These notable works are officially in the public domain as 2026 arrives; CBS News, January 1, 2026

Leo Rocha, CBS News; These notable works are officially in the public domain as 2026 arrives

"List of popular intellectual property entering the public domain in 2026

The year 2026 marks the first time that copyrighted books, films, songs and art published in the '30s enter the U.S. public domain. As of Jan. 1, protections have expired for published works from 1930 and sound recordings from 1925.

Here are some of the most notable works that are now available for free use by anyone:

• "The Murder at the Vicarage" by Agatha Christie, the first novel featuring elderly amateur detective Miss Marple.
• "The Secret of the Old Clock" by Carolyn Keene, the first appearance of teen detective Nancy Drew, and three follow-ups.
• "The Little Engine That Could" by Watty Piper.
• Fleischer Studios' "Dizzy Dishes," the first cartoon in which Betty Boop appears.
• Disney's "The Chain Gang" and "The Picnic," both depicting the earliest versions of Mickey's dog Pluto.
• The initial four months of "Blondie" comic strips by Chic Young, featuring the earliest iterations of the titular character and her then-boyfriend, Dagwood.
• The film "All Quiet on the Western Front," directed by Lewis Milestone, Best Picture winner at the 3rd Academy Awards.
• "King of Jazz," directed by John Murray Anderson, Bing Crosby's first appearance in a feature film.
• "Animal Crackers," directed by Victor Heerman and starring the Marx Brothers.
• "The Big Trail," directed by Raoul Walsh, John Wayne's first turn as leading man.
• "But Not For Me," music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin.
• "Georgia on My Mind," music by Hoagy Carmichael, lyrics by Stuart Gorrell.
• "Dream a Little Dream of Me," music by Fabian Andre and Wilbur Schwandt, lyrics by Gus Kahn.
• "Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight," music by Al Sherman, lyrics by Al Lewis.
• Piet Mondrian's painting, "Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow.""

The IP Legislation That Shaped 2025 and Prospects for the New Year; IP Watchdog, December 29, 2025

BARRY SCHINDLER , IP Watchdog; The IP Legislation That Shaped 2025 and Prospects for the New Year

"As 2025 draws to a close, the intellectual property ecosystem faces a wave of transformative changes driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and evolving legislative priorities. From sweeping federal proposals aimed at harmonizing AI governance and overriding state laws, to new copyright and media integrity measures designed to address deepfakes and transparency, and finally to renewed momentum behind patent eligibility and Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) reform, these developments signal a pivotal moment for innovators, rights holders, and policymakers alike. This article explores three critical fronts shaping the future of IP: federal AI legislation and executive preemption, copyright accountability and media integrity, and the year-end outlook for patent reform—each redefining the balance between innovation, protection, and compliance."

74 suicide warnings and 243 mentions of hanging: What ChatGPT said to a suicidal teen; The Washington Post, December 27, 2025

Nitasha Tiku

 and 

Kevin Schaul

 , The Washington Post; 74 suicide warnings and 243 mentions of hanging: What ChatGPT said to a suicidal teen

"The Raines’ lawsuit alleges that OpenAI caused Adam’s death by distributing ChatGPT to minors despite knowing it could encourage psychological dependency and suicidal ideation. His parents were the first of five families to file wrongful-death lawsuits against OpenAI in recent months, alleging that the world’s most popular chatbot had encouraged their loved ones to kill themselves. A sixth suit filed this month alleges that ChatGPT led a man to kill his mother before taking his own life.

None of the cases have yet reached trial, and the full conversations users had with ChatGPT in the weeks and months before they died are not public. But in response to requests from The Post, the Raine family’s attorneys shared analysis of Adam’s account that allowed reporters to chart the escalation of one teenager’s relationship with ChatGPT during a mental health crisis."

