the character Betty Boop, who originally started as a dog, is now free for artists to use, plus films like the Marx Brothers’ Animal Crackers, All Quiet on the Western Front, and King of Jazz, which was Bing Crosby’s first on-screen appearance. Other notable entries into the public domain include three mystery novels; the first four Nancy Drew books came out in 1930, as well as the Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon and Agatha Christie’s Murder at the Vicarage.
