(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I GOT RHYTHM")
PAUL SMALL: (Singing) I got rhythm, I got music, I got my man. Who could ask for anything more?
LEILA FADEL, BYLINE: At the beginning of every year, a new crop of copyrighted works goes into the public domain, free for anyone to interpret as they wish. This year, we're welcoming books, films and songs from 1930. Jennifer Jenkins tracks all of this for the Center for the Study of the Public Domain at Duke University, and she joins me now. Jennifer, welcome back.
JENNIFER JENKINS: Thank you so much for having me. It's a delight talking to you.
FADEL: So we were listening to one of the four major compositions by George and Ira Gershwin that are losing their copyright protections. Let's hear a little bit from the three others.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BUT NOT FOR ME")
IRA GERSHWIN: (Singing) We're writing songs of love but not for me.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EMBRACEABLE YOU")
SCRAPPY LAMBERT: (Singing) Embrace me, my sweet embraceable you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I'VE GOT A CRUSH ON YOU")
LEE WILEY: (Singing) I've got a crush on you, sweetie pie.
FADEL: So that was "I've Got A Crush On You," "Embraceable You," "But Not For Me," "I've Got Rhythm." Jennifer, do you have favorite music from 1930?
JENKINS: Well, you actually played some of my favorite music from 1930. The Gershwins were just geniuses. And actually, one of the first fun songs that I played on the piano was "I Got Rhythm."
FADEL: Oh, yeah.
JENKINS: And after training on Bach and Mozart, I remember the energy and the chords. I just felt so alive. I have to say, I also like the English version of "Just A Gigolo" because it's a reminder that we were writing melancholy songs about players who play...
(LAUGHTER)
JENKINS: ...Well before the aughts or today.
FADEL: And we still are.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JUST A GIGOLO")
LOUIS ARMSTRONG: (Singing) Oh, I'm just a gigolo and everybody know. The people know the part I play.
FADEL: But as I understand it, just the written songs are going into the public domain, right? Not the recordings.
JENKINS: Exactly. It's what you might see on a piece of the sheet music from the 1930s. The musical compositions are public domain from 1930. The sound recordings from 1925 are entering the public domain. And those include, memorably, Gene Austin's "Yes Sir, That's My Baby." Marian Anderson, the wonderful civil rights icon and contralto's version of "Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen." And Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong's the "St. Louis Blues." And so those recordings will be in the public domain as well.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ST. LOUIS BLUES")
BESSIE SMITH: (Singing) I got them St. Louis blues, just as blue as I can be.
FADEL: I'm thinking about the movies from 1930. Hollywood moved away from silent films and into talkies. Which title grabbed your attention here?
JENKINS: Oh, so many. Comedies featuring the Marx Brothers and Larry and Moe, who would later become members of the Three Stooges.
FADEL: Yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SOUP TO NUTS")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Are you boys all from the same family?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters) Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) We're all brothers.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) You're all brothers.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Well, who's the oldest?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As character) My father.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Oh, dad is the oldest.
JENKINS: And of course, the best picture winner "All Quiet On The Western Front."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #4: (As character) It's dirty and painful to die for your country. When it comes to dying for your country, it's better not to die at all.
JENKINS: It's not only the titles, but the actors, Leila. It was Greta Garbo's first talkie.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ANNA CHRISTIE")
GRETA GARBO: (As Anna) Give me a whiskey, ginger ale on the side. And don't be stingy, baby.
FADEL: There are a few famous cartoon characters.
JENKINS: There are.
FADEL: Betty Boop
JENKINS: Can we talk about Betty Boop?
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "BETTY BOOP")
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing) But a hot cornet can't...
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #5: (As Betty Boop) Boop-Oop-A-Doop.
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing) ...Like Betty Boop can do.
FADEL: Oh, my gosh, Betty Boop, the first unattainable figure (laughter).
JENKINS: I was really obsessed with Betty Boop.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "BETTY BOOP")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #5: (As Betty Boop) Boop-Oop-A-Doop.
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing) Like Betty Boop can do.
JENKINS: She was the archetypal jazz flapper girl. She has enormous doe eyes, kiss curls, a little button nose and, memorably, no neck, (laughter) which apparently made some of the animation interesting. I love Betty Boop because she was the first fully human, fully female animated character. She's the first female character who's not defined by her relationship to a male character like Olive Oyl or like Minnie Mouse. She was a stereotype that defied stereotypes, and so she's all of these contradictions. In fact, there's a judge in the 1930s in a court case who describes her as a unique combination of infancy and maturity, innocence and sophistication. And I think that's part of why she still appeals so much today.
FADEL: Are you worried that somebody's going to make her into a slasher film as soon as she's in the public domain like they did with Mickey Mouse and some other characters?
JENKINS: Oh, that's already in the works (laughter).
FADEL: It's already in the works?
JENKINS: Yeah. But, you know, I mean, it's inevitable. And the thing about these slasher films is no one's going to remember them in five years or 10 years. I'm more excited about the works building on the public domain that stand the test of time. So if you look at "The Great Gatsby," which went into the public domain in 2021, in this year alone, 2025, there's four really interesting books revisiting "The Great Gatsby" universe from the perspective of different characters and adding to it. And I think those reworkings, for me at least, are more interesting than the inevitable slasher (laughter) film.
FADEL: The book titles going into the public domain, they're kind of like a reading list from every stage of childhood.
JENKINS: Yes, they are. So there's literature, there's William Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying."
FADEL: Yeah.
JENKINS: So I guess that's the college stage or the high school stage. Then there's wonderful mysteries. There's "The Maltese Falcon" from Dashiell Hammett. The first novel featuring Miss Marple, "Murder At The Vicarage" from Agatha Christie. And then going back into childhood a little bit, there's the first four Nancy Drew books.
FADEL: Which I grew up on Nancy Drew Books.
JENKINS: Which is so exciting. And if you want to go even further into childhood, there's the most popular illustrated version of "The Little Engine That Could" and the first appearances of the characters Dick and Jane.
FADEL: Amazing. Before we wrap up, just remind us again why we let these works of art lose their copyright protection.
JENKINS: So that they become part of our shared culture where we can legally build upon them, share them, put them online, retell the stories. And so what excites me about these works from 1930 is it's not just a time capsule into the past. It's an artist's studio for the future. So it's like walking into an old room and realizing it's yours. It's ours. And that's what really excites me about the public domain.
FADEL: That's Jennifer Jenkins of the Center for the Study of the Public Domain. Thank you so much, Jennifer.
JENKINS: Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
(SOUNDBITE OF OZZIE NELSON SONG, "DREAM A LITTLE DREAM OF ME") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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