Frankenstein, Dracula and City Lights: The Films Entering the Public Domain in 2027

Every January 1, a whole year of culture stops being anyone’s property. In 2027 it is the turn of 1931 — and 1931 happens to be one of the most important years in film history. It gave us the two monsters that defined Hollywood horror, Chaplin’s most beloved film, Fritz Lang’s masterpiece, and the gangster movie that made James Cagney a star.

Here is what becomes free, what stays protected, and — since you do not have to wait — the films from 1930 that you can already watch today.

#Why January 1, 2027

Under U.S. law, a work published between 1923 and 1977 with a valid, renewed copyright is protected for 95 years from publication, and every term runs to the end of its calendar year. So a film published at any point in 1931 stays protected through December 31, 2026, and becomes public domain the following morning.

The date has a name — Public Domain Day — and it has become a small annual event. Duke University’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain publishes an official list each December, and the Internet Archive and many libraries mark it with screenings. What follows is a preview; the details are settled law, but the full list will run to thousands of works.

#The films of 1931

These are among the best known. None of them is free yet, which is why there are no links — we will add every one to the catalogue once it is.

#What “free” means for the monsters

The novels behind both films — Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) — have been in the public domain for generations. What becomes free in 2027 is everything the 1931 films added: their scripts, their performances, their images and, crucially, their designs.

That matters most for Frankenstein. The flat-topped head, the heavy eyelids and the bolts in the neck are not from the novel at all; they come from Jack Pierce’s make-up for Karloff in 1931. From January 1, that version of the Monster will be free for anyone in the U.S. to put in a book, a comic, a game or a film.

#The fine print

A few details trip people up every Public Domain Day.

• Sequels keep their own clocks. Bride of Frankenstein (1935) is protected until 2031, and anything it introduced — including the Bride herself — stays protected until then.
• New scores and restorations are separate. Philip Glass wrote a new score for Dracula in 1998, and it remains under copyright; the film does not take the music with it. The same goes for newly restored footage packages, fresh subtitles and commentary tracks.
• Copyright date is not always release date. Duke’s 2026 list included Cimarron, which reached cinemas in early 1931 but was copyrighted in 1930 — so it became free a year before you might expect. Check the notice, not the premiere.
• Other countries run different clocks. Many countries base film terms on when the director, writers and composer died rather than on the release date, so a film that is free in the U.S. can remain protected elsewhere.

#The class of 1930, free right now

You do not have to wait until January. The films of 1930 entered the public domain on January 1, 2026, and several are already streaming here. The big one that isn’t — All Quiet on the Western Front, that year’s Best Picture — is currently only available from copies of later restorations, so we have not linked it.

1Hell's Angels (1930)

Dir. Howard Hughes · 2h 12m · ★ 6.6

Howard Hughes spent years and a fortune on this First World War aviation epic, reshot much of it when sound arrived, and replaced his leading lady with an unknown named Jean Harlow, who became a star on the strength of it. The aerial combat footage, flown for real, is still breathtaking — and was achieved at the cost of several lives. Look out for a sequence in early two-colour Technicolor.

Why it’s free: Published in 1930; its 95-year U.S. term ended on January 1, 2026.

Watch Hell's Angels free

2The Big Trail (1930)

Dir. Raoul Walsh · 1h 57m · ★ 6.7

A wagon train heads west along the Oregon Trail, led by a young scout played by a 23-year-old prop man named John Wayne in his first starring role. Raoul Walsh shot it on location, simultaneously in standard 35mm and in an early 70mm widescreen format, and its river crossings and cliff descents are genuinely epic. It flopped, and Wayne spent most of the decade in B-westerns before Stagecoach rescued him in 1939.

Why it’s free: Published in 1930; its 95-year U.S. term ended on January 1, 2026.

Watch The Big Trail free

3Morocco (1930)

Dir. Josef von Sternberg · 1h 32m · ★ 6.4

Marlene Dietrich’s first American film: she plays a cabaret singer stranded in North Africa, torn between a rich admirer and Gary Cooper’s insolent Foreign Legionnaire. Her first number, performed in a man’s top hat and tails, ends with her kissing a woman in the audience — a moment that still makes the film feel startlingly modern. Josef von Sternberg’s lighting turns every frame into a portrait.

Why it’s free: Published in 1930; its 95-year U.S. term ended on January 1, 2026.

Watch Morocco free

4Animal Crackers (1930)

Dir. Victor Heerman · 1h 33m · ★ 6.9

The Marx Brothers’ second film, adapted from their Broadway hit: Groucho is the celebrated African explorer Captain Spaulding, arriving at a society party where a valuable painting is about to go missing. The plot is an excuse; the reason to watch is ninety minutes of Groucho’s patter, Chico’s schemes and Harpo’s anarchy at close to their peak.

Why it’s free: Published in 1930; its 95-year U.S. term ended on January 1, 2026.

Watch Animal Crackers free

#What comes after

The 1930s were the golden age of the Hollywood studio, which means the next decade of Public Domain Days is going to be extraordinary. A taste of what is scheduled:

We will write up each year as it arrives, and add the films to the catalogue as they become free. In the meantime, there are thousands of older films already waiting — start with the 20 best public domain movies, or our complete guide to how films become free.