US Public Domain Checker (books, films, music, art)

Returns the US public-domain status of each book, film, song, sound recording or artwork you list (public_domain, likely_public_domain, check_renewal, protected or unknown), with the date it enters the public domain, the rule applied, caveats and a confidence score.

Give it titles (a spreadsheet, a JSON list, or one work). It fills in missing facts from Wikidata (first publication year, type, country, authors' death years), applies the US Copyright Office's term rules, and tells you in plain English why. Every answer comes with the caveats that matter: renewals, later editions, trademarks, and recordings versus songs.

Who it's for

• Publishers, ebook and audiobook producers, and print-on-demand sellers deciding what they can reprint
• YouTubers, podcasters, filmmakers and game studios clearing old films, music and art
• Used-book and vintage-media sellers, archives and libraries tagging catalogs
• Educators and researchers building course packs
• AI agents that need a yes/no/when answer with the reasoning attached

What you get

One row per work, in your order:

Field	Meaning
status	public_domain, likely_public_domain, check_renewal, protected or unknown (as of as_of_date)
us_public_domain_date, public_domain_year	The day it entered or enters the US public domain: usually a January 1 (pre-1972 recordings: Feb 16, 2067). For check_renewal, the latest possible date; empty when it can't be dated.
rule, explanation	The rule applied, e.g. published_1931_1963_renewal_unknown, and why in plain English
caveats	What the status doesn't cover, and notes on the facts used
confidence	0–1: how sure the checker is of the status, given the facts it found. Below 0.6, check by hand.
publication_year, creation_year, creator_death_year, country_of_origin	The facts the rules used
facts_from	input, input + wikidata or wikidata
wikidata_qid, wikidata_label, wikidata_description, wikidata_url	The Wikidata item matched, so you can confirm it's the right work
wikidata_copyright_status	Wikidata's own US copyright statement, if it has one
sources, source_url, retrieved_at	The legal sources, the main source, and when the work was checked
work_*	Your input echoed back, including your own work_id

Statuses

Status	Meaning
public_domain	Its US copyright has expired (or it never had one, like US federal government works).
likely_public_domain	Probably public domain, but it rests on something to confirm: Wikidata lists it as public domain in the US (usually a 1931–1963 work that wasn't renewed, or a US work published without a copyright notice before March 1989); or it's an unpublished work more than 120 years old whose author's death year is unknown (a legal presumption); or the year that decides it came from Wikidata and might belong to another version. The explanation says which.
check_renewal	A US work published 1931–1963. It's public domain if its copyright wasn't renewed in its 28th year; if it was (most major films, novels and songs were), it's protected until the date shown. Search the Copyright Office's records.
protected	Still under US copyright; us_public_domain_date says until when (empty if the author is alive or unknown).
unknown	Not enough facts: for example no year and no confident Wikidata match, or a bare title that fits several works (the row lists them; add the type, creator or year). Not charged.

The rules (as of 2026)

From the Copyright Office's Circular 15A and 17 U.S.C. 1401. Every term runs to the end of a calendar year.

Work	US term
Published 1930 or earlier	Public domain (1931 works enter on Jan 1, 2027)
US works published 1931–1963	95 years if renewed; 28 years if not (check_renewal)
Foreign works published 1931–1963	95 years (restored in 1996 even without renewal or notice, if still protected in their home country then)
Published 1964–1977	95 years from publication (US works published without a copyright notice may be public domain)
Created 1978 or later	Author's life + 70 years; works made for hire and anonymous works: 95 years from publication or 120 from creation, whichever ends first
Unpublished works and artworks (never sold as copies)	Life + 70 (works made before 1978: never before Jan 1, 2003). Author's death unknown: presumed public domain 120 years after creation (likely_public_domain)
Sound recordings released before 1923	Public domain since Jan 1, 2022
Sound recordings 1923–1946	100 years (1926 recordings enter on Jan 1, 2027)
Sound recordings 1947–1956	110 years
Sound recordings 1957 to Feb 14, 1972 (and unreleased ones made before then)	Through Feb 15, 2067
US federal government works	Public domain

How facts are chosen

• Your facts win. A creator, type and first-publication year make the answer fastest and surest.
• Wikidata fills the gaps: which work you mean, its type, first publication, country of origin and the authors' death years.
• Reprint years are corrected. If you give a later edition's year and Wikidata confidently lists an earlier first publication (two or more years earlier), the first publication counts, and the row says so. Material new to a later edition has its own copyright. If that earlier year is what makes the work public domain, the status is likely_public_domain, because it could be a remake with the same title.
• Wikidata's own copyright statement is a second opinion. Only a statement that a work is public domain in the US changes anything: it can turn check_renewal, or protected for a US work from 1964–1989 (no copyright notice), into likely_public_domain. It never overrides your facts or a term that has run out.
• A bare title must point to one work. "Frankenstein" alone fits the 1818 novel and several films, so it comes back unknown (free) with the candidates listed. Add the type, creator or year.
• If your facts already settle the answer (for example a 1920 book), the work isn't looked up.

