# 2025 in public domain

When a work's copyright expires, it enters the public domain. Since laws vary globally, the copyright status of works is not uniform. The following lists list creators whose works entered the public domain in 2025 under the most common copyright regimes.

## Countries with life + 80 years

Spain has a copyright term of life + 80 years for creators that died before 1987. In Colombia and Equatorial Guinea, a work enters the public domain 80 years after the creator's death.
| Names | Country | Birth | Death | Occupation | Notable work |
| Joaquín Álvarez Quintero | Spain | 20 January 1873 | 14 June 1944 | Playwright | |
| Miguel Asín Palacios | Spain | 5 July 1871 | 12 August 1944 | Scholar | El Islam cristianizado |
| Manuel Chaves Nogales | Spain | 7 August 1879 | 8 May 1944 | Writer, journalist | Juan Belmonte, matador de toros; su vida y sus hazañas |
| Enrique Díez Canedo | Spain | 7 January 1879 | 6 June 1944 | Poet | |
| Francisco Gómez-Jordana Sousa | Spain | 1 February 1876 | 3 August 1944 | Politician | Milicia y Diplomacia: Diarios Del Conde de Jordana, 1936–1944 |
| Elías Mauricio Soto Uribe | Colombia | 22 September 1858 | 11 October 1944 | Instrumentalist | |
| Antonio Videgain | Spain | 10 March 1869 | 9 February 1944 | Composer | |

