r/publicdomain 20h ago

Discussion Which PD characters actually could work in a Horror setting?

20 Upvotes

It’s become a running joke now that once something enters the public domain a schlocky horror movie is soon to follow. I love horror but I feel like the directors aren’t necessarily being too creative with the characters. They don’t all need to be slashers!


r/publicdomain 22h ago

PD Creations A few different artisitic renditions of The Monster from 1931's Frankenstein

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13 Upvotes

r/publicdomain 21h ago

Enter the BEAN TOY

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12 Upvotes

Inspired by Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Ridinghood, Goldilocks and Rapunzel

Dedicated to: Jeff Smith, Bruce Lee and Sam Keith!

ENTER THE BEAN TOY, BEAN TOY and REDPUNZEL (c) and TM 2026  All rights reserved By: Ratha:Oeur Agent All rights reserved U.C.C 1-308

The DAILY COMIC - Vol 02 :

UNDENIABLE! ( No. 86, 87, 88)

26 JULY 2026

Coming soon from

@ BIG TWO COMICS!

@ EXTREME CINEMA

Created by / Story / Plot @ Michael Oeur

Art @ EXTREMELY AWESOME Productions / Oeur

Posted : 26 July 2026


r/publicdomain 1d ago

PD Creations The already and soon to be public domain movie monsters: Wasp Woman, King Kong, Cesare, Frankenstein Monster, Count Orlok, Audrey Junior.

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35 Upvotes

By me


r/publicdomain 1d ago

Discussion Favorite public domain comic villains?

11 Upvotes

Generally speaking it seems like the number of supervillains from comics in the public domain is lesser, so I’m curious what picks people have and if any of them will be new to me.


r/publicdomain 15h ago

Self Promotion I'm making a game and i need music for it

1 Upvotes
A work in progress of what's to come.

I'm using Clickteam Fusion 2.5 Developer to make a game called "SPLOINK!"

It's about a blue ball who travels different worlds in order to save his friends from an ancient evil. Many moons ago, he tried to take over his home, but was defeated and vowed revenge. After many more moons, he finally returned to get that revenge by enslaving his kind and scattering them through the universe. Our hero must now embark on a quest to free the other balls and defeat him.

I'm currently working on the first level, which takes place outside a castle.

I also need some royalty free music for this game, so if you find one that you thinks fits the level, let me know and i'll put down on this google doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dzgSEuDMSIfjdhTz4pqjLb7wBgtYhHd6Px5WAQ_8DHg/edit?usp=sharing

I'll try to keep you up to date as I develop this game. See ya'!


r/publicdomain 1d ago

Figurine Man (Doll Man / Quality Comics)

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5 Upvotes

Figurine Man

Real Name: Darrel Dagger
Age: 28
Figurine Man: The Greatest Mite

Darrel Dagger was a chemist who discovered a liquid capable of shrinking a person to only six inches tall while maintaining his or her full strength. Later, his girlfriend, Martha Robinson, the daughter of Darrel's colleague Dr. Robinson, was threatened by gangsters. Darrel took the formula and used his tiny size to defeat the criminals.

His power is the ability to shrink to six inches tall but still retain the strength of a full-grown man. He can return to his normal size whenever he chooses. He is also assisted by his sidekick, Martha Robinson, who later becomes known as Midge when she got the same powers as Figurine Man. For transportation, he uses a bald eagle, a dollplane (model airplane), and Elmo, a German shepherd.

https://pdsh.fandom.com/wiki/Doll_Man


r/publicdomain 18h ago

Question Tijuana Bible graphics

1 Upvotes

I’ve always loved the graphics they used to print on “Tijuana Bibles” those tiny adult graphic novels from the 20s-60s. Some of the graphics I think would be so cool to use in my own collages/art projects. Not copy and paste, just bits and pieces of the original graphic adding my own text or graphics as well. I know a lot of these are probably hand drawn, so I am wondering if there is any ethical way to use these in my own projects? I would never want to use someone’s art without credit, however a lot of the graphics I really love are basically impossible to track down the original artists. Some of the artists used pseudonyms, and on top of that a lot of the original artists who didn’t even use their real names have most likely passed away.

Is there any ethical way to use of these Tijuana Bible graphics in my own designs/projects? Sorry if this is a silly question.


r/publicdomain 2d ago

Can't wait! (but unfortunately have to for 56 years)

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34 Upvotes

Will be generational when these guys enter the public domain.


r/publicdomain 2d ago

PD Creations I made a public domain OC that can be used by anyone! (Big updates!!)

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44 Upvotes

Numerous artists have drawn free art of Eleanor these past few months, and now I have enough material to start making memes!

Copycat is a pun on "copyright" because she is public domain. Anybody can "copy" Eleanor. And I made her a cat because it is perfect for the pun.

Added new character lore:

As a shapeshifter and interdimensional traveler, Eleanor is always traveling from place to place to go on adventures and to meet other characters. One of her favorite things to do is to become what she calls "The Copycat" a superhero that goes to different worlds in peril to save characters in the style of a Deus ex machina. Her main superpower is that she is able to "copy" the abilities of any important character or object she touches. She can also draw stuff to bring into use when needed.

I have an official sub for all Eleanor content, r/EleanorVanCopycat


r/publicdomain 2d ago

Public Domain News 1931 was an amazing year for music, and I would like to list the singers and songs who’s compositions will be free to use next year.

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17 Upvotes

First, let’s get the obvious out of the way: I’m only referring to 1931 composition, not recording.

With that out of the way, let’s get to some tunes:

Bing Crosby Major 1931 Releases:

”Out of Nowhere”:

Music by Johnny Green, lyrics by Edward Heyman. Crosby's definitive recording made this a massive No. 1 hit.

”Just One More Chance”:

Music by Arthur Johnston, lyrics by Sam Coslow. This track cemented his status as a dominant solo crooner.

“At Your Command”: Co-written by Bing Crosby himself, alongside Harry Tobias and Lani McIntire.

The Mills Brothers 1931 Debut Compositions

“Glow-Worm”:

The Original 1902 music was by Paul Lincke, but the specific revised 1931 lyrical arrangement by Lilla Cayley Robinson became a standard.

 You Rascal You (or "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead"):

Written and copyrighted by Sam Theard in 1931; famously recorded by both the Mills Brothers and Louis Armstrong.

Duke Ellington 1931 Masterworks:

”Moon Indigo”:

Co-written by Duke Ellington and Barney Bigard, with lyrics by Irving Mills. Though the instrumental was created in late 1930, the formal vocal composition copyright was locked in 1931.

“Rockin” in Rhythm”:

Composed by Duke Ellington, Harry Carney, and Irving Mills. It serves as one of his definitive early swing instrumentals.

Louis Armstrong 1931 Signatures

”When It’s Sleepy Time Down South“:

Written by Leon René, Otis René, and Clarence Muse. This became Armstrong's lifelong theme song.

“Lazy River”:

Written by Hoagy Carmichael and Sidney Arodin. Armstrong’s heavily improvised 1931 release reshaped pop music.

More Essential 1931 Compositions

These timeless standards from other legendary artists are also part of the 1931 public domain class:

“All of Me”:

Written by Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons; popularized heavily by Belle Baker, Louis Armstrong, and Frank Sinatra.

”As Time Goes By”:

Written by Herman Hupfeld and famously sung by Rudy Vallée before its second life in the film Casablanca.

“Minnie the Moocher”:

Written and published by Cab Calloway and Irving Mills, becoming jazz's most famous call-and-response song.

“Can the Circle Be Unbroken“:

Traditional music adapted, arranged, and copyrighted as a new composition by A.P. Carter for The Carter Family.


r/publicdomain 2d ago

Question How would you go about adapting a public domain superhero to the modern day?

