2026 Public Domain Remix Competition

Thu, 25 Dec 2025

January 1, 2026, marks the arrival of Public Domain Day - the one day each year when the "all rights reserved" padlock is finally removed from a new batch of cultural works. It remains a staggering absurdity that our society permits restrictions on our culture to persist for ninety-five years, effectively locking our shared heritage in a proprietary vault for nearly a century.

If you want to understand how broken copyright law is, look at the music landscape in 2026. Because of the Music Modernization Act, we have a split system: Musical compositions from 1930 (the notes and lyrics) are in the public domain. This includes "Georgia on My Mind" and the Gershwins’ "I Got Rhythm". You can perform these songs, arrange them, and release your versions, but sound recordings have a different clock. On January 1, 2026, it’s recordings from 1925 (100 years ago) that become free. You have the freedom to use the notes and lyrics from "Georgia on My Mind", but not the freedom to the specific audio recording from that year. It’s a legal minefield designed to trip you up, but with care, we can navigate it.

That’s a different conversation, though, and today I want to focus on the works that have finally left legal limbo.

The films of 1930 are products of a crucial technological shift: the transition from the silent era to "all-talking" pictures. Sound recording technology was still in its infancy, and cameras were housed in large, soundproof boxes to prevent their mechanical whir from being picked up by sensitive microphones, resulting in static shots and a "photographed stage play" aesthetic. The use of non-diegetic musical scores wasn’t yet a standard practice, leading to scenes that can feel stark or unnervingly quiet.

We can think of these limitations not as flaws but as features. They present a unique creative prompt: the opportunity to engage in a dialog with the very language of early cinema. The public-domain release of these films allows for more than just narrative remakes; it invites technological and stylistic reimagining. Modern sound design can fill the silence of a battlefield scene with visceral horror, dynamic editing can liberate the anarchic energy of the Marx Brothers from a stationary camera, and digital effects can expand the world of these early sound films in ways their creators could only dream of. The works of 1930 are a canvas for exploring the evolution of filmmaking itself.

All Quiet on the Western Front

As the first film to win the Academy Awards for both Outstanding Production (now Best Picture) and Best Director, Lewis Milestone’s All Quiet on the Western Front has immense cultural significance. Based on Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, the film is a powerful and unflinching anti-war statement, renowned for its grim realism and its radical decision to humanize German soldiers for an American audience on the cusp of another global conflict.

Milestone used fluid, tracking camera shots to follow soldiers through the trenches, creating a sense of immersive chaos. The film’s use of sound captured the shriek of artillery and the rattle of machine-gun fire to convey the terror of the front lines. Equally powerful was its use of silence; the absence of a sentimental musical score in many key scenes heightens the brutal, documentary-like reality of the soldiers’ experience. Released before the stringent enforcement of the Hays Code, the film depicted violence with a shocking frankness, including gruesome imagery like a soldier’s severed hands left clutching barbed wire after an explosion.

The film’s entry into the public domain opens up a wealth of possibilities. A scene-for-scene remake could be a technical exercise, but the more exciting opportunities lie in transformation. A graphic novel adaptation could lean into the story’s expressionistic horror. A documentary could juxtapose the film’s pacifist message with the subsequent rise of Nazism in Germany, where the film was banned and its author exiled. Individual scenes could be re-scored and re-edited to explore different emotional tones, transforming Milestone’s stark realism into a surreal nightmare or a poignant elegy.

Animal Crackers

The Marx Brothers’ second feature film, Animal Crackers, is a masterclass in anarchic comedy that cemented their status as cinematic legends. The film serves as a vehicle for a series of brilliant, absurdist routines loosely tied together by the theft of a valuable painting at a high-society party. It’s a relentless satire of the pretensions and rituals of the upper class, with the brothers acting as chaotic agents who expose the hollowness of their world.

The film is the source of many of the Marx Brothers’ most iconic elements. It introduced two of Groucho’s signature songs, "Hello, I Must Be Going" and "Hooray for Captain Spaulding," the latter of which would become the theme music for his long-running television quiz show, You Bet Your Life. The film’s surrealist humor and anti-establishment energy have influenced generations of comedians and filmmakers, from the French New Wave director François Truffaut, who considered it one of their best works, to modern figures like Jim Jarmusch and Keegan-Michael Key. The film’s climax, in which Harpo non-lethally incapacitates the entire cast with a Flit gun filled with a sedative, is a perfect encapsulation of their comedic philosophy: when faced with the absurdities of polite society, the only logical response is greater absurdity.