## Countries with life + 70 years

With the exception of Belarus (Life + 50 years) and Spain (which has a copyright term of Life + 80 years for creators that died before 1987), a work enters the public domain in Europe 70 years after the creator's death, if it was published during the creator's lifetime.
| Names | Country | Birth | Death | Occupation | Notable work |
| Alexander Abasheli | Soviet Union | 27 August 1884 | 27 September 1954 | Writer | A Woman in the Mirror [ka] |
| Sait Faik Abasıyanık | Turkey | 18 November 1906 | 11 May 1954 | Writer | Semaver |
| Ahmed Agdamski | Soviet Union | 5 January 1884 | 1 April 1954 | Singer | If Not That One, Then This One |
| Franco Alfano | Italy | 8 March 1875 | 27 October 1954 | Composer | List of operas by Franco Alfano |
| Juan Álvarez | Argentina | 3 September 1878 | 8 April 1954 | Historian | Essay on the history of Santa Fe |
| Maximiano Alves | Portugal | 22 August 1888 | 22 January 1954 | Sculptor | Selected works |
| Ahmad Amin | Egypt | 1 October 1886 | 30 May 1954 | Writer | Dawn of Islam |
| Martin Andersen Nexø | Denmark | 26 June 1869 | 1 June 1954 | Writer | Pelle the Conqueror |
| Oswald de Andrade | Brazil | 11 January 1890 | 22 October 1954 | Writer | Manifesto Antropófago |
| Bruno Angoletta | Italy | 7 September 1889 | 7 January 1954 | Cartoonist | Marmittone |
| Peter van Anrooy | Netherlands | 13 October 1879 | 31 December 1954 | Composer | Piet Hein Rhapsodie voor symfonieorkest |
| John L. Balderston | United States | 22 October 1889 | 8 March 1954 | Playwright | Berkeley Square, Dracula |
| Lionel Barrymore | United States | 28 April 1878 | 15 November 1954 | Actor, film director | Lionel Barrymore on stage, screen and radio |
| Constantin Beldie | Romania | 8 September 1887 | 11 June 1954 | Journalist, writer | Gloss on the Bookish Spirit |
| Jacinto Benavente | Spain | 12 August 1866 | 14 July 1954 | Writer | The Unloved Woman |
| Frans G. Bengtsson | Sweden | 4 October 1894 | 19 December 1954 | Writer | The Long Ships |
| Maxwell Bodenheim | United States | 26 May 1892 | 6 February 1954 | novelist, poet, memoirist, journalist. | My Life and Loves in Greenwich Village |
| Hakon Børresen | Denmark | 2 June 1876 | 6 October 1954 | Composer | Den Kongelige Gæst |
| Vitaliano Brancati | Italy | 24 July 1907 | 25 September 1954 | Writer | Don Giovanni in Sicilia |
| Roman Bratkowski [uk] | Ukraine/ Poland | 2 September 1869 | 5 September 1954 | Painter | Pejzaż zimowy |
| Walter Braunfels | Germany | 19 December 1882 | 19 March 1954 | Composer | Die Vögel |
| Pauline Brunius | Sweden | 2 October 1881 | 30 March 1954 | Actress, film director | False Greta |
| Claude Cahun | France | 25 October 1894 | 8 December 1954 | Photographer, writer | Disavowals or Cancelled Confessions |
| Robert Capa | Hungary | 22 October 1913 | 25 May 1954 | Photographer | The Falling Soldier |
| Enrico Cavacchioli [it] | Italy | 15 March 1885 | 4 January 1954 | Writer | List of works by Enrico Cavacchioli [it] |
| Papa Celestin | United States | 1 January 1884 | 15 December 1954 | Musician | Papa Celestin's Golden Wedding |
| E. K. Chambers | United Kingdom | 16 March 1866 | 21 January 1954 | Literary scholar | The Elizabethan Stage |
| Dmytro Chornovil [uk] | Soviet Union | 7 November 1902 | 8 March 1954 | Architect | State Academic Music Drama Theatre in Vinnytsia [uk] |
| Eugen Coca | Soviet Union | 15 April 1893 | 9 January 1954 | Composer | Maria's Fortune |
| Colette | France | 28 January 1873 | 3 August 1954 | Writer | Gigi |