AI Will Continue to Dominate California IP Litigation in 2026; Bloomberg Law, December 26, 2025

Annelise Levy

, Bloomberg Law; AI Will Continue to Dominate California IP Litigation in 2026

"Lawsuits against AI giants OpenAI, Anthropic, and Perplexity are set to continue headlining intellectual property developments in California federal courts in 2026.

In the coming months, we’ll see decisions in two key cases: whether Anthropic PBC’s historic $1.5 billion copyright settlement with authors will receive final approval and if music publishers’ separate copyright lawsuit against the artificial intelligence company will head to trial in September.

Here’s a closer look at the California legal battles that could redefine the landscape of IP law next year."

Vince Gilligan Talks About His Four-Season Plan for 'Pluribus' (And Why He's Done With 'Breaking Bad'); Esquire, December 23, 2025

Johnny Davis , Esquire; Vince Gilligan Talks About His Four-Season Plan for 'Pluribus' (And Why He's Done With 'Breaking Bad')

"How many times have you been asked whether the show is about AI?

I’ve been asked a fair bit about AI. It’s interesting because I came up with this story going on ten years ago, and this was before the advent of ChatGPT. So I can’t say I was thinking about this current thing they call AI, which, by the way, feels like a marketing tool to me, because there’s no intelligence there. It’s a really amazing bit of sleight of hand that makes it look like the act of creation is occurring, but really it’s just taking little bits and pieces from a hundred other sources and cobbling them together. There’s no consciousness there. I personally am not a big fan of what passes for AI now. I don’t wish to see it take over the world. I don’t wish to see it subvert the creative process for human beings. But in full disclosure, I was not thinking about it specifically when I came up with this.

Even so, when AI entered the mainstream conversation, you must have seen the resonance.

Yeah. When ChatGPT came out, I was basically appalled. But yeah, I probably was thinking, wow, maybe there’s some resonance with this show...

Breaking Bad famously went from the brink of cancellation to being hailed as one of the greatest television series of all time. Did that experience change how you approached making Pluribus?

It allowed us to make it. It really did. People have asked me recently, are you proud of the fact that you got an original show, a non IP-derived show on the air? And I say: I am proud of that, and I feel lucky, but it also makes me sad. Because I think, why is it so hard to get a show that is not based on pre-existing intellectual property made?"

I called my recipe book Sabzi – vegetables. But the name was trademarked. And my legal ordeal began; The Guardian, December 4, 2025

 Yasmin Khan, The Guardian ; I called my recipe book Sabzi – vegetables. But the name was trademarked. And my legal ordeal began

"Vegetables, in my experience, rarely cause controversy. Yet last month I found myself in the middle of a legal storm over who gets to own the word sabzi – the Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Persian, Dari and Pashto word for cooked veg or fresh greens. It was a story as absurd as it was stressful, a chain of delis threatened me with legal action over the title of a book I had spent years creating. But what began as a personal legal headache soon morphed into something bigger, a story about how power and privilege still dominate conversations about cultural ownership in the UK.

When the email first landed in my inbox, I assumed it must be a wind-up. My editor at Bloomsbury had forwarded a solicitor’s letter addressed to me personally, care of my publishers. As I read it, my stomach dropped. A deli owner from Cornwall accused me of infringing her intellectual property over my cookbook Sabzi: Fresh Vegetarian Recipes for Every Day. Why? Because in 2022, she had trademarked the word sabzi to use for her business and any future products, including a cookbook she hoped to write one day.

My jaw clenched as I pored over pages of legal documentation, written in the punitive and aggressive tone of a firm gearing up for a fight. I was accused of “misrepresentation” (copying the deli’s brand), damaging its business and affecting its future growth, and they demanded detailed commercial reports about my work, including sales revenue, stock numbers and distribution contracts – information so intrusive that it felt like an audit. Buried in the legal jargon was a line that shook me. They reserved the right to seek the “destruction” of all items relating to their infringement claim. Reading the threat of my book being pulped was nothing short of devastating. It was also utterly enraging.

Because sabzi isn’t some cute exotic brand name, it’s part of the daily lexicon of more than a billion people across cultures and borders. In south Asia, it simply means cooked vegetables."