Input

{
  "works": [
    { "id": "W-1", "title": "Frankenstein", "creator": "James Whale", "type": "film", "year": 1931 },
    { "id": "W-2", "title": "The Great Gatsby", "creator": "F. Scott Fitzgerald", "type": "book", "year": 1925 },
    { "id": "W-3", "title": "Heebie Jeebies", "creator": "Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five", "type": "sound_recording", "year": 1926 },
    { "id": "W-4", "title": "Beloved", "creator": "Toni Morrison", "type": "book", "year": 1987 }
  ],
  "as_of_date": "",
  "use_wikidata": true
}

• works: objects with any of title, creator, type (book, film, composition, sound_recording, artwork, other), year (first publication or release; for artworks, the year made), country, creator_death_year, published, work_for_hire, renewed, us_government_work, qid (Wikidata id) and id. Spreadsheet headers like Book Title, Author, Director, Composer, Released or SKU work too, and a plain string is a title.
• works_url: a public CSV or JSON link, including Google Sheets share links.
• preset: 2027-entrants adds 27 notable works entering the US public domain on Jan 1, 2027: the 1931 films Frankenstein, Dracula, City Lights and M, the novels The Good Earth and Sanctuary, songs like "As Time Goes By" and "All of Me", and 1926 recordings by Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith and Jelly Roll Morton.
• as_of_date: judge the status on another day, like 2027-01-01. Empty means today.
• use_wikidata: turn off to use only your own facts.

Output example

The 1931 Frankenstein, checked as of Oct 1, 2026 (the country came from Wikidata):

{
  "work_index": 0,
  "work_id": "W-1",
  "work_title": "Frankenstein",
  "work_creator": "James Whale",
  "work_type": "film",
  "status": "check_renewal",
  "us_public_domain_date": "2027-01-01",
  "public_domain_year": 2027,
  "rule": "published_1931_1963_renewal_unknown",
  "explanation": "Published in 1931: public domain if the copyright wasn't renewed; if it was (common for major films, novels and songs), it enters the public domain on Jan 1, 2027.",
  "caveats": "US works published 1931-1963 are public domain if the copyright wasn't renewed in its 28th year; check the Copyright Office renewal records. A film's underlying works (novel, screenplay, music) have their own terms. Titles, characters and logos can still be protected as trademarks. US status only; other countries have different terms.",
  "confidence": 0.5,
  "publication_year": 1931,
  "creation_year": null,
  "creator_death_year": null,
  "country_of_origin": "US",
  "facts_from": "input + wikidata",
  "wikidata_qid": "Q546829",
  "wikidata_label": "Frankenstein",
  "wikidata_description": "1931 film directed by James Whale",
  "wikidata_url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q546829",
  "wikidata_copyright_status": null,
  "as_of_date": "2026-10-01",
  "sources": "https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ15a.pdf; https://publicrecords.copyright.gov/; https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q546829",
  "source_url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q546829",
  "retrieved_at": "2026-10-01T01:32:10Z",
  "error": null
}

Pricing

Pay per event: $0.005 per work checked. Works that come back unknown (not enough facts, or Wikidata unavailable) and rows with nothing to check are not charged. The Actor stops cleanly at your maximum cost per run.

Data sources

• Rules: US Copyright Office Circular 15A, Duration of Copyright, and Title 17 of the US Code (§ 1401 for pre-1972 recordings, § 104A for restored foreign works, § 105 for government works).
• Facts: Wikidata, whose data is free to reuse under CC0, through its public API with a declared User-Agent and a modest request rate.

Limits

• US status only. Other countries have different terms (often life + 70 for everything, with no renewal rule).
• Renewals aren't checked automatically. For US works from 1931–1963, the answer is check_renewal unless you pass renewed or Wikidata has a US copyright statement.
• Copyright notice isn't checked. Works published without a notice before March 1, 1989 may already be public domain; the checker flags this but can't see the notice.
• Only the work you name. Translations, new editions, arrangements, remakes, recordings of a song, and a film's underlying novel, screenplay and music each have their own terms. Characters, titles and logos can be protected as trademarks.
• Wikidata can be wrong or incomplete. Check the matched item (wikidata_description, wikidata_url) when confidence is below 0.8.
• Big lists take about half a second per looked-up work (Wikidata asks for a modest request rate). Up to 10,000 works per run.

Disclaimer

• Not legal advice. This is an informational tool that applies published rules to available facts. Copyright status can turn on details no database has (notices, registrations, renewals, contracts). Before publishing or selling, confirm with the Copyright Office's records or a qualified attorney.
• Provided "as is." This Actor and its results come with no warranty of any kind, express or implied, including accuracy, completeness, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. You're responsible for your own decisions.
• Not affiliated. Robot Supply Store is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the U.S. Copyright Office or the Wikimedia Foundation. Their names describe where the rules and data come from.

FAQ

Why is a famous 1931 film check_renewal rather than protected? For US works from 1931–1963, protection past 28 years needed a renewal. Most famous works were renewed, but the checker only says so when it has evidence. Either way, it enters the public domain by the date shown.

Why does my book show a different year than I gave? You probably gave a later edition's year. The copyright term runs from first publication, so the checker used Wikidata's earlier first-publication year and says so in caveats.

What's the difference between a song and a recording? They're separate copyrights. "Bye Bye Blackbird" (the 1926 song) has been public domain since 2022, but a 1926 recording of it is protected until Jan 1, 2027.

Can an AI agent call this? Yes. It's pay-per-event, so it's available through Apify's MCP server. Every field is flat JSON with stable names.

Is this legal advice? No. It's information to support your own decisions.