Public Domain Music: What’s Free to Use in 2026 (and What Isn’t)
Public domain music is music whose copyright has expired: anyone may perform, arrange, record and use it without permission or fees. In the US, songs first published in or before 1930 are public domain as of 2026; in the EU and the UK a composition becomes free 70 years after its last author died. A recording is protected separately, so "Silent Night" is free, but the recording of it on Spotify is not.
Two rights: the song and the recording
The composition (melody, harmony, lyrics) belongs to the composer and lyricist or their publisher. In the EU and UK it enters the public domain once the last surviving author has been dead for more than 70 years; in the US, once 95 years have passed since publication (for works published from 1931 to 1977).
The recording is one specific performance. Its performers and producer hold their own rights: in the EU and UK for 70 years from release, in the US for much longer. A new recording of a 300-year-old work is protected for decades.
Arrangements of a free work (a new orchestration, an edition of the score, a translation of the lyrics) can carry their own copyright. What matters is the exact version you use.
When music enters the public domain (as of 2026)
| EU, UK and most countries | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Composition | 70 years after the last author’s death; free in 2026: died in or before 1955 | First published in or before 1930: free; later 95 years from publication or life plus 70 years |
| Recording | 70 years from release; recordings released before 1963 are free | Published in or before 1925: free |
| Folk songs, traditional tunes | Melody free; arrangements and recordings protected | Melody free; arrangements and recordings protected |
New in the public domain on 1 January 2026
- US, compositions from 1930: "I Got Rhythm" and "Embraceable You" (George and Ira Gershwin), "Georgia on My Mind" (Hoagy Carmichael), "On the Sunny Side of the Street", "Body and Soul", "Just a Gigolo".
- US, recordings from 1925: "The St. Louis Blues" by Bessie Smith with Louis Armstrong, "Sweet Georgia Brown" by Ben Bernie, "Fascinating Rhythm" by the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen" by Marian Anderson.
- EU and UK: the works of composers who died in 1955, such as Arthur Honegger ("Pacific 231") and George Enescu (the Romanian Rhapsodies).
- Mind the borders: free in the US does not mean free in Europe. "Georgia on My Mind" stays protected in the EU until the end of 2051 (Carmichael died in 1981). In "I Got Rhythm", George Gershwin’s music (he died in 1937) is free in the EU, but Ira Gershwin’s lyrics (he died in 1983) are protected until the end of 2053.
Famous public domain songs
Status of the composition. Every recording stays protected; where Artyfile has its own recording, it is linked.
| Song | Origin | Composition status | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| Happy Birthday to You | Mildred J. Hill (d. 1916) and Patty Hill (d. 1946) | EU/UK: free since 2017. US: a 2015 ruling found no valid copyright in the lyrics; treated as public domain since 2016. | Artyfile recording from €29.90 |
| Jingle Bells | James Lord Pierpont, 1857 | Free everywhere | Artyfile recording from €29.90 |
| Silent Night | Franz Xaver Gruber and Joseph Mohr, 1818 | Free everywhere | Artyfile recording from €29.90 |
| Amazing Grace | Words John Newton (1779), traditional tune | Free everywhere | Artyfile recording from €29.90 |
| Auld Lang Syne | Robert Burns (1788), traditional tune | Free everywhere | Artyfile recording from €29.90 |
| Greensleeves | Traditional English, 16th century | Free everywhere | Artyfile recording from €29.90 |
| The Entertainer | Scott Joplin (d. 1917), 1902 | Free everywhere | — |
| Rhapsody in Blue | George Gershwin (d. 1937), 1924 | EU/UK: free since 2008. US: free since 2020. | — |
| Take Me Out to the Ball Game | Albert Von Tilzer (d. 1956) and Jack Norworth (d. 1959), 1908 | US: free. EU/UK: protected until the end of 2029. | — |
| Georgia on My Mind | Hoagy Carmichael (d. 1981) and Stuart Gorrell, 1930 | US: free since 1 January 2026. EU/UK: protected until the end of 2051. | — |
Are there public domain recordings?
Yes, but only very old ones. In the EU and the UK, recordings released before 1963 are free; in the US, as of 2026, recordings published in or before 1925. Collections such as the Internet Archive’s Great 78 Project and the Library of Congress National Jukebox make such recordings available; the rights status is stated per item and is not automatically worldwide.
For video and advertising they are rarely usable: mostly mono, with hiss and crackle. A digitally restored reissue can also carry new rights. For a modern recording of a free work you need a licence in practice.
Can I use public domain music on YouTube?
The composition yes, someone else’s recording no. If you perform a free work yourself, the recording is yours. If you use an existing recording, you need a licence from its owner, however old the work is.
Content ID can still flag it. Labels register their recordings of public-domain works, and matching sometimes confuses similar performances. A claim is not a copyright strike; your own recording or a licence lets you resolve it.
Whether a specific piece is free in your case, the music copyright checker works out for you.
Public domain classical music
Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Vivaldi and Tchaikovsky are free as compositions. The public-domain classical music rights table lists 116 standard works with the composer’s year of death, each with an Artyfile recording you license once from €29.90, worldwide and for life.
Listen: public-domain works, licensable recordings
Canon in D · Johann Pachelbel
Air on the G String · Johann Sebastian Bach
The Four Seasons (Spring · Autumn · Winter) · Antonio Vivaldi
Clair de Lune · Claude Debussy
In the Hall of the Mountain King · Edvard Grieg
Amazing Grace
Greensleeves
Strauss: Blue Danube, Donauwalzer Intro
Artyfile Orchestra
The Blue Danube · Johann Strauss II
Frequently asked questions
What is public domain music?
Music whose copyright has expired. In the EU and UK a composition is public domain 70 years after its last author died; in the US, songs first published in or before 1930 are public domain as of 2026. Every recording is protected separately.
What music entered the public domain in 2026?
In the US, compositions published in 1930, such as "I Got Rhythm" and "Georgia on My Mind", and recordings published in 1925, such as Bessie Smith’s "The St. Louis Blues". In the EU and UK, the works of composers who died in 1955, such as Arthur Honegger and George Enescu.
Is public domain music the same as royalty-free music?
No. Public domain means there is no copyright any more. Royalty-free means protected music you pay for once instead of per use. Royalty-free music needs a licence; public-domain compositions do not.
Can I use public domain music commercially?
The composition, yes, without permission or fees. An existing recording needs a licence from its owner, adverts included. A recording you make yourself is yours to use.
Is "Happy Birthday" public domain?
Yes. In the EU and UK since 2017 (Patty Hill died in 1946). In the US a court ruled in 2015 that there was no valid copyright in the lyrics, and the song has been treated as public domain since 2016. Every recording of it is still protected.
Can public domain music get a Content ID claim?
Yes. Labels register their recordings of public-domain works, and the matching can flag similar performances. A claim is not a copyright strike; your own recording or a licence for the recording you used resolves it.
Where can I find public domain music?
Scores of public-domain works are in collections such as IMSLP. Old public-domain recordings are in the Internet Archive and the Library of Congress National Jukebox. Modern recordings of public-domain works need a licence, for example the Artyfile recordings.
Next: Music copyright checker · Public-domain classical music · Royalty-free vs copyright-free vs public domain
Sources & note
- Duke Center for the Study of the Public Domain: Public Domain Day 2026
- UK government: how long copyright lasts
- EU Directive 2011/77/EU: term of protection for sound recordings
- Internet Archive: Great 78 Project
- Library of Congress: National Jukebox
General information, not legal advice. As of October 2026. Some countries deviate (France adds wartime extensions, for example); when in doubt, check the specific country and the specific version.