2024, like every year, brings with it the entry of several thousand creative works into the public Domain in the United States. The “public domain” includes books, movies, music, and more artworks and ideas that are no longer limited to specific users by copyright. This means that anyone can freely share, copy, or sample these works for personal or commercial use without the threat of legal consequences.
Several significant works entered the public domain this year, and some are already “inspiring” new projects.
1. Steamboat Willie (1928)
The most talked about work entering the public domain in 2024 is undoubtedly Steamboat Willie, the first public appearance of Mickey Mouse. It took almost no time for filmmaker Steven LaMorte to announce a horror movie featuring a character who looks an awful lot like Mickey but, for legal reasons, will only be called “Steamboat Willie.”
2. Plane Crazy (Silent Version) (1928)
Steamboat Willie was the first public appearance of Mickey, but Plane Crazy was the first cartoon made with the character. Plane Crazy was held back from release because it was silent and was not publicly exhibited until 1929, so only the silent version is entering the public domain this year, with the sound version to follow in 2025.
3. Street Angel (1928)
A winner at the first-ever Academy Awards, Street Angel (along with two other performances from the previous year) won star Janet Gaynor the first-ever Best Actress award. The movie follows Gaynor’s character as she struggles to make a living and support her ill mother, whether by escorting or stealing.
4. Lights of New York (1928)
While 1927’s The Jazz Singer gets a lot of (deserved) attention as the first “talkie,” meaning a movie where characters’ speech is matched with synced sound, it was the following year’s Lights of New York that was the first film to feature its characters speaking throughout the entire movie. The Jazz Singer may have been the first film to include talking with synced sound. But it only offered a few minutes of speech, primarily relying on title cards for dialogue as silent cinema did. Lights of New York was the first film that didn’t need to rely on title cards at all.
5. The Crowd (1928)
King Vidor remains one of the most celebrated filmmakers of the early 20th century, and some critics cite The Crowd as his “masterpiece.” The silent film tells the story of a young couple in New York City, living a life full of obstacles, joys, and tragedies many people experience. The Crowd was also nominated for but did not win two Academy Awards at the first Oscars ceremony.
6. The Cameraman (1928)
Buster Keaton wasn’t just one of the greatest actors of the 20th century; he was also one of the greatest directors. One of Keaton’s last directorial efforts, The Cameraman, which sees him play a cameraman willing to go to hilariously dangerous lengths for valuable footage, enters the public domain this year.
7. The Circus (1928)
Charlie Chaplin was also a talented and hilarious actor/director. Chaplin’s film The Circus sees his regular character, the Tramp, join a circus but struggle to make audiences laugh, on purpose at least. He does a great job of making people laugh accidentally.
8. Speedy (1928)
Harold Lloyd didn’t do as much directing as Chaplin and Keaton, but he stands as the third great comedian of the silent era. Speedy follows Lloyd as the eponymous character who gets into various misadventures with his girlfriend, a greedy streetcar magnate, and Babe Ruth.
9. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
The Passion of Joan of Arc tells the story of the eponymous Joan’s trial for heresy. Based on historical records of the trial and featuring an iconic performance by Renée Jeanne Falconetti, The Passion of Joan of Arc is a striking masterpiece that frequently lands on “greatest films” lists.
10. The Last Command (1928)
The Last Command follows a middle-aged man who once commanded armies for the Czar in Russia and now makes a living in Hollywood as an extra. As one of the earliest movies about movies, it’s unsurprising that it received the attention of the first Academy Awards and won its star, Emil Jannings, the first Best Actor Oscar.
11. Should Married Men Go Home? (1928)
Should Married Men Go Home? is a comedy short featuring the team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy as they go golfing and end up in a literal mudslinging. The film is notable as the first to market Laurel and Hardy as a team.
12. In Old Arizona (1928)
Like many other films released in 1928, In Old Arizona marked a first. Following Lights of New York, which was filmed indoors, In Old Arizona offered audiences the first talkie filmed outdoors. The outdoors are vital to the film, a western that follows a lawman looking to bring in a bandit with the help of his lover.
13. The Singing Fool (1928)
After The Jazz Singer, movie fans, especially musical fans, were looking for more of the star Al Jolson, and he didn’t wait to deliver. The Singing Fool stars Jolson as Al Stone, a singing waiter who gets his big break, leading to melodramatic rises and falls accompanied by several musical numbers.
14. The Wedding March (1928)
Celebrated filmmaker and actor Erich von Stroheim’s The Wedding March follows Stroheim’s Prince Nicki, who falls in love with an innkeeper’s daughter but knows he must marry a wealthy woman to save his family from financial troubles. The film has become a classic among silent film fans and was inducted into the Library of Congress in 2003.
15. The Wind (1928)
The Wind was a financial loser upon its release, likely because it was one of the last films with no spoken dialogue, though it featured a synced score. The film has become a classic over the years and has been inducted into the Library of Congress.