As a public domain work, Animal Crackers is a treasure trove of comedic material. The character of Captain Spaulding, the "African explorer," is ripe for new adventures in animated shorts or web series. The film’s rapid-fire dialog and classic routines, such as Groucho’s dictation of a letter to Zeppo, can be adapted for modern sketch comedy or theater. The witty one-liners and non-sequiturs are ideally suited for sampling in music or for use on social media, introducing a new generation to the genius of the Marx Brothers.

Other Notable Films

The cinematic class of 1930 also includes other significant films. Josef von Sternberg’s Morocco is a landmark of pre-Code Hollywood, featuring Marlene Dietrich in her American debut as a sultry cabaret singer and Gary Cooper as a disillusioned Foreign Legionnaire. Its sophisticated visuals and sexually ambiguous themes offer rich material for analysis and inspiration. Howard Hughes’s epic aviation film Hell’s Angels, famous for its spectacular aerial combat sequences and for launching the career of Jean Harlow, also enters the public domain, providing a wealth of historical footage for documentary and artistic use.

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon transcended the crime genre and elevated the detective novel to the level of serious literature. The novel’s power lies in its creation of Sam Spade, the archetypal hard-boiled private investigator: tough, cynical, and operating according to his own rigid, personal code in a world of pervasive corruption. Hammett’s revolutionary stylistic choice was his use of a rigorously objective, "camera-eye" third-person narration. The reader is never given access to Spade’s inner thoughts and is forced to interpret his motives solely from his actions and dialog, sifting through the same web of lies and half-truths as the other characters. The novel explores timeless themes of greed, betrayal, and the search for meaning in a society where, as Spade notes, most things "can be bought or taken". The titular falcon, a priceless artifact that everyone is willing to kill for, ultimately proves to be a fake, a "black bird" symbolizing the hollow promise of wealth and the futility of the characters’ obsessive quest.

With Sam Spade and the world of 1920s San Francisco entering the public domain, the creative possibilities are immense. Writers can now legally create new sequels, prequels, or spin-off stories featuring Spade, exploring his past or placing him in new cases. The novel’s plot can be adapted to modern settings, with the quest for the falcon re-contextualized. The novel’s sharp, cynical Dialog and Spade’s complex moral code provide endless material for reinterpretation in film, television, and theater.

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying is a landmark of American modernism and a cornerstone of the Southern Gothic tradition. The novel’s plot is deceptively simple: a poor, rural Southern family, the Bundrens, undertakes a grueling journey to honor their deceased matriarch, Addie, who wished to be buried in her family’s hometown of Jefferson. The true brilliance of the novel lies in its narrative structure. The story is told through 59 chapters, narrated by 15 different characters - including Addie herself, speaking from beyond the grave. Each narrator offers their own subjective, often contradictory, and unreliable perspective, forcing the reader to piece together the truth from a fractured tapestry of voices.

Faulkner employs a stream-of-consciousness technique to delve into the inner lives of the Bundren family, revealing their secrets, grief, and selfish motivations as they face floods, fires, and the grotesque reality of transporting a decaying corpse across the Mississippi countryside. The novel is a profound and often disturbing exploration of family dysfunction, perception, and the human condition. Harold Bloom, one of America’s most influential literary critics, called it "the most original novel ever written by an American".

Adapting As I Lay Dying presents a formidable creative challenge. A direct film adaptation would struggle to capture the novel’s complex interiority and shifting perspectives. However, its public domain status invites experimentation. A theatrical production could use a chorus to represent the multiple narrative voices. A graphic novel could assign a different visual style to each of the 15 narrators, translating Faulkner’s formal innovation into a new medium. The ultimate task is to honor the novel’s approach to storytelling while making its powerful themes accessible to a new audience.

"Georgia on My Mind" (Hoagy Carmichael & Stuart Gorrell)

"Georgia on My Mind" is an American ballad with a fascinating history. While often believed to be written about the state of Georgia, composer Hoagy Carmichael confirmed it was inspired by a suggestion from saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer to write a song about the South, with the lyrics by Stuart Gorrell remaining ambiguous enough to be interpreted as a tribute to either a place or a woman.

Numerous artists recorded the song, but Ray Charles, a native of Albany, Georgia, forever immortalized it. His soulful 1960 recording became a number-one hit and is so deeply associated with the state that in 1979, the Georgia General Assembly designated it the official state song.