(Podcast) The Briefing: What Is Fair Use and Why Does It Matter? (Featured); JDSupra, December 5, 2025

 Richard Buckley, Jr. and Scott Hervey, JDSupra ; (Podcast) The Briefing: What Is Fair Use and Why Does It Matter? (Featured)

"Creators, beware: just because it’s online doesn’t mean it’s fair game. In this episode of The Briefing, Scott Hervey and Richard Buckley break down one of the most misunderstood areas of copyright law—fair use.

In this featured episode, they cover:

- What makes a use “transformative”?

- Why credit alone doesn’t protect you

- How recent court rulings (Warhol v. Goldsmith) are changing the game

- Tips to stay on the right side of the law"

The Disney-OpenAI tie-up has huge implications for intellectual property; Fast Company, December 11, 2025

 CHRIS STOKEL-WALKER, Fast Company ; The Disney-OpenAI tie-up has huge implications for intellectual property

"Walt Disney and OpenAI make for very odd bedfellows: The former is one of the most-recognized brands among children under the age of 18. The near-$200 billion company’s value has been derived from more than a century of aggressive safeguarding of its intellectual property and keeping the magic alive among innocent children.

OpenAI, which celebrated its first decade of existence this week, is best known for upending creativity, the economy, and society with its flagship product, ChatGPT. And in the last two months, it has said it wants to get to a place where its adult users can use its tech to create erotica.

So what the hell should we make of a just-announced deal between the two that will allow ChatGPT and Sora users to create images and videos of more than 200 characters, from Mickey and Minnie Mouse to the Mandalorian, starting from early 2026?"

The Disney-OpenAI Deal Redefines the AI Copyright War; Wired, December 11, 2025

BRIAN BARRETT, Wired; The Disney-OpenAI Deal Redefines the AI Copyright War

 "“I think that AI companies and copyright holders are beginning to understand and become reconciled to the fact that neither side is going to score an absolute victory,” says Matthew Sag, a professor of law and artificial intelligence at Emory University. While many of these cases are still working their way through the courts, so far it seems like model inputs—the training data that these models learn from—are covered by fair use. But this deal is about outputs—what the model returns based on your prompt—where IP owners like Disney have a much stronger case

Coming to an output agreement resolves a host of messy, potentially unsolvable issues. Even if a company tells an AI model not to produce, say, Elsa at a Wendy’s drive-through, the model might know enough about Elsa to do so anyway—or a user might be able to prompt their way into making Elsa without asking for the character by name. It’s a tension that legal scholars call the “Snoopy problem,” but in this case you might as well call it the Disney problem.

“Faced with this increasingly clear reality, it makes sense for consumer-facing AI companies and entertainment giants like Disney to think about licensing arrangements,” says Sag."

Has Cambridge-based AI music upstart Suno 'gone legit'?; WBUR, December 11, 2025

 

Tiziana Dearing 

Rob Lane

, WBUR; Has Cambridge-based AI music upstart Suno 'gone legit'?

"The Cambridge-based AI music company Suno, which has been besieged by lawsuits from record labels, is now teaming up with behemoth label Warner Music. Under a new partnership, Warner will license music in its catalogue for use by Suno's AI.

Copyright law experts Peter Karol and Bhamati Viswanathan join WBUR's Morning Edition to discuss what the deal between Suno and Warner Music means for the future of intellectual property."

Two AI copyright cases, two very different outcomes – here’s why; The Conversation, December 1, 2025

 Hayleigh Bosher, Reader in Intellectual Property Law, Brunel University of London , The Conversation; Two AI copyright cases, two very different outcomes – here’s why

"Artificial intelligence companies and the creative industries are locked in an ongoing battle, being played out in the courts. The thread that pulls all these lawsuits together is copyright.

There are now over 60 ongoing lawsuits in the US where creators and rightsholders are suing AI companies. Meanwhile, we have recently seen decisions in the first court cases from the UK and Germany – here’s what happened in those...

