📝 From an article published Jan 2 this year…
New books, films and music enter the U.S. public domain at the beginning of each year. This year, works debuted in 1929 have joined previously added characters such as “Steamboat Willie” versions of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, which sparked a string of horror-tinged media projects last year, and Winnie-the-Pooh, who was transformed into a bloodthirsty killer in the 2023 slasher film “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey.”
In other words, there is money to be made from IP moving into the public domain 🤑
Notable works for 2026 include…
- Nancy Drew #1
- Disney’s Pluto & Clarabelle Cow
- Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple
- Works of Albert Einstein
- How to Win Friends and Influence People
💡 Ideas for monetization…
- For written works: an annotated Kindle/print edition (KDP)
- AI-narrated audiobooks
- Etsy/Shopify: vintage posters, coloring pages, etc.
Why it works: massive nostalgia, zero licensing fees, and first-mover advantage on search and marketplaces 👍
Just be careful where you sell, as copyright rules differ by country (eg. Tintin isn’t public domain in the EU yet).
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