The composition’s entry into the public domain means that its beautiful, yearning melody and evocative lyrics are now available for unrestricted use. Musicians can make new arrangements in any genre, from a stripped-down country version to a hip-hop track that samples a new performance of the melody. The lyrics can be quoted in literature, used in film scripts, or serve as inspiration for new visual art, ensuring the song’s legacy continues to evolve and grow.

"I Got Rhythm" (George & Ira Gershwin)

George and Ira Gershwin’s "I Got Rhythm" is more than just a classic song; it’s a foundational piece of 20th-century music. Introduced by Ethel Merman in the 1930 Broadway musical Girl Crazy, the song’s infectious energy and syncopated melody made it an instant anthem of the Jazz Age.

Its most profound and lasting impact, however, lies in its harmonic structure. The song’s 34-bar AABA chord progression became so popular among jazz musicians that it acquired its own name: the "rhythm changes". This progression served as a standard template for improvisation and the basis for countless new jazz compositions, known as contrafacts. Musicians like Charlie Parker and Duke Ellington wrote new melodies over the "rhythm changes," making new standards like "Anthropology" and "Cotton Tail".

With the public domain release of "I Got Rhythm", jazz musicians can continue the tradition of writing new contrafacts over its famous chord progression. The iconic melody is now free to be sampled, remixed, and re-contextualized in popular music. As a powerful symbol of the Roaring Twenties and the swing era, the composition can be used to score historical films, documentaries, and theatrical productions, providing an authentic sound of the period.

The year 1930 also saw the publication of Cole Porter’s "Love for Sale," with its controversial lyrics about prostitution, which offers a darker, more sophisticated take on the era. "Puttin’ On The Ritz," first introduced by Harry Richman, became an anthem of high-society glamor. The optimistic "On the Sunny Side of the Street" provided a hopeful counterpoint to the growing economic despair of the Great Depression.

The Lifetime Legacy: Authors Whose Works Enter the Public Domain (d. 1955)

So far, I’ve been going over the 95-year rule for copyright expiration, but the "life plus 70" rule provides a different kind of public domain event, releasing the items of an author’s life work rather than the output of a single year. The works entering the public domain in 2026 from authors who died in 1955 are thematically dense, stylistically complex, and intellectually demanding. They stand in fascinating contrast to the more plot-driven and character-centric works from the 1930 publication list.

The Intellectual Labyrinth of Thomas Mann (1875-1955)

Thomas Mann was one of the titans of 20th-century literature, a German novelist and essayist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929, primarily for his monumental first novel, Buddenbrooks. Mann’s work is characterized by its deep intellectualism, intricate symbolism, and profound exploration of the psychological and philosophical currents of his time. His major themes include the decline of the German bourgeoisie, the complex and often tragic position of the artist in society, and the enduring conflict between reason and passion, spirit and life.

With the expiration of his copyright, Mann’s entire eligible literary estate enters the public domain. This includes his most celebrated works:

• Buddenbrooks (1901): A family saga chronicling the decline of a wealthy merchant family over four generations.
• Death in Venice (1912): A novella about an aging writer who succumbs to a fatal, obsessive passion for a young boy in cholera-stricken Venice.
• The Magic Mountain (1924): A philosophical novel set in a tuberculosis sanatorium in the Swiss Alps, where characters debate the tremendous political, artistic, and scientific ideas of pre-World War I Europe.
• Doctor Faustus (1947): A retelling of the Faust legend through the life of a fictional German composer who sells his soul for creative genius, a story that serves as an allegory for Germany’s descent into Nazism.

The availability of these complex, ambitious works opens the door to prestigious, intellectually rigorous adaptations. They’re ideally suited for high-end limited television series, feature films, and stage plays that can do justice to their narrative scope and thematic depth. The philosophical debates in The Magic Mountain or the allegorical richness of Doctor Faustus provide fertile ground for new essays, academic studies, and even operatic interpretations that grapple with the soul of 20th-century Europe.

The Poetic Vision of Wallace Stevens (1879-1955)

Wallace Stevens was a significant figure in American modernist poetry, a successful insurance executive who lived a quiet life while producing some of the most intellectually challenging and aesthetically rewarding poetry of his era. His work is primarily concerned with the power of the imagination to create order and meaning in a secular, post-religious world. For Stevens, poetry and art provide the "supreme fictions" without which we are unable to conceive of life. His central themes revolve around the dynamic interplay between reality and the mind, the beauty of the physical world as an end in itself, and the role of the poet as an interpreter who helps us see the world anew.