| Julian Coolidge | United States | 28 September 1873 | 5 March 1954 | Mathematician | A Treatise on the Circle and the Sphere |
| Duff Cooper | United Kingdom | 22 February 1890 | 1 January 1954 | Politician, historian | Old Men Forget |
| Maria Adelaide Coelho da Cunha | Portugal | 13 October 1869 | 23 November 1954 | Socialite | Doida, Não! |
| Stig Dagerman | Sweden | 5 October 1923 | 4 November 1954 | Writer, journalist | A Burnt Child |
| Jibanananda Das | India | 17 February 1899 | 22 October 1954 | Poet | Banalata Sen |
| Ludovic Dauș | Romania | 1 October 1873 | 17 November 1954 | Writer, translator | Unto Death |
| Russell Davenport | United States | 1899 | 19 April 1954 | Writer | My Country, A Poem of America |
| Alcide De Gasperi | Italy | 3 April 1881 | 19 August 1954 | Politician | Nella lotta per la democrazia |
| Danylo Demutskyi [uk] | Soviet Union | 16 July 1893 | 7 May 1954 | Photographer, camera operator | Earth |
| André Derain | France | 10 June 1880 | 8 September 1954 | Painter, sculptor | Mountains at Collioure |
| Leonard Eugene Dickson | United States | 22 January 1874 | 17 January 1954 | Mathematician, writer | History of the Theory of Numbers |
| Nadiya Dobrovolska-Zavadska | Russian Empire/ France | 25 September 1878 | 31 October 1954 | Geneticist | Sur la mortification spontanée de la queue chez la souris nouveau-née et sur l'existence d'un caractère (facteur) héréditaire "non-viable" |
| Antoni Bolesław Dobrowolski | Poland | 6 June 1872 | 27 April 1954 | Geophysicist | Historia naturalna lodu |
| Oles Donchenko [uk] | Soviet Union | 19 August 1902 | 12 April 1954 | Writer | Star Fortress |
| Alfred Martin Duggan-Cronin | Ireland/ South Africa | 17 May 1874 | 25 August 1954 | Photographer | |
| Carl Eldh | Sweden | 10 May 1873 | 26 January 1954 | Sculptor | The Branting Monument |
| Enrico Fermi | Italy/ USA | 29 September 1901 | 28 November 1954 | Physicist | Publications |
| Arthur Fickenscher | United States | 9 March 1885 | 15 April 1954 | Composer and academic | Willowwood |
| Bud Fisher | United States | 3 April 1885 | 7 September 1954 | Cartoonist | Mutt and Jeff |
| Miles Franklin | Australia | 14 October 1879 | 19 September 1954 | Writer | My Brilliant Career |
| Wilhelm Furtwängler | Germany | 25 January 1886 | 30 November 1954 | Conductor, composer | Symphony No. 2 |
| Jacques Gachot | Germany/ France | 11 January 1885 | 15 December 1954 | Painter | Paintings by Jacques Gachot |
| Nina Genke-Meller | Soviet Union | 19 March 1893 | 25 August 1954 | Painter | Suprematist Composition |
| E. Ray Goetz | United States | 12 June 1886 | 12 June 1954 | Composer, lyricist | "For Me and My Gal" |
| Lil Green | United States | 22 December 1901 | 14 April 1954 | Singer, songwriter | "Why Don't You Do Right?", "Romance in the Dark" |
| W. J. Gruffydd | United Kingdom | 14 February 1881 | 29 September 1954 | Writer, scholar | Lyrics |
| Heinz Guderian | Germany | 17 June 1888 | 14 May 1954 | Military officer, writer | Achtung – Panzer!, Panzer Leader |
| Niqula Haddad | Lebanon | 1878 | 1954 | Writer | |
| Thea von Harbou | Germany | 27 December 1888 | 1 July 1954 | Writer, film director | List of works by Thea von Harbou |
| Jack Harvey | United States | 16 September 1881 | 9 November 1954 | Film director | A Dog's Love |
| Ferenc Herczeg | Hungary | 22 September 1863 | 24 February 1954 | Writer | A Gyurkovics-lányok |
| James Hilton | United Kingdom | 9 September 1900 | 20 December 1954 | Writer | Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Lost Horizon |