16. The Man Who Laughs (1928)
The Man Who Laughs, adapted from Victor Hugo’s novel of the same name, centers on the eponymous man with a grin permanently carved into his face. The film is not a horror movie; it is more like a theatrical film full of romance and dramatic irony. Today, it’s best remembered for inspiring the permanent grin on Batman’s most famous villain, the Joker.
17. Oswald The Lucky Rabbit Cartoons (1928 Releases Only)
Before Mickey ever appeared in Plane Crazy or Steamboat Willie, Walt Disney and his creative partner Ub Iwerks created Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, who appeared in several cartoons from 1927 to 1938. This year, all the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit shorts from 1928 entered the public domain.
18. Orlando: A Biography by Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf is one of the most celebrated authors of the 21st century for her many contributions to English literature. Unique among them is Orlando: A Biography, which follows the titular character, born in the late 16th century as they change from male to female and live for hundreds of years. The book is a landmark work and one of the most fascinating early novels exploring gender.
19. Dark Princess by W.E.B. Du Bois
Another widely celebrated author and thinker, W.E.B. Du Bois, is better known for his non-fiction work than his novels. But among his fiction work, Dark Princess is not only one of the best but also Du Bois’s favorite. The book follows a young man who leaves America because of the racism he experiences. He falls in love with an Indian princess who introduces him to the rich global history of people of color and the importance of solidarity.
20. The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie
The Mystery of the Blue Train is written by perhaps the most famous mystery writer of all time, Agatha Christie, and features one of the most famous detectives of all time, Hercule Poirot. The novel follows Poirot as he investigates the mystery of a murdered heiress and her now missing ruby on the eponymous Le Train Bleu. The book hasn’t received the big screen treatment (yet), but it has been adapted into a graphic novel.
21. Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence
One of the most scandalous books of all time, D.H. Lawrence’s final novel, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, was banned in several countries and the subject of one of the most important censorship court cases in Britain. But the book, which tells the story of a passionate affair between an upper-class woman and a laborer on her husband’s estate, isn’t just scandalous; it’s also beautiful and thematically rich, full of ideas about love, class, and the relationship between mind and body.
22. Home to Harlem by Claude McKay
One of the key literary works of the Harlem Renaissance, Claude McKay’s Home to Harlem, follows World War I deserter Jake Brown, who makes his way home to Harlem and encounters various characters there. The novel celebrates all the different kinds of people in Harlem while also highlighting the difficulties of being Black and poor in 1920s America.
23. The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall
Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness is a big deal. The book is the first widely recognized English language lesbian novel and, as such, unsurprisingly, was the center of significant controversy and was banned for obscenity upon publication in England.
24. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
The cinematic adaptations of All Quiet on the Western Front are likely more famous than the novel they adapt. However, 2022’s adaptation shows that the story continues to resonate as one of the most potent anti-war books ever. While the novel technically entered the public domain this year, it is only the original German version published in 1928; the first English translation appeared the following year and will join the public domain next year.
25. Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh’s first novel, Decline and Fall, is a satire of 1920s English society that uses the setting of wealthy private schools to poke fun at various hypocrisies of the upper classes. The novel is simultaneously silly and cutting in its satire, and it’s been cited as a favorite by English comedian David Mitchell.
26. The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne
The House at Pooh Corner is the second novel about Winnie the Pooh and the first to include the beloved character Tigger. Like A.A. Milne’s first novel featuring the character, The House at Pooh Corner features several stories about the Pooh and the other members of his community getting into mischief and learning lessons.
27. Millions of Cats by Wanda Gág
Wanda Gág’s Millions of Cats is the oldest American picture book still in print, with no pause in its printing since its first publishing almost a century ago. It’s perhaps unsurprising that kids and adults have always been interested in buying a sweet book about an old couple looking for a cat to love who finds, that’s right, millions of cats.
28. Peter Pan; or, The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up by J.M. Barrie
While the play about Peter Pan, the Lost Boys, and the Darling family has been performed since 1904, the playbook for Peter Pan; or, The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up was not officially published until 1928 and, as such, will be entering the public domain in 2024. Adding to the strange saga of Peter Pan copyright is that the novel Peter and Wendy, initially published in 1911, has been in the public domain for decades.
29. The Front Page by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur
Perhaps best remembered today as the basis for the Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell-starring screwball classic His Girl Friday, the original play The Front Page enters the public domain in 2024 and is, in fact, quite different from its most famous adaptation. In the play, Hildy (the Russell character in the film) is a man, and the entire story (pardon the pun) plays out in a single location as Hildy discovers the truth about a murder case and its political implications.
30. The Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht
One of playwright Bertolt Brecht’s most famous plays, The Threepenny Opera, is a musical satire that follows a young man who must endure the many attempts of his beloved’s father to get rid of him. The music for the play includes the song “Mack the Knife,” which will enter the public domain along with the play this year. However, both are only entering the public domain in the original German.