On January 1, 2026, Stevens’s entire poetic oeuvre enters the public domain, including his landmark collections, such as Harmonium (1923), which contains famous poems such as "The Emperor of Ice-Cream" and "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird," as well as later works such as The Auroras of Autumn.

Stevens’s poetry, with its rich musicality and vivid, often abstract imagery, is particularly well-suited for interdisciplinary adaptation. The most immediate opportunity is for composers to set his poems to music, creating everything from classical art songs to ambient electronic soundscapes. His visual language could inspire short films, animations, dance pieces, or photographic series that translate his "supreme fictions" into visual form. His philosophical explorations of perception and reality offer a rich source of inspiration for contemporary poets, writers, and artists.

The class of 1955 also includes Charlie "Bird" Parker (1920-1955). Still, there’s a critical distinction: while Parker’s recordings for labels like Savoy and Dial will remain in copyright jail, the underlying melodies and harmonic structures he wrote will be free.

The works of American author James Agee (1909-1955) also enter the public domain. Agee was a celebrated novelist, journalist, poet, and film critic. However, his most famous work, the autobiographical novel A Death in the Family, presents a complex copyright situation. The story was unfinished at the time of his death and was edited and published posthumously in 1957, winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1958. Works published posthumously can have different copyright terms, and anyone wishing to adapt this specific novel should conduct further investigation to confirm its status.

Sound Waves from the Past

As established, the Music Modernization Act created a unique timeline for pre-1972 sound recordings. On January 1, 2026, recordings from 1925 will enter the public domain after completing their 100-year jail term. This event is inspiring because it makes the actual audio artifacts of the Jazz Age - the hit records that people listened to on their phonographs - available for legal sampling, remixing, and remastering. The year 1925 also marks a crucial technological turning point: the dawn of the electrical recording era, which dramatically improved audio fidelity over the earlier acoustic methods.

The Empress and the Standard: Bessie Smith’s "St. Louis Blues"

Among the recordings from 1925 is Bessie Smith’s rendition of W.C. Handy’s "St. Louis Blues". Smith, the "Empress of the Blues," was the most popular and influential female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s. Her 1925 recording for Columbia is a masterwork of sparse, powerful arrangement. It features Smith’s commanding contralto voice accompanied only by a young Louis Armstrong on cornet and Fred Longshaw on a pump organ - a rare and haunting instrumental choice for the era.

The public domain release of this recording is a gift to music producers. Smith’s raw, emotional vocals and Armstrong’s brilliant, blues-drenched cornet lines can be isolated and used as powerful hooks in new jazz, blues, soul, or hip-hop tracks. The entire recording can be digitally remastered to enhance its clarity or remixed into entirely new sonic contexts, allowing this historic performance to resonate within contemporary music.

The Jazz Age Anthem: "Sweet Georgia Brown"

Another 1925 recording entering the public domain is the first hit version of the jazz standard "Sweet Georgia Brown," recorded by Ben Bernie and His Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra. Composed by Ben Bernie, Maceo Pinkard, and Kenneth Casey, the song’s upbeat tempo and infectious melody made it an instant classic and a staple of the jazz repertoire. Its cultural longevity is remarkable, cemented in the popular consciousness since 1952 as the unmistakable theme song of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team.

The original 1925 recording captures the exuberant spirit of the Roaring Twenties. Its availability makes it a perfect source for sampling in dance music, electronic tracks, or hip-hop. It can serve as an authentic soundtrack for historical documentaries, films, or podcasts set in the period. Authors could produce fascinating mashups, blending the vintage sound of the Ben Bernie orchestra with modern sports anthems or other contemporary music genres.

The Birth of Hi-Fi: The First Electrical Recordings

The year 1925 is historically significant as the year major record labels began transitioning from acoustic to electrical recording. This technological leap, which used microphones to capture sound, resulted in a dramatic increase in fidelity, dynamic range, and clarity. One of the very first electrical recordings issued commercially was a demonstration disc from the Victor Company titled "A Miniature Concert," featuring the Eight Popular Victor Artists, recorded on February 26, 1925.

Beyond their musical value, these recordings are important historical artifacts. They could serve as the basis for a podcast or documentary series on the history of sound and recording technology. Sound artists and experimental musicians can use them as raw material for new compositions, exploring the aesthetics of early audio fidelity.

The 2026 Public Domain Remix

We shouldn’t just passively enjoy these works but use them to demonstrate the power of a free culture. I propose a community event: The 2026 Public Domain Freedom Jam.