| Ludwik Hirszfeld | Poland | 5 August 1884 | 7 March 1954 | Microbiologist | Über Vererbung gruppenspezifischer Strukturen des Blutes |
| Earnest Hooton | United States | 20 November 1887 | 3 May 1954 | Anthropologist, cartoonist | Up From The Ape |
| Ostap Hrytsai [uk] | Ukraine/ Germany | 2 November 1881 | 7 May 1954 | Writer, translator | The Escape of Oleksa Perkhun |
| Raymond Hubbell | United States | 1 June 1879 | 13 December 1954 | Composer, lyricist | "Poor Butterfly" |
| Ivan Ilyin | Russian Empire/ Switzerland | 9 April 1883 | 21 December 1954 | Philosopher | Resistance to Evil By Force [ru] |
| Charles Ives | United States | 20 October 1874 | 19 May 1954 | Composer | List of compositions by Charles Ives |
| Ayaz İshaki | Russian Empire/ Turkey | 22 February 1878 | 22 July 1954 | Writer | Mullah's Wife [tt] |
| Norbert Jacques | Germany | 6 June 1880 | 15 May 1954 | Writer | Dr. Mabuse |
| Hans Janowitz | Germany | 2 December 1890 | 25 May 1954 | Screenwriter | The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari |
| Arthur Johnston | United States | 10 January 1898 | 1 May 1954 | Composer | "Cocktails for Two", "Pennies from Heaven" |
| Frida Kahlo | Mexico | 6 July 1907 | 13 July 1954 | Painter | List of paintings by Frida Kahlo |
| Mikhas Klimkovich | Belarus | 20 November 1899 | 5 November 1954 | Poet | "My Belarusy" |
| Vincas Krėvė-Mickevičius | Lithuania | 19 October 1882 | 17 July 1954 | Writer, politician | Skirgaila |
| Kalki Krishnamurthy | India | 9 September 1899 | 5 December 1954 | Writer | Ponniyin Selvan |
| Zygmunt Kurczyński [pl] | Poland | 2 April 1886 | 11 March 1954 | Sculptor | Grave of Tadeusz Rutowski |
| Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels | Austria | 17 September 1874 | 20 April 1954 | Political theorist | Ostara |
| Henri Laurens | France | 18 February 1885 | 5 May 1954 | Sculptor | L'Amphion |
| Alphonse Laverrière | Switzerland | 16 May 1872 | 11 March 1954 | Architect | Bois-de-Vaux Cemetery |
| Édouard Le Roy | France | 18 June 1870 | 10 November 1954 | Philosopher, mathematician | Les Origines humaines et l'évolution de l'intelligence |
| Alain LeRoy Locke | United States | 13 September 1885 | 9 June 1954 | Writer | The New Negro |
| Pyotr Leshchenko | Russian Empire/ Romania | 14 June 1898 | 16 July 1954 | Singer | Heart |
| Achille Longo | Italy | 28 March 1900 | 28 May 1954 | Composer | Compositions |
| Gino Loria | Italy | 19 May 1862 | 30 January 1954 | Mathematician | Books |
| Auguste Lumière | France | 19 October 1862 | 10 April 1954 | Film director | Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory |
| Wincenty Lutosławski | Poland | 6 June 1863 | 28 December 1954 | Philosopher | The Polish Nation |
| Jan Maklakiewicz | Poland | 24 November 1899 | 8 February 1954 | Composer | Cagliostro in Warsaw |
| Ivan Malozyomov [uk] | Soviet Union | 8 October 1899 | 19 November 1954 | Architect | Interiors of Derzhprom |
| William March | United States | 18 September 1893 | 15 May 1954 | Writer | Company K |
| Henri Matisse | France | 31 December 1869 | 3 November 1954 | Painter, sculptor | List of works by Henri Matisse |
| Joe May | United States | 7 November 1880 | 29 April 1954 | Film director | Stuart Webbs |
| George McManus | United States | 23 January 1884 | 22 October 1954 | Cartoonist | Bringing Up Father |
| Emilis Melngailis | Latvia/ Soviet Union | 15 February 1874 | 10 December 1954 | Composer | Maija (Turaidas roze) |