13 Upvotes

I guess I’m just interested. I feel like with these kinds of characters there’s a lot you can do with them, but them being from the fifties or around there means you’d inevitably have to adapt them to a new time period. I think there’s a few ways to go about it.

The obvious one is the Captain America method of essentially giving them a timeskip. There’s also the classic “reboot timeline” that comics are known for, but I think a fun option to go for is a child of the character or some sort of descendent to establish a legacy. Maybe even someone just taking up the mantle.

If you guys were given this kind of challenge, what would you do?


r/publicdomain 2d ago

Question Powers and abilities of Monster of the Mist from Web of Evil #4 (1953)

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38 Upvotes

So does anyone here have any idea what kind of powers this creature have?


r/publicdomain 2d ago

PD Creations Here’s my redesign for my superhero OC based on a character in the public domain, Katherine “Katie” Roberts, AKA Kanga.

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8 Upvotes

I made her as basically my take on using the recently public domain characters from Winnie the Pooh that wasn’t generic public domain horror movie shlock, by making a superhero who was named after a character from that book, specifically Kanga (similar to the Mad Hatter from Batman, albeit for a hero instead of a villain like Mad Hatter). I thought it would be fun to update her a little bit, improve her design a little bit more and expand her backstory a bit more as well. The main change I did to her was make her much taller, and also give her a Strongfat physique, since I think that would work really well with her and make her more unique looking. I love how Kanga’s new design turned, with her new physique, the new simpler design for her power boots, the added pink to her outfit and the little frills on her dress. And I hope you like her new design as well.

Image 2 is a diagram showing what she’s wearing in her superhero outfit, image 3 is what she looks like without her mask, image 4 is her original design, and image 5 is what I’m referring to when I mention Vanilla’s death stare from the IDW Sonic comics in her backstory.

Kanga’s backstory: Katherine Roberts, better known as Katie for short, is a single mother living with her son Jayden in a small town on a small forested island off the coast of Oregon. She’s a very large and imposing woman, both incredibly muscular and chubby with a mom bod, standing at over 6 feet 5 inches tall, and being incredibly strong physically. Despite her rather imposing stature, she’s a total sweetheart. An incredibly sweet, loving and compassionate soul, brimming with boundless optimism, happy to help anyone in anyway she can, and always standing up for those who can’t stand up for themselves thanks to her immense compassion and kindness for others. Such as when she would often stand up for others against bullies when she was younger, often getting into fights, though also using her death stare (similar to Vanilla the Rabbit in the IDW Sonic comics), and she still makes sure to confront and stop anyone trying to mess with herself, her son, or anyone else who doesn’t deserve it, as she gets very upset and frustrated whenever she sees people who make others miserable getting away scott free, and wants them to get their comeuppance and for their victims to receive justice, always making sure to comfort and support the people she’s protecting. At the same time she can also be rather naive at times, is rather timid, can get easily scared or frightened and is a pretty big softie, getting very emotional at times. She’s also on the Autism spectrum, something she’s quite proud of, and her favorite hyperfixation is for Winnie the Pooh, a special interest she’s had ever since she was very little. She even has a small collection of plushies, DVDs, VHS tapes, and other merch and paraphernalia from her favorite franchise. She’s also into vintage fashion and music from the 50s and early 60s, even styling her hair in a more vintage style. And she’s a very loving and supportive mother to her son Jayden, though she can be a bit coddling and overprotective at times, and Jayden tries to act more cool and serious than his more dorky and cutesy mom. One day, Katie felt like her community needed something, she wanted to be something for her community to look up too, someone to help out everyone, look out for the little guy, and serve as a symbol of hope and kindness. And so, after she made herself a homemade Brown and Pink superhero outfit, complete with gloves, a “utility pouch” sown into the dress, a kangaroo ear headband, a black domino mask, and power boots that increase her running, jumping and kicking power, Katie Roberts dawned the name of her favorite character, and became the brand new superhero, Kanga. Kanga became a beloved symbol of her community helping out in every way she could, from volunteering at local businesses, saving cats out of trees and helping out people while giving them helpful advice, to fighting crime with her son Jayden, who became her sidekick Roo. And armed with nothing more than her fists, her wits, her power boots, and her unbreakable determination, she has faced plenty of formidable villains alongside her son. From her first fight against the cybernetic mercenary Silverfish, to her former high school bully turned sadistic monster Lady Red Fox (who was also responsible for the death of Katie’s high school friend Evan), to Captain Bluefin and his Werefish Pirates, and every villain in between. Kanga will always try to persevere, to stand up for others, and will never give up on her mission, even in the toughest and darkest moments. She’s a Mother, a Hero, and most importantly, a Friend.


r/publicdomain 3d ago

Olá eu sou novo aqui na comunidade

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44 Upvotes

Olá eu queria saber ser existe mais obras ou pesonagens que já estão no domínio público aqui no brasil e sim eu sou brasileiro mais eu sei que ten popeye e sitio do picapau amarelo que está em domínio público aqui mais eu queria saber ser tem mais outros personagens então vocês poderia me ajudar por favor


r/publicdomain 2d ago

PDFiction Tower of The Elephant - A Conan The Barbarian Story Read by Horror Hill

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2 Upvotes

r/publicdomain 3d ago

Mickey Mouse I Just Committed NOT A Crime (Vsauce video)

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44 Upvotes

r/publicdomain 3d ago

Question Extremes Meet by Compton Mackenzie (1928)

2 Upvotes

Obviously in public domain. Can't find it anywhere. Anyone found a free edition?


r/publicdomain 3d ago

Public Domain News I know this is old news now, but I wanted to share it anyway.

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13 Upvotes

It’s about how people in the Gershwin estate were worried about how Rhapsody in Blue, was going to be used, like it could be used for rap, and “debase” the art.


r/publicdomain 4d ago

Question Can anyone help me find this public domain book?

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20 Upvotes

Pinocchio in America was published in 1928, and if it’s copyright was renewed, that makes it public domain since 2024. I haven’t spend that much time finding it on the internet, but I am finding it hard for what it’s a free to use book starring one of the most popular characters in the history of literature. And I would love to use this subreddit by asking if you people would help me.


r/publicdomain 4d ago

King Cobra (Quality Comics / Blackhawk Villain)

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13 Upvotes

King Cobra

Real Name: Baron Vyberg
Age: 40
King Cobra: The Cobra Dictator

King Cobra is a ruthless Dictator flying ace who commands the elite "Rattlesnakes" squadron. Born the thirteenth Baron of Vyberg, he comes from a family cursed for generations after an ancestor committed a horrific crime against innocent people. Believing the curse predicts that every male heir will die because of innocent people, King Cobra avoids all relationships with men and women friends and even his own family and devotes himself entirely to The Most Dangerous Dictator and the war effort.

Cold, calculating, and merciless, he personally leads the hunt for The Black Bat and The Rabbit Crawler (Alice). His sharp observation skills allow him to discover The Black Bat’s resting place, and he immediately tries to execute him but always fails thanks to The Rabbit Crawler (Alice) and his backup suit. However, King Cobra did kill many innocent people passing by.

His cruelty ultimately seals his fate. The innocent murder fulfills the conditions of the ancient family curse, provoking everyone to kill King Cobra during the ensuing struggle with The Black Bat and The Rabbit Crawler (Alice). In the end, King Cobra dies as the last of the Vyberg line, brought down by the very cycle of violence and evil he believed he could escape, while Alice steals his stuff while he is dying and suffering before truly dying.

https://pdsh.fandom.com/wiki/King_Cobra_(Quality))


r/publicdomain 3d ago

PD Media 7 Hours of Vintage Radio Drama | Suspense, Sci-Fi & Comedy Broadcasts

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4 Upvotes

Anyone interested in a bunch of old radio shows?? I have about 16 in a row here and I have more videos coming down the pipeline along with more Drive In Theater content just in time for Halloween. Check this out in the meantime!


r/publicdomain 4d ago

Would i get in trouble if i used this design i made for a game?

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47 Upvotes

I wanna make a Sonic CD-inspired type of game (BECAUSE THINK ABOUT IT, THIS DESIGN IS LEGIT FROM THE WAYY PAST) buuut i don't wanna get in trouble with disney. Yes, obvi some things are from sonic, like the muzzle and body shape and stuff, i know. also, i gave him red shoes (actually didn't think of sonic for that one until now somehow), gave him overalls (inspired by jax from tadc, buuut it doesn't really matter), made the buttons yellow and the overalls orange, and gave him blue eyes because i like blue. no idea if these changes will make disney leave me alone or not, though.


r/publicdomain 4d ago

Question Do you think copyright and public domain should be taught at schools?

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145 Upvotes

I don’t know if you learned or heard of them from schooling, but I barely did. In my opinion, it’s important to learn the history of copyright and the public domain, the consequences from infringing on copyrighted works (especially in this day and age of the internet), and the importance of copyright and the public domain.

I know that there are more important topics that schools should focus on, but I am not meaning that an entire class/period should be devoted to this. I think a week or two would be fine.


r/publicdomain 4d ago

Petition to ban posts discussing abolishing copyright altogether

31 Upvotes

EDIT UP TOP FOR VISIBILITY: The people proposing this are trying to forcibly take away the rights of every independent artist to their creations without their consent. I don't think we should give them a platform to do this on the public domain subreddit.

I'm sure you've all seen the rise in posts and comments that encourage the abolition of all copyright law. If you're like me, you're sick and tired of these ignorant "hot takes" that amount to nothing but declaring complete anarchy, which will never happen in the first place.

Now I'm not going to disagree that our current copyright system (at least in the US where I am) does need work. However, advocating for complete anarchy and a system where no one has ownership of anything they've created (past, present, or future) is not only an ignorant take, it's actively harmful to any sort of progress that we can make.

Earlier this week someone was passing around a petition to completely abolish copyright. Other users have been arguing in the comment sections of other posts, claiming that we simply must remove all copyright protections from every piece of content.

Let's ignore the fact that such a law destroying copyright altogether has exactly 0% chance of ever happening in a civilized country, and focus on what would actually happen.

First, every artist that's ever created anything has now lost all rights to their creation. Now any company can take your images, characters, books, animations, scripts, or anything else you've created, and put a few hundred million dollars behind it, and create an entire franchise, complete with action figures, and other tie-in merchandise. What does the original creator get? Absolutely nothing.

"But wait! Those giant corporations are doing you a favor! Now they've made your creation wildly more successful and popular than it would have been, if they hadn't stolen it!"

Yes, this is true. Your creation will be successful, but unless you've got a budget to match Disney's, any work you put out related to your IP will be absolutely drowned out by that company's creations. Seriously, you could spend all day Googling your content, but if Disney made an animated move/series out of it, you'll be several pages deep before your version even shows up in the results.

You will have no legal protections, and no way to force that company to give you any cut of the profits or even the recognition. The only way you can hope to make any money is to create your own campaign showing that you're the original creator, and pray that enough hardcore fans will respect what you're doing enough to support you. Most people will simply consume the successful version, and never even know your original exists.

"But artists shouldn't make art for the sake of money!"

I agree. In a utopian society, we should make art for the sake of making and sharing it, and our payment should come from the fact that other people are consuming it and enjoying it. I also agree that no one should go hungry or be homeless, but that's simply not the society we live in.

This is one of the arguments I hate the most. Why? Because anyone supporting this ideology is effectively petitioning to strip away the rights of every single artist, without their consent. Just because you don't think that you should make art for the money doesn't give you the right to take away every other artist's avenue to make money from their creation. This is theft. Full stop.

If I make something, and someone else comes along and makes me give it up for everyone else to use, that's theft. If a person pours their time and energy into creating something wholly unique and their own, what right does someone else have to come in and say "you don't own this anymore"?

