OpenNews from the art world
The wall advances every January 1 — a fixed, predictable date, not a rumor. Every item below is the same dