Tintin, Popeye and several paintings by Salvador Dalí enter the public domain in 2025, but only in some countries

Every January 1, entertainment and cultural content loses its copyright and becomes public domain. In 2025, mythical characters like Popeye or Tintin, or the famous Disney short The Skeleton Dance. But you have to be careful, because the laws are different in each country.

In the case of the United States, the law says that content becomes public domain 75 years after its publication. In 1998 the term was increased by 20 years to protect Disney’s most legendary characters, so it is now 95 years.

That a product is in the public domain means that You can copy, modify, adapt or use it for whatever you want..

Popeye and Tintin, in the public domain in 2025

Therefore, any book, movie, music, comic, or other cultural or entertainment content published in 1929 or earlier, is in the public domain in the United States.

This is the case of the beloved character of Popeyewhich premiered in a comic strip called Gobs of Workthat same year. At that time he didn’t eat spinach to get his super strength, something that didn’t happen until 1931, so it only enters the public domain Popeye no spinach.

Additionally, a few classic Disney shorts, including several Mickey shorts, are also out of copyright. One of the most notable is The Skeleton Dancebelonging to the mythical Silly Symphonies. You can see it here:

Another endearing character, the journalist Tintin by Hergé, premiered in the magazine Le Petit Vingtiemein 1929, 95 years ago.

But it only happens to public domain the image I had in that comic, which was a little different from the Tintin modern that we saw in the movie The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicornby Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson.

Tintin is a European comic, and In the European Union, public domain laws are very different. This must be taken into account if you want to access the work.

While in the United States the copyright expires 95 years after the publication of the work, in the European Union it is 70 years after the death of the author. Since Hergé passed away in 1983, Tintin will not be public domain in Europe until 2054.

Other well-known works that lose copyright in the United States in 2025 are several paintings by Salvador Dalí, On With the Showthe first talking film in color, BlackmailAlfred Hitchcock’s first talking film, and legendary novels such as Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway or A room of your ownby Virginia Woolf.

Popeye, Tintin, and some Disney shorts, among the works that will enter the public domain in 2025 in the United States. In Europe we will have to wait much longer.

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Tags: Culture, Movies, Viral, Retro, Curiosities, copyright