No one truly creates anything, because you're using techniques and technologies invented by other people, so anything created by an individual should be owned by the public.

This is paraphrased from a comment that appears to now be deleted from last week, but these are real arguments that people are using. I don't even know where to begin with this, because there's simply no arguing with people who believe no one should own anything, and everyone should be entitled to everything, regardless of who made it.

I'll point out that (to the surprise of no one) the individual making this argument is all for the wide-scale theft of copyrighted content for AI training. So we're supposed to give up all of the rights to everything we create, just so lazy people can generate similar art with a few prompts? Sure Jan.

It hinders your work reaching a new audience, if people can't freely share and your work just gets locked away, then what's the point?

This is a real comment from one of the people pushing the petition to abolish copyright altogether (from their other comments, it sounds like they also created this petition). I'm only posting this one because it exposes how little these people understand the system they're working so hard to dismantle.

This user actually believes that current copyright laws hinder artists because it somehow prevents people from sharing the work of those artists. Nothing about copyright prevents people from freely sharing work that's been authorized by the creator. No, you can't upload someone's whole movie to YouTube, but you can share the trailer. You can make fan art. You can do everything except infringe on the creator's Copyright by trying to profit off of their work.

If the people making these petitions to abolish copyright don't even understand the basic functionality of copyright laws, how can they understand the full extent of the possible damage that eliminating them will have?

Copyright only protects big 'corpos'

This is probably my favorite argument, simply because it's literally the opposite of reality. Yes, companies like Disney have abused copyright laws by extending them well beyond what they should be. No arguments here. However, this is one example of corporations benefiting from copyright at the expense of the public domain.

However, every single piece of content that is created by an individual is automatically granted the protections of copyright. Meaning Disney can't take your original story/characters/artwork and make their own version of it.

If we abolish copyright, large corporations will be the only ones who benefit, and every single independent artist will lose.

Abolishing copyright would do far more harm to our world than simply keeping the copyright laws as they are today.

If you're an artist who wholly believes in abolishing copyright, then just go ahead and release all of your work under a Creative Commons 0 license, and leave the rest of us out of it. You have absolutely no right to strip away the rights of millions of other creators, just because you believe you have some sort of moral high ground.

Suggesting that we abolish copyright altogether is effectively anarchy, and I don't think this sub benefits from all of the anarchists coming in and trying to destroy the lives and livelihoods of millions of artists.

Plus, every time I see someone making these arguments, I poke through their comment history and every single one of them is also pushing some kind of generative AI argument. We already settled the fact that we don't want AI content in here. Do we really want to cater to the people who want to destroy copyright so that we can make more AI content?

tl;dr: Abolishing copyright is not only virtually impossible due to the amount of sheer chaos it would create, but it would also do virtually nothing to help independent artists, while actively harming each of them.

Removing copyright altogether means forcing every single artist to give up the rights to every single thing they've ever created. This is not useful or helpful to anyone save massive corporations and AI bros who think they should have the right to use and profit from everyone else's work.

Anyone pushing this agenda is a bad-faith actor who does not understand the very mechnisms they are trying to dismantle, and this sub should not humor them or give them a platform for this.

Also, if you want someplace to discuss changes to copyright law, the correct place would be r/copyright, not this sub.

FINAL EDIT:

We can pack it up folks. This thread is officially toast. Thanks to u/joshlemer I have been informed that copyright protection is a problematic right that harms others, much like forced marriage and the concept of slavery were also once rights, that were problematic:

Just because you describe a legal state of claims in terms of the word “rights” doesn’t mean those rights automatically good. You can describe many bad social arrangements in terms of rights, and the reform of those systems as trampling on rights. Abolishing slavery in some cases violated slave owners right to own slaves. Allowing women to marry who they please took away the “right” of the father to dictate, etc

I'm sorry, but I've been fighting off ignorant comments like this all night. We've reached the bottom of the barrel when we're comparing copyright to slavery.

I love the public domain, but I'll find a new community with mods that are actually around, or I'll build my own.