| Mihri Müşfik Hanım | Turkey | 26 February 1886 | 1954 | Painter | |
| Zofia Nałkowska | Poland | 10 November 1884 | 17 December 1954 | Writer | Medallions |
| Herms Niel | Germany | 17 April 1888 | 16 July 1954 | Composer | "Erika" |
| Aleksandr Orlov | Soviet Union | 6 April 1880 | 28 January 1954 | Astronomer | Selected works in 3 volumes |
| Yukio Ozaki | Japan | 24 December 1858 | 6 October 1954 | Politician | The Autobiography of Ozaki Yukio: The Struggle for Constitutional Government in Japan |
| Auguste Perret | France | 12 February 1874 | 25 February 1954 | Architect | Théâtre des Champs-Élysées |
| Washington Phillips | United States | 11 January 1880 | 20 September 1954 | Singer | List of songs recorded by Washington Phillips |
| Dimitrie Pompeiu | Romania | 4 October 1873 | 8 October 1954 | Mathematician | Sur la continuité des fonctions de variables complexes |
| Fred Raymond | Austria | 20 April 1900 | 10 January 1954 | Composer | "I Lost My Heart in Heidelberg", Maske in Blau |
| Yuri Repin [fr] | Russian Empire/ Finland | 10 April 1877 | 9 August 1954 | Painter | Tyurenchen. Eternal life in a glorious death |
| Grantland Rice | United States | 1 November 1880 | 13 July 1954 | Sportswriter | Songs of the Stalwart |
| Fred Rose | United States | 24 August 1898 | 1 December 1954 | Songwriter | "Be Honest with Me" |
| Leon Schiller | Poland | 14 March 1887 | 25 March 1954 | Screenwriter | Pastorale (play) [pl] |
| Dmytro Sheludko [de] | Ukraine/ Bulgaria | 21 September 1892 | 5 August 1954 | Diplomat, literary scientist | Zur Geschichte des Natureinganges bei den Trobadors |
| C. Fox Smith | United Kingdom | 1 February 1882 | 8 April 1954 | Writer | All the Way Round: Sea Roads to Africa |
| Oscar Straus | Austria | 6 March 1870 | 11 January 1954 | Composer | Ein Walzertraum |
| Ionel Teodoreanu | Romania | 6 January 1897 | 3 February 1954 | Writer | La Medeleni |
| Lucien Tesnière | France | 13 May 1893 | 6 December 1954 | Linguist | Elements of Structural Syntax |
| Jan Tokarzewski-Karaszewicz | Ukraine/ United Kingdom | 24 June 1885 | 18 November 1954 | Diplomat, heraldist | Diariy Getmana Pylypa Orlika |
| Alan Turing | United Kingdom | 23 June 1912 | 7 June 1954 | Mathematician | Turing's proof |
| William Van Alen | United States | 10 August 1883 | 24 May 1954 | Architect | Chrysler Building |
| Getúlio Vargas | Brazil | 19 April 1882 | 24 August 1954 | Politician | Carta Testamento |
| Dziga Vertov | Soviet Union | 2 January 1896 | 12 February 1954 | Film director | Man with a Movie Camera |
| Mykhailo Vozniak [de] | Soviet Union | 3 October 1881 | 20 November 1954 | Literary scholar | History of Ukrainian literature |
| Hermann Wolfgang von Waltershausen | Germany | 12 October 1882 | 14 June 1954 | Composer | Oberst Chabert |
| Clara Westhoff | Germany | 21 September 1878 | 9 March 1954 | Sculptor | Bust of Paula Modersohn-Becker |
| Eduard Wiiralt | Estonia | 20 March 1898 | 8 January 1954 | Graphic artist | Hell |
| Chester Wilmot | Australia | 21 June 1911 | 10 January 1954 | War Correspondent | The Struggle for Europe |
| Hella Wuolijoki | Finland | 22 July 1886 | 2 February 1954 | Writer | Entäs nyt, Niskavuori? |
| Yuriy Yanovskyi [de] | Soviet Union | 27 August 1902 | 25 February 1954 | Writer | The Horseriders [uk] |
| Francis Brett Young | United Kingdom | 29 June 1884 | 28 March 1954 | Writer | List of novels of Francis Brett Young |
| Zhang Shichuan | China | 1890 | 1954 | Film director | Laborer's Love |

