Musical compositions published before January 1, 1927 are part of the public domain.
I compiled a list (below) of some popular songs that entered the public domain over the last four years. Songs you can do whatever you want with, repackage, remix, etc. It’s a rather strong list.
Imagine in our 10,000 channel world that you create a game or musical that takes advantage of the built-in familiarity of this content. “Rhapsody in Blue”? “Fascinating Rhythm”? “Remember”?
Get your hands on any analysis of all of the folk songs that Bob Dylan borrowed from. Interesting stuff.
This is one of the rabbit holes I plan to go down over the next few years.
| YEAR | SONG | AUTHOR | |
| 1926 | Baby Face | Benny Davis, Harry Akst | |
| 1926 | Birth of the Blues | B.G. De Sylva, Lew Brown, m. Ray Henderson | |
| 1926 | Black Bottom Stomp | Jelly Roll Morton | |
| 1924 | California Here I Come | Joseph Meyer, Al Jolson, Bud DeSylva | |
| 1923 | Charleston | Cecil Mack, James P. (Jimmy) Johnson | |
| 1926 | Dead Man Blues | Jelly Roll Morton | |
| 1925 | Dinah | Same Lewis, Joe Young, Harry Akst | |
| 1924 | Does the Spearmint Lose Its Flavor | Billy Rose, Marty Bloom, Ernest Breuer | |
| 1924 | Doo Wacka Doo | Clarence Gaskill, Walter Donaldson, George Horther | |
| 1924 | Everybody Loves My Baby | Jack Palmer & Spencer Williams | |
| 1923 | Farewell Blues | Rappolo ~ Leon Rappolo | |
| 1924 | Fascinating Rhythm | Ira Gershwin George Gershwin | |
| 1924 | I’ll See You In My Dreams | Gus Kahn Isham Jones | |
| 1925 | If You Knew Susie | B.G. De Sylva | |
| 1924 | It Had To Be You | Isham Edgar Jones Gus Kahn | |
| 1923 | Kansas City Stomp | Jelly Roll Morton | |
| 1924 | King Porter Stomp | Jelly Roll Morton | |
| 1925 | Milenberg Joys | Jelly Roll Morton | |
| 1923 | Mr. Jelly-Lord | Jelly Roll Morton | |
| 1925 | New Orleans Blues | Jelly Roll Morton | |
| 1924 | Oh Lady Be Good | Ira Gershwin, George Gershwin | |
| 1923 | Pearls | Jelly Roll Morton | |
| 1925 | Remember | Irving Berlin | |
| 1924 | Rhapsody In Blue | Ira Gershwin, George Gershwin | |
| 1925 | Shreveport Stomp | Jelly Roll Morton | |
| 1926 | Sidewalk Blues | Jelly Roll Morton | |
| 1926 | Someone To Watch Over Me | Ira Gershwin, George Gershwin | |
| 1925 | Sweet And Low-Down | Ira Gershwin, George Gershwin | |
| 1925 | Sweet Georgia Brown | Ben Bernie, Maceo Pinkard, Kenneth Casey | |
| 1924 | Tea For Two | Irving Caesar Vincent Youmans | |
| 1926 | Where’d You Get Those Eyes | Walter Donaldson, Abe Lyman | |
| 1925 | Who? | Jerome Kern | |
| 1923 | Yes! We Have No Bananas | Frank Silver & Irving Cohn |