Public Domain Day 2026

In 2026, Australia will see new creators and authors entering the public domain for the first time since 2005, specifically those who passed away in 1955. This means that notable Australian writer Charles Shaw, as well as artists John Radecki and Antonio Dattilo Rubbo, will no longer be under copyright.

Australian artists who died in 1955:

Antonio Dattilo Rubbo (1870–1955), Italian-born artist and art teacher active in Australia from 1897
John Radecki (1865–1955), master stained glass artist
Max Meldrum (1875-1955), Australian painter
Lilian Marguerite Medland (1880–1955), Australian illustrator of books on birds.
Sydney Long (1871-1955), Australian artist
Alice Marion Ellen Bale (1875–1955), Australian artist
Normand Henry Baker (1908-1955), Australian artist
Mildred Esther Lovett (1880–1955), Tasmanian-born artist
Dora Meeson (1869-1955), painter and women’s suffrage activist
Arthur Baker-Clack (1877-1955), Australian artist

Australian authors who died in 1955:

Charles Shaw (1900–1955), Australian journalist and novelist.
Max Afford (1906-1954), author of Blood on His Hands which introduces the detective Jeffery Blackburn

Literature in the public domain in 2026

Agatha Christie's, The Murder at the Vicarage
Lennie Lower, Here's Luck (1930)
Mary Gaunt's, Joan of the Pilchard
Arthur Gask, The Shadow of Larose
Miles Franklin, Ten Creeks Run : A Tale of the Horse and Cattle Stations of the Murrumbidgee
Rex Ingamells, The great south land : an epic poem
Kenneth Seaforth Mackenzie, The refuge

Films entering the public domain in 2026

Southward Ho with Mawson, a documentary film by Frank Hurley
The Cheaters, Australian silent film, directed by Paulette McDonagh
Tiger Island, lost Australian film

Music of the 1930s

Get Happy, words by Ted Koehler and music by Harold Arlen
Georgia on My Mind, Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell
Embraceable You, a jazz standard song with music by George Gershwin