## Countries with life + 60 years

In Bangladesh, Haiti, India, and Venezuela a work enters the public domain 60 years after the creator's death.
| Names | Country | Birth | Death | Occupation | Notable work |
| Dr. Atl | Mexico | 3 October 1875 | 15 August 1964 | Painter, writer | |
| Fernando Leal | Mexico | 26 February 1896 | 7 October 1964 | Painter, muralist, lithographer, engraver | |
| Bharathidasan | India | 29 April 1891 | 21 April 1964 | Poet | "Tamil Thai Valthu" |
| Birinchi Kumar Barua | India | 16 October 1908 | 30 March 1964 | Scholar, writer | |
| Carlos Brandt | Venezuela | 11 October 1875 | 27 February 1964 | Writer | |
| Guru Dutt | India | 9 July 1925 | 10 October 1964 | Film director | Pyaasa |
| Mushtaq Hussain Khan | India | 1878 | 13 August 1964 | Musician | |
| Jawaharlal Nehru | India | 14 November 1889 | 27 May 1964 | Politician | An Autobiography |

## Countries with life + 50 years

In most countries of Africa and Asia, as well as Belarus, Bolivia and New Zealand, a work enters the public domain 50 years after the creator's death.
| Names | Country | Birth | Death | Occupation | Notable work |
| Jean Absil | Belgium | 23 October 1893 | 2 February 1974 | Composer | |
| Gilbert Archey | New Zealand | 4 August 1890 | 20 October 1974 | Zoologist | The Moa, a Study of the Dinornithiformes |
| Miguel Ángel Asturias | Guatemala | 19 October 1899 | 9 June 1974 | Poet-diplomat | El Señor Presidente |
| Farid al-Atrash | Egypt | 1917 | 26 December 1974 | Composer | |
| Kurt Atterberg | Sweden | 12 December 1887 | 15 February 1974 | Composer | Compositions |
| H. E. Bates | United Kingdom | 16 May 1905 | 29 January 1974 | Writer | The Darling Buds of May |
| Erick Berry | United States | 4 January 1892 | February 1974 | Writer | The Winged Girl of Knossos |
| Bobby Bloom | United States | 15 January 1946 | 28 February 1974 | Singer-songwriter | "Montego Bay" |
| Hector Bolitho | New Zealand | 28 May 1897 | 12 September 1974 | Writer | Albert the Good and the Victorian Reign |
| Buddhadeb Bosu | Bangladesh | 1908 | 1974 | Writer | |
| Rosario Castellanos | Mexico | 25 May 1925 | 7 August 1974 | Poet, novelist | The Nine Guardians |
| Nellie Coad | New Zealand | 15 October 1883 | 6 September 1974 | Teacher, writer | |
| Phillis Emily Cunnington | United Kingdom | 1 November 1887 | 24 October 1974 | Physician, historian | Handbook of English Mediaeval Costume |
| Maurice Duggan | New Zealand | 25 November 1922 | 11 December 1974 | Writer | Summer in the Gravel Pit |
| Duke Ellington | United States | 29 April 1899 | 24 May 1974 | Composer | Duke Ellington discography |
| Julius Evola | Italy | 19 May 1898 | 11 June 1974 | Philosopher | Revolt Against the Modern World |
| Allal al-Fassi | Morocco | 10 January 1910 | 13 May 1974 | Writer | The Independence Movements in Arab North Africa |
| Dorothy Fields | United States | 15 July 1904 | 28 March 1974 | Film lyricist | "The Way You Look Tonight" |
| Louise Fitzhugh | United States | 5 October 1928 | 19 November 1974 | Writer | Harriet the Spy |
| Georgette Heyer | United Kingdom | 16 August 1902 | 4 July 1974 | Writer | List of works by Georgette Heyer |
| Ali Ismael | Egypt | 28 December 1922 | 16 June 1974 | Composer | Fida'i |
| Marie Luise Kaschnitz | Germany | 31 January 1901 | 10 October 1974 | Writer | Menschen und Dinge 1945 |
| Erich Kästner | Germany | 23 February 1899 | 29 July 1974 | Poet, screenwriter | Emil and the Detectives |
| Muhammad Ayub Khan | Pakistan | 14 May 1907 | 19 April 1974 | Politician | Books |
| Pär Lagerkvist | Sweden | 23 May 1891 | 11 July 1974 | Writer | Barabbas |
| Eve Langley | New Zealand | 1 September 1904 | 1 June 1974 | Writer | The Pea-Pickers |
| Charles Lindbergh | United States | 4 February 1902 | 26 August 1974 | Aviator, writer | "WE", The Spirit of St. Louis |
| Eric Linklater | United Kingdom | 8 March 1899 | 7 November 1974 | Writer, poet | The Wind on the Moon |
| Walter Lippmann | United States | 23 September 1889 | 14 December 1974 | Writer | Public Opinion |
| Margaret MacPherson | New Zealand | 19 June 1895 | 14 September 1974 | Writer, journalist | A Symposium Against War |
| P. Schuyler Miller | United States | 21 February 1912 | 13 October 1974 | Writer | |
| Henry de Monfreid | France | 14 November 1879 | 13 December 1974 | Adventurer, writer | Secrets of the Red Sea |
| Stanley Mullen | United States | 20 June 1911 | 1974 | Artist, writer | Kinsmen of the Dragon |
| Leslie Munro | New Zealand | 26 February 1901 | 13 February 1974 | Politician, writer | United Nations: hope for a divided world |
| Douglas Robb | New Zealand | 1899 | 1974 | Physician, writer | Medical Odyssey |
| David Alfaro Siqueiros | Mexico | 29 December 1896 | 6 January 1974 | Painter, muralist | Portrait of the Bourgeoisie (1939–1940), The March of Humanity (1957–1971) |
| William Sloane | United States | 15 August 1906 | 25 September 1974 | Writer | To Walk the Night |
| Zaharia Stancu | Romania | 7 October 1902 | 5 December 1974 | Writer | Through the Ashes of the Empire |
| Sheila Stuart | United Kingdom | 1892 | 1974 | Writer | Alison's Highland Holiday |
| Jacqueline Susann | United States | 20 August 1918 | 21 September 1974 | Writer | Valley of the Dolls |
| Sándor Szathmári | Hungary | 29 June 1897 | 16 July 1974 | Writer, mechanical engineer | Kazohinia |
| Whanki Kim | South Korea | 3 April 1913 | 25 July 1974 | Painter | What Form, Shall We Meet Again? (어디서 무엇이 되어 다시 만나랴) |
| Robert Charles Zaehner | United Kingdom | 8 April 1913 | 24 November 1974 | Scholar | Zurvan, Mysticism, Our Savage God |

