Thousands of books and films released in 1930 will enter the Public Domain/lose copyright protection January 1 2026

Nice, we're staring to see some Gershwin enter the public domain. It's a travesty, and incredibly culturally damaging, that jazz standards and the entirety of Rock 'n' Roll are protected by copyright still, a century later for the former...and the latter will surpass a century from now for much of it.

Music lives and dies by artist participation. When it becomes property, and artists can't freely repurpose parts of it for new things without fear of legal repercussions, until it's passed out of the collective consciousness, it has a chilling effect on creativity and culture.

I think the highlights for this year are the first four Nancy Drew books, meaning we can potentially see some new projects using Nancy Drew based on those, and Betty Boop.

And of course, there's already a Betty Boop horror movie in the works. Kinda lame that it seems to be another gory slasher. I would've gone for a werewolf or body horror theme since she debuted as a dog.