The core vision of the competition is to foster transformative works that demonstrate deep and creative engagement with public-domain source material. It will encourage participants to move beyond simple reproduction and instead pursue reinterpretation, deconstruction, and hybridization. The competition aims to highlight the public domain as a vital and dynamic source of inspiration for contemporary culture, promoting both artistic innovation and a greater appreciation for our shared cultural history.

The Rules:

1. Source Material: You must use at least one work entering the public domain in the United States in 2026 (e.g., footage from All Quiet, text from Maltese Falcon, etc.)
2. Free Tools Only: Use only free software. Use Kdenlive or Blender for video editing. Use GIMP or Inkscape for graphics. Use Ardour or Audacity for audio. Don’t use proprietary software.
3. Licensing: All submissions must themselves be free-as-in-freedom. See https://freedomdefined.org/Definition for more details.

Competition Categories

The competition is divided into four distinct categories.

• The Spade Prize for Genre Reinvention (Literary): This category honors the "genre genesis" of 1930, a year that saw the publication of foundational texts for the hard-boiled, cozy mystery, and girl detective genres. Create a new short story (under 7,500 words), a short graphic novel (under 20 pages), or a narrative podcast script (under 15 minutes) that either places a 1930 public domain character (e.g., Sam Spade, Miss Marple, Nancy Drew) in a new and unexpected context, or fundamentally deconstructs, subverts, or hybridizes the tropes of their original genre.
• The Milestone Award for Cinematic Dialog (Film): This category recognizes the films of 1930 as unique technological artifacts and challenges modern filmmakers to engage with the language of early sound cinema. Create a short film (under 10 minutes) that reimagines a single scene from a 1930 public domain film. The focus should be on using modern cinematic language - including editing, sound design, performance style, and cinematography - to create a new and compelling interpretation of the original’s narrative, themes, or mood.
• The Gershwin Challenge for Musical Innovation (Music):

This category is built around the "great schism" between the availability of 1930 compositions and 1925 sound recordings, with two distinct sub-categories to encourage both reinterpretation and remixing.

Sub-Category A: The Re-interpreter. Create a new and original performance or arrangement of a musical composition published in 1930. The submission can be in any musical genre.

Sub-Category B: The Remixer: Create a new musical work that prominently features samples from or is a remix of a sound recording first published in 1925.

• The Stevens Prize for Thematic Adaptation (Interdisciplinary): This category is designed for the abstract and intellectually dense works of authors like Thomas Mann and Wallace Stevens, rewarding aesthetic and thematic interpretation over narrative adaptation. Create a work in any medium that captures or responds to a central theme, mood, or aesthetic from the work of Thomas Mann or Wallace Stevens.

Judging Criteria:

• Transformative Quality (40%): The degree to which the new work creatively and substantially reinterprets or re-contextualizes the source material, demonstrating originality beyond a mere copy.
• Artistic Merit (40%): The technical skill, creative quality, and overall effectiveness of the submission within its chosen medium.
• Thematic Resonance (20%): How thoughtfully the new work engages with, challenges, or expands upon the themes, ideas, or historical context of the original public domain work.

Submission Guidelines:

Submissions can be posted online for the everyone to access and then email me the information to see it, or email it direct to me and I can post it on my website. In any event, your email to me must include a short statement (under 300 words) explaining the creative process and the connection to the source material. If it’s too large for email, email me, and we’ll work something out.

Participants must provide clear attribution for all public domain sources used, including links to the original works where possible.

Submissions should include a warning where appropriate that historical materials may contain outdated or offensive cultural depictions. Submissions should not perpetuate harmful stereotypes.

Submissions must be received by the end of January, anywhere on Earth.

The entry of works into the public domain on January 1, 2026, represents far more than a legal formality. It’s an annual infusion of raw material into the bloodstream of contemporary culture - a gift of stories, sounds, and ideas from the past to the authors of the present and future. This year is prosperous, offering not only masterpieces of film and literature but also the very building blocks of modern genres and the foundational sounds of the Jazz Age.

Fom the gritty streets of Sam Spade’s San Francisco to the intellectual peaks of Thomas Mann’s Magic Mountain, from the anarchic comedy of the Marx Brothers to the haunting blues of Bessie Smith, these works provide a vast and varied canvas. By embracing these materials with creativity, respect, and a spirit of transformation, new generations can ensure that this legacy doesn’t merely survive but thrives, finding new voice and new meaning in the 21st century. The public domain isn’t a graveyard of forgotten art; it’s a living library, and its latest wing is about to open.