## Russia

Russia has a copyright term of life + 70 years in general, with two special provisions:
* extra 4 years for those who fought in or worked during the so-called Great Patriotic War in 1941–1945, and/or
* copyright term starting from the date of rehabilitation for unlawfully prosecuted and posthumously rehabilitated.
1954 marks the first large wave of posthumous rehabilitations.
| Names | Country | Birth | Death | Occupation | Notable work |
| Pavel Bazhov | Soviet Union | 27 January 1879 | 3 December 1950 | Writer | The Malachite Box |
| Yustin Djanelidze | Soviet Union | 1 August 1883 | 14 January 1950 | Doctor | A case of the repair of an injury of the ascending aorta |
| Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky | Soviet Union | 11 February 1887 | 28 December 1950 | Writer | The New Gulliver |
| Andrey Kryachkov | Soviet Union | 24 November 1876 | 25 August 1950 | Architect | 100-Flat Building |
| Nikolai Luzin | Soviet Union | 9 December 1883 | 28 February 1950 | Mathematician | Lusin's theorem |
| Nikolai Myaskovsky | Soviet Union | 20 April 1881 | 8 August 1950 | Composer | List of compositions by Nikolai Myaskovsky |
| Antonina Nezhdanova | Soviet Union | 16 June 1873 | 26 June 1950 | Singer | Vocalise |
| Vladimir Sorin [de] | Soviet Union | 1893 | October 1944 | Historian | Lenin in the Brest days |
| Viktor Vesnin | Soviet Union | 9 April 1882 | 17 September 1950 | Architect | Palace of Culture of the Proletarsky district, Moscow |

## Australia and Canada

In 2004 copyright in Australia changed from a "plus 50" law to a "plus 70" law, in line with the United States and the European Union. But the change was not made retroactive (unlike the 1995 change in the European Union which brought some (British and possibly other) authors back into copyright, especially those who died from 1925 to 1944). Hence, the work of an author who died before 1955 is normally in the public domain in Australia; but the copyright of authors was extended to 70 years after death for those who died in 1955 or later, and no more Australian authors would come out of copyright until 1 January 2026 (those who died in 1955).
Similarly, Canada amended its Copyright Act in 2022 from a "plus 50" law to a "plus 70" law, coming into force on December 30, 2022, but does not revive expired copyright. No more new Canadian authors will come out of copyright until 1 January 2043 (those who died in 1972). Crown copyright was not changed, thus any government works published in 1974 entered the public domain in 2025.

## United States

Under the Copyright Term Extension Act, books and other works published in 1929 and films released in 1929 entered the public domain in 2025. Sound recordings that were published in 1924 also entered the public domain. The characters Captain Easy, Horace Horsecollar, Tintin, and Popeye the Sailor Man entered the public domain in 2025. The same happens for the first Tarzan strips illustrated by Hal Foster that were launched in 1929. The Buck Rogers comic strip first appeared in U.S. newspapers on January 7, 1929.
Notable musical works entering the public domain include George Gershwin's composition An American in Paris and the first recordings of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.
Among the popular songs that entered the public domain in 2025 are the following:
* "Ain't Misbehavin'"
* "Can't We Be Friends?"
* "Honeysuckle Rose"
* "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan"
* "Just You, Just Me"
* "Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll Away)"
* "More Than You Know"
* "Singin' in the Rain"
* "Stardust" (1929 version with words by Mitchell Parish)
* "What Is This Thing Called Love?"
* "With a Song in My Heart"
* "Without a Song"
Unpublished works whose authors died in 1954 entered the public domain in 2025.
Among the films that entered public domain in 2025 are the following:
* The Cocoanuts, the first film of the Marx Brothers
* The Broadway Melody, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's first musical film and the second recipient of the Academy Award for Best Picture, making it the first sound film to win the award.
* The Hollywood Revue, MGM's second musical film, starring Conrad Nagel and Jack Benny.
* Say It with Songs, the first all-talking film starring Al Jolson
* Spite Marriage, Buster Keaton's final full-length feature as a director
* Welcome Danger, Harold Lloyd's first sound film
* On with the Show!, the first sound film in color
* Hallelujah, one of the first films with an all-African American cast produced by a major studio
* The Cock-Eyed World, sequel to What Price Glory? (1926)
* Show Boat, containing some songs from the 1927 musical
* Blackmail, Alfred Hitchcock's first sound film and the first British sound film
* The Black Watch, John Ford's first sound film
* Dynamite, Cecil B. DeMille's first sound film
* Eternal Love, John Barrymore's last silent film
* The Virginian, Gary Cooper's and Victor Fleming's first sound film
* Where East Is East, last collaboration between Lon Chaney and Tod Browning
* Atlantic, the first sound film about the Titanic disaster
* The Return of Sherlock Holmes, the first sound film to star the character of Sherlock Holmes
* Behind That Curtain, the first sound film to star the character Charlie Chan
* The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu, the first sound film to star the character of Fu Manchu
* Bulldog Drummond, the first sound film to star the character Bulldog Drummond
* The Three Masks (Les trois masques), the first French sound film
* Land Without Women (Das Land ohne Frauen), the first German sound film
* Woman in the Moon (Frau im Mond), directed by Fritz Lang
* Pandora’s Box (Die Büchse der Pandora) and Diary of a Lost Girl (Tagebuch einer Verlorenen), both directed by G. W. Pabst and starring Louise Brooks
* The White Hell of Pitz Palu (Die weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü), directed by Arnold Fanck and G. W. Pabst and starring Leni Riefenstahl
* Drifters, a documentary film about Britain's North Sea herring fishery
* Un Chien Andalou, directed by Luis Buñuel and cowritten by Salvador Dalí
* The Mysteries of the Chateau of Dice (Les mystères du Château du Dé), directed by Man Ray
* Rain, a Dutch documentary short directed by Joris Ivens
* Sound versions of the Mickey Mouse cartoons The Gallopin' Gaucho and Plane Crazy, the 1929 cartoons including The Karnival Kid (in which Mickey speaks his first words); and the first Silly Symphony cartoons, including The Skeleton Dance.
Examples of important literary works entering the public domain include Ernest Hemingway's novel A Farewell to Arms, William Seabrook's novel The Magic Island (the first book to introduce the concept of a zombie). Ellery Queen's detective novel The Roman Hat Mystery, Margery Allingham's detective novel The Crime at Black Dudley, the first English translation of Erich Maria Remarque's novel All Quiet on the Western Front, Alfred Döblin's novel Berlin Alexanderplatz in its original German, Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay's novel Pather Panchali in its original Bengali, Lynd Ward's wordless novel Gods' Man, William Faulkner's novel The Sound and the Fury, Dashiell Hammett's novel Red Harvest, Edgar Rice Burroughs's novel Tarzan and the Lost Empire, Ruth Plumly Thompson's novel Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz, Bertrand Russell's book Marriage and Morals, Patrick Hamilton's play Rope, A. A. Milne's play Toad of Toad Hall, Virginia Woolf's essay A Room of One's Own, Ludwig Wittgenstein's essay Some Remarks on Logical Form and the first part of the 14th edition of Encyclopædia Britannica (full in public domain by 2029).
Important artworks entering the public domain include Salvador Dalí's paintings The Great Masturbator and The Accommodations of Desire, Wassily Kandinsky's painting Upward, Edward Hopper's painting Chop Suey, Kawamura Kiyoo's painting Founding of the Nation, Julio Romero de Torres' painting La Fuensanta, M. C. Escher's print Strada di Scanno, the first design of the Barcelona chair and August Sander's photograph Berlin Coal Carrier and other photographs from his 1929 photobook Face of our Time. The public domain status of René Magritte's painting The Treachery of Images is contentious.