Films entering the US public domain on 1 January 2027
On 1 January 2027 the renewed American films of 1931 enter the public domain. The registry holds 1,013 renewed registrations from 1931, whose 95-year terms all end on 31 December 2026; among them Dracula, Frankenstein, City Lights, The Public Enemy, Tabu, Platinum Blonde, A Free Soul, Skippy. Each card below links to the registration and renewal record the date rests on; a card whose record says otherwise says so.
Notable films of 1931
The registry holds 1,013 renewed registrations from 1931, all of which reach the end of their term on 31 December 2026 (list them). Notable among them:
DraculaUniversal Pictures · 1931Tod Browning's adaptation launched Universal's classic monster cycle with Bela Lugosi's definitive vampire.
Renewed Record
Poster: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
FrankensteinUniversal Pictures · 1931James Whale's direction and Boris Karloff's Monster made this a horror landmark.
Renewed Record
Poster: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
City LightsUnited Artists · 1931Charlie Chaplin's largely silent sound film premiered in January 1931 and became one of cinema's most beloved comedies.
Renewed Record
Poster: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
The Public EnemyWarner Bros. · 1931William Wellman's brutal gangster picture made James Cagney a star and became a genre landmark.
Renewed Record
Poster: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
TabuParamount Pictures · 1931F.W. Murnau's South Seas film won the Academy Award for cinematography.
Renewed Record
Poster: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Platinum BlondeColumbia Pictures · 1931Frank Capra's newsroom comedy helped make Jean Harlow a major star.
Renewed Record
Poster: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
A Free SoulMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer · 1931Clarence Brown's MGM pre-Code courtroom drama earned Lionel Barrymore the Best Actor Oscar.
Renewed Record
Poster: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
SkippyParamount Pictures · 1931Norman Taurog won the Best Director Oscar for this family comedy and Best Picture nominee.
Renewed Record
Poster: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
PossessedMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer · 1931Clarence Brown's glossy MGM pre-Code melodrama centered on Joan Crawford and Clark Gable's affair.
Renewed Record
Image: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Night NurseWarner Bros. · 1931William Wellman's Barbara Stanwyck pre-Code star vehicle blended crime melodrama with social protest.
Renewed Record
Image: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Waterloo BridgeUniversal Pictures · 1931James Whale's pre-Code melodrama became a classic romantic tragedy.
Renewed Record
Image: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Trader HornMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer · 1931W.S. Van Dyke's location-shot African adventure was a box-office hit and Best Picture nominee.
Renewed Record
Image: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Smart MoneyWarner Bros. · 1931Alfred E. Green's Depression-era gambling drama paired Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney.
Renewed Record
Image: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
The Criminal CodeColumbia Pictures · 1931Released in January 1931 after a late-1930 copyright registration, Howard Hawks's prison drama was a key early Columbia sound film.
Renewed Record
Poster: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
East LynneFox Film Corporation · 1931Frank Lloyd's Fox melodrama was a Best Picture nominee and a major early sound tearjerker.
Renewed Record
Poster: Wikimedia Commons, public domainOften listed for 2027; the record says otherwise
Each of these is a 1931 film by release, but the term runs from the date in the copyright record, and for these the record gives another date or no renewal.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. HydeParamount Pictures · 1931Rouben Mamoulian's adaptation earned Fredric March the Best Actor Oscar.
Renewed RecordNot 2027: the catalog dates its publication 5 January 1932, so the term ends 1 January 2028.
Poster: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
ArrowsmithUnited Artists · 1931John Ford's Sinclair Lewis adaptation was a Best Picture nominee.
Renewed RecordNot 2027: the catalog dates its publication 16 January 1932, so the term ends 1 January 2028.
Poster: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
CimarronRKO Radio Pictures · 1931Wesley Ruggles's epic premiered in January 1931 and won Best Picture at the 4th Academy Awards.
Copyright term expired RecordAlready past: the catalog dates its publication 31 December 1930, so the term ended 1 January 2026.
Image: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Little CaesarWarner Bros. · 1931Mervyn LeRoy's January 1931 release, copyrighted late 1930, made Edward G. Robinson a gangster-film icon.
Copyright term expired RecordAlready past: the catalog dates its publication 29 December 1930, so the term ended 1 January 2026.
Poster: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
The Front PageUnited Artists · 1931Lewis Milestone's fast-talking newspaper comedy was a Best Picture nominee.
No renewal found RecordNo renewal found for the registration dated 6 April 1931; on the registry's reading the term ended 1 January 1960. Check the dossier.
Poster: Wikimedia Commons, public domainIn the United States a film published with notice before 1978, and renewed, is protected for 95 years from publication. The term runs to the end of the calendar year, so every renewed film of one year enters the public domain together on the following 1 January: there is no month-by-month schedule to watch, only a yearly one. Films that were not renewed lapsed decades ago and are in the no-renewal-found lists already; films registered before 1931 are already out of copyright.
Television does not appear here: the earliest surviving American television (1947–48) reaches its 95th year in 2043, and a broadcast that was never registered or published has a term that runs even longer. The notable titles below were chosen by a language model with web search and then matched to the registry; the registry match, with its registration and renewal record, is the evidence. A title with no match was registered under a different title or its year, or is not in the catalog volumes loaded.