Future Past - 2026 Edition

Prepping for the Public Domain

Every year creative works enter the public domain, which means you are free to incorporate them into your game designs.

Last year I selected a few items that will be entering the public domain over the next four years as possible inspirations for your projects. I’m continuing that tradition again by adding items going into the Public Domain in 2029. (I’ve done it two years in a row, so now it’s officially a tradition).

Games can take a long time to design and publish, so I don’t think it’s too early to start looking at what is coming up. And 2029 will see King Kong entering the public domain - I can see that being a monster IP that you’ll be free to incorporate.

But please look far afield! 2025 saw the release of the game This Is Not a Game About a Pipe (rules here), which is based on the Magritte painting The Treachery of Images (pictured at the start of this post). I have not yet had a chance to play the game, but I’ve heard nothing but good things. Rules are available here.

So take a look at art and music and other things that may inspire your designs!

HOWEVER - and this is important - you need to consider the countries in which you want to sell the game, and also the specific characteristics or versions of characters that have entered the public domain, and which are still protected.

If you decide to use one of these works it is a good idea to confirm that they will be in the public domain, and any caveats that may exist. Don’t just take my word for it!

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UPDATE: After posting this I was advised that there is a dispute about whether The Treachery of Images is actually in the public domain, and that BGG received a takedown notice for the game and it is no longer for sale:

This just underscores that you should do due diligence before incorporating any of these IPs.

Entered Public Domain In 2025

• Popeye

• Tintin

• The Sound and the Fury (William Faulkner)

• Singin’ in the Rain (movie)

• Skeleton Dance (Disney)

Entering Public Domain In 2026

• Betty Boop

• Nancy Drew (Carolyn Keene)

• Maltese Falcon (novel)

• Dick and Jane

• Pluto

Entering Public Domain In 2027

• Universal Frankenstein and Dracula movies

• Dick Tracy

• The Persistence of Memory (Salvador Dali)

• The Good Earth (Pearl S Buck)

Entering Public Domain In 2028

• Conan the Barbarian (Robert E Howard)

• The Mummy (movie with Boris Karloff)

• Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)

• Horse Feathers: The Marx Brothers (movie)

• Little House in the Big Woods (Laura Ingalls Wilder)

• Hercule Poirot (Agatha Christie)

• Goofy

• Popeye’s Spinach!

Entering Public Domain In 2029

• King Kong, Son of Kong (1939 films)

• The Invisible Man (Claude Rains version for all you Rocky Horror fans)

• Duck Soup (Marx Brothers)

• The Thin Man (novel)

• Various Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts

• “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf” (song)

The Popeye theme song - “I’m Popeye the Sailor Man” (I’m including this both because I’m a Popeye fan, but also because it shows how you need to be careful about particular elements. Popeye as a character entered the Public Domain in 2025, but his eating of Spinach won’t be PD until 2028, and the theme song until 2029).