Although the circumstances of the cases are slightly different, the heart of the issue was the same. Do AI models reproduce copyright-protected content in their training process and in generating outputs? The German court decided they do, whereas the UK court took a different view.

Both cases could be appealed and others are underway, so things may change. But the ending we want to see is one where AI and the creative industries come together in agreement. This would preferably happen with the use of copyright licences that benefit them both.

Importantly, it would also come with the consent of – and fair payment to – creators of the content that makes both their industries go round."

Artificial intelligence, intellectual property, and human rights: mapping the legal landscape in European health systems; npj Health Systems, November 25, 2025

 

Robin van Kessel, Jelena Schmidt, 

Hannah van Kolfschooten, 

Sam Feudo, 

Katie Young, 

Laura Valtere, 

Timo Minssen & 

Elias Mossialos 

, npj Health Systems ; Artificial intelligence, intellectual property, and human rights: mapping the legal landscape in European health systems

"Abstract

Intellectual property (IP) rights and IP-related rights, such as trade secrets and regulatory exclusivities, play a crucial role in the development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. However, possible interactions may be anticipated when comparing the legal relationships formed by these rights with those established by human rights. This study synthesises 53 laws and treaties illustrating the IP landscape for AI in health systems across Europe and examines their intersections with health-focused human rights. Our analysis reveals that a great variety of datasets, software, hardware, output, AI model architecture, data bases, and graphical user interfaces can be subject to IP protection. Although codified limitations and exceptions on IP and IP-related rights exist, interpretation of their conditions and scope permits for diverse interpretations and is left to the discretion of courts. Comparing these rights to health-focused human rights highlights tensions between promoting innovation and ensuring accessibility, quality, and equity in health systems, as well as between human rights ideals and the protection of European digital sovereignty. As these rights often pursue conflicting objectives and may involve trade-offs, future research should explore new ways to reconcile these objectives and foster solidarity in sharing the risks and benefits among stakeholders."

Copyright Piracy at the Supreme Court In Cox v. Sony: is an internet provider liable for digital thieves?; The Wall Street Journal, November 27, 2025

 The Editorial Board, The Wall Street Journal; Copyright Piracy at the Supreme Court" In Cox v. Sony, is an internet provider liable for digital thieves?

"If a college student pirates music files, can his broadband provider be liable for his copyright infringement? That’s the question before the Supreme Court on Monday in Cox Communications v. Sony Music Entertainment, which tugs at the tension between protecting intellectual property and the internet."

Estate of Johnny Cash suing Coca-Cola for using tribute act in advert; The Guardian, November 27, 2025

Laura Snapes, The Guardian; Estate of Johnny Cash suing Coca-Cola for using tribute act in advert

"The estate of Johnny Cash is suing Coca-Cola for illegally hiring a tribute act to impersonate the late US country singer in an advertisement that plays between college football games.

The case has been filed under the Elvis Act of Tennessee, made effective last year, which protects a person’s voice from exploitation without consent. The estate said that while it has previously licensed Cash’s songs, Coca-Cola did not approach them for permission in this instance."

White Bird Clinic sues Willamette Valley Crisis Care over misuse of trade secrets, copyright infringement; Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB), November 24, 2025

 Nathan Wilk , Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB); White Bird Clinic sues Willamette Valley Crisis Care over misuse of trade secrets, copyright infringement

"Eugene’s White Bird Clinic is suing a rival nonprofit, Willamette Valley Crisis Care, over copyright infringement and the stealing of trade secrets.

WVCC was founded after White Bird shuttered CAHOOTS services in Eugene in April. The new nonprofit hopes to launch a similar mobile crisis intervention program and has multiple former CAHOOTS staff members on board.

White Bird is now alleging that minutes before WVCC co-founder Alese “Dandy” Colehour sent a resignation letter to White Bird earlier this month, they downloaded confidential client information, training manuals and other materials to give to the newer non-profit.

