Storytellers, YouTube, Poop Makers and producers of low budget DVDs everywhere rejoice! With the start of the new year, countless characters, music, books and classic movies’ copyrights expire as these works enter the public domain, meaning they become free for anyone to use. This means you can use them for anything: new comics, video games or, as is becoming increasingly popular, low budget horror movies! While many works enter the public domain this year, there are a couple that shine the brightest among the rest.

First is the original version of Betty Boop, whose first cartoon “Dizzy Dishes” was released on August 9, 1930. Believe it or not, Betty Boop was a talking dog in her original appearances, so be sure to only use that design as opposed to the human version, which won’t become public domain until around 2027-2028! Another important thing to note is the trademarks surrounding characters’ names, which unlike copyrights, don’t expire as long as they’re still being used. With that in mind, don’t specifically call her “Betty Boop” in your works, instead give her a different name like “Beverly Boom” or “Miss B.”

Another notable character whose debut cartoon entered the public domain this year is Mickey Mouse’s faithful dog, Pluto, introduced as “Rover” in the short “The Picnic.” While he wouldn’t be called Pluto until next year, the design pretty much set the standard for the character. When using him in your works, it’s best to be safe and not color him with his still copyrighted yellow fur with a green collar, as pairing it with the design may spark some unintended legal consequences and, similarly to Betty Boop, avoid calling him Pluto.

There are plenty of other things that are now free to use like the original versions of “The Little Engine That Could” and the first Nancy Drew novel, “The Secret of The Old Clock,” but similarly to what was mentioned before, you must be careful and base your interpretation the original versions of these books and not the revised versions. If you really wanted to, you could rewrite these stories to include all kinds of new characters, storylines and even make your own art for it! In the end, that’s really what the public domain is for.