The Public Domain is the collection of media that is free for anyone to use. This is the reason that you can use a classic fairytale character as Disney is known to do, or any Jane Austen novel can be used in movies like the 2005 Pride and Prejudice, or parody and inspired books like the 2009 Pride and Prejudice and Zombies can exist. This year anything British where the last known creator died in 1955 is available, and American publications from 1929 are now available. 2025 is an exciting year for the public domain as the first comic characters enter, alongside other interesting and fun content.
So what came into public use this year!
Popeye The Sailor
As referenced above the beloved comic character Popeye is now public. This 1929 comic strip created by E.C. Segar, chronicled the strange story of Popeye the sailor and his immense strength, granted by a chicken and activated by spinach (although only the first iteration is public and spinach eating did not enter the strip until 1931). Not all Popeye media is public at this time however and the resulting cartoons and many other properties are still privately owned so be warned before using this hunk.
A Room of Ones Own
This Virginia Woolf essay on feminism argues that a woman can not be truly equal, independent and free until she can possess a literal and metaphorical room of her own. Living with the remnants of coverture and continually oppressive forces Woolf eloquently writes about women writers throughout history and reflects on the ways that the limitation of women in the workforce, homelife, and financial world affects what women can create. It is a foundational text in feminist literature and so needless to say a blessing to the public domain, and worth a read.
Toad of Toad Hall
This play by Winnie the Pooh Author A.A. Milne is his adaptation of The Wind in the Willows (published in 1908 is already in the public domain). It follows the story of Toad Hall being taken over by vicious creatures, and toad banding together with the other critters to reclaim his home. This cute and short play is bound to pop up in children’s and community theaters being simple, familure and now free to use.
Hallelujah (1929 film)
Hallelujah is often wrongly credited as the first all-black cast film (a title that should be awarded to Hearts in Dixie). Hallelujah tells the story of Zeke played by Daniel L Haynes, becoming enthralled by Chick played by Nina Mae McKinne, facing the consequences of her nefarious actions and turning to the Christian God to become ‘good’ again. Zeke and Chick end up married but Chick being the embodiment of evil in this film cheats on him which results in a dramatic chase which kills Chick and lands Zeke in prison after serving his sentence he returns home and is accepted by his family again.
All Quiet on the Western Front
This famed novel by Erich Maria Remarque is the semi-autobiographical telling of the author’s own experiences fighting for Germany during WW1. It is chilling as it delivers an accurate account of the conditions suffered and trauma caused by the war. This book was hugely popular at its time of publication and was fairly quickly banned and burned by the Nazis who came to power just 4 years after the novel’s original publication in 1933.
Feature Image Credit: Pexels
Spencer is a final year History and English student, Food Editor, President of the Baking society, and perpetual events planner of her friend group