White Bird is also accusing the WVCC of infringing on its CAHOOTS trademark through advertising materials and other public outreach efforts, and of passing off White Bird’s services as its own."

Minister indicates sympathy for artists in debate over AI and copyright; The Guardian, November 23, 2025

Robert Booth, The Guardian; Minister indicates sympathy for artists in debate over AI and copyright

 "The technology secretary, Liz Kendall, has indicated she is sympathetic to artists’ demands not to have their copyrighted works scraped by AI companies without payment and said she wanted to “reset” the debate.

In remarks that suggest a change in approach from her predecessor, Peter Kyle, who had hoped to require artists to actively opt out of having their work ingested by generative AI systems, she said “people rightly want to get paid for the work that they do” and “we have to find a way that both sectors can grow and thrive in future”.

The government has been consulting on a new intellectual property framework for AI which, in the case of the most common large language models (LLMs), requires vast amounts of training data to work effectively.

The issue has sparked impassioned protests from some of Britain’s most famous artists. This month Paul McCartney released a silent two-minute 45 second track of an empty studio on an album protesting against copyright grabs by AI firms as part of a campaign also backed by Kate Bush, Sam Fender, the Pet Shop Boys and Hans Zimmer."

Eli Lilly Reaches $1 Trillion in Value, Buoyed by Demand for Its Weight Loss Drugs; The New York Times, November 21, 2025

  Rebecca Robbins , The New York Times; Eli Lilly Reaches $1 Trillion in Value, Buoyed by Demand for Its Weight Loss Drugs

"Pharmaceuticals is a notoriously cyclical business. Companies buoyed by once-in-a-generation product lines flounder after their blockbuster drugs lose patent protection."

Paul McCartney joins music industry protest against AI with silent track; The Guardian, November 17, 2025

Robert Booth, The Guardian ; Paul McCartney joins music industry protest against AI with silent track

"At two minutes 45 seconds it’s about the same length as With a Little Help From My Friends. But Paul McCartney’s first new recording in five years lacks the sing-along tune and jaunty guitar chops because there’s barely anything there.

The former Beatle, arguably Britain’s greatest living songwriter, is releasing a track of an almost completely silent recording studio as part of a music industry protest against copyright theft by artificial intelligence companies.

In place of catchy melodies and evocative lyrics there is only quiet hiss and the odd clatter. It suggests that if AI companies unfairly exploit musicians’ intellectual property to train their generative AI models, the creative ecosystem will be wrecked and original music silenced.

McCartney, 83 and currently touring North America, has added the track to the B-side of an LP called Is This What We Want?, which is filled with other silent recordings and will be pressed on vinyl and released later this month."

‘South Park’ addresses AI-generated videos and copyright with Totoro, Trump and Bluey; Los Angeles Times, November 13, 2025

 Kaitlyn Huamani , Los Angeles Times; ‘South Park’ addresses AI-generated videos and copyright with Totoro, Trump and Bluey

"Droopy Dog, Rocky, Bullwinkle, Popeye and even the beloved preschool character Bluey are mentioned or make appearances in the episode. Representatives for Studio Ghibli also appear, offering a voice of reason in the madness, saying, “You cannot just do whatever you want with someone else’s IP.”"

AI Has Sent Copyright Laws Into Chaos. What You Need to Know About Your Rights Online; CNET, November 11, 2025

 Katelyn Chedraoui, CNET ; AI Has Sent Copyright Laws Into Chaos. What You Need to Know About Your Rights Online

"You might not think about copyright very often, but we are all copyright owners and authors. In the age of generative AI, copyright has quickly become one of the most important issues in the development and outputs of chatbots, image and video generators...

What does all of this mean for the future?

Copyright owners are in a bit of a holding pattern for now. But beyond the legal and ethical implications, copyright in the age of AI raises important questions about the value of creative work, the cost of innovation and the ways in which we need or ought to have government intervention and protections."