Master of the Public Domain

Posted on Dec 31, 2024 by

Last year, the movie ‘Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey’ was released in theaters. It was a live-action horror film that put a sinister twist on the beloved Disney character. In the film, Christopher Robin has grown up, gone off to college and met a girl. Feeling abandoned, Pooh and Piglet go on a bloody killing spree.

Disney is fiercely protective of its intellectual property rights. However, ‘Blood and Honey’ made it to the big screen and even spawned a sequel that was released this year. That’s because the copyright protection for Winnie the Pooh expired on January 1 of 2023.

Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to grant copyrights and patents, but only for a limited time. The clause was a result of James Madison’s proposal to protect the copyrights of literary authors.

When a copyright term expires, however, a work becomes part of the public domain, and anyone can use it without permission from the former copyright holder. While Madison desired protection for creators, our forefathers only wanted it for a window of time to inspire new works, adaptations, and derivative works, to further enrich our burgeoning country’s cultural landscape.

In addition to Pooh, the iconic original black-and-white iteration of Mickey Mouse, first seen in the ‘Steamboat Willie’ cartoon, also entered the public domain. Both characters’ 95-year copyright protections expired on December 31, 2022. In 2025, more versions of Mickey Mouse enter the public domain, including editions where he spoke for the first time and when he first donned his trademark white gloves.

Popeye is another cartoon that lost his copyright protection at the end of 2024. The Sailor, with his bulging forearms, mealy-mouthed speech, and propensity for fistfights, was created by E.C. Segar and made his first appearance in the newspaper strip “Thimble Theater” in 1929. However, only the earliest version is unprotected. Gaining super-strength from consuming spinach and his distinctive mumbly voice came in later iterations and still remain under copyright.

But it’s not just cartoon characters losing their protection. William Faulkner’s “The Sound and the Fury” enters the public domain this year, as does Ernest Hemingway’s “A Farewell to Arms.” John Steinbeck’s first novel, “A Cup of Gold,” from 1929, also loses its copyright protection along with British novelist Virginia Woolf’s essay “A Room of One’s Own.”

Alfred Hitchcock’s “Blackmail,” his first film to have sound becomes part of the public domain in 2025, as does famous Westerns director John Ford’s “The Black Watch.” The copyright for Cecil B. DeMille’s first ‘talkie’ “Dynamite” expired at the end of 2024, as did the Marx Brothers’ first starring movie roles in “The Cocoanuts.” “The Broadway Melody,” the first sound film and the second film ever to win the Oscar for best picture also becomes public.

The are also several musical works that lost their protection at the end of 2024, such as Cole Porter’s “What Is This Thing Called Love?” and “Tiptoe Through the Tulips.” Fats Waller and Harry Brooks’ “Ain’t Misbehavin’” are now be part of the public domain, along with “Singin’ in the Rain,” and “Rhapsody in Blue” by composer George Gershwin.

I don’t know if ‘Blood and Honey’ really further enriched our cultural landscape. A third installment is apparently in production and is slotted for release later this year. I think Popeye spoke for all of us when he said, “That’s all I can stands, ‘cause I can’t stands no more.”



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Reg P. Wydeven

Elder Law and Estate Planning Attorney at McCarty Law LLP
Hoping to follow in his father’s footsteps from a young age, Reg’s practice primarily consists of advising individuals on estate planning, estate settlement and elder law matters. As Reg represents clients in matters like guardianship proceedings and long-term care admissions, he feels grateful to be able to offer families thorough legal help in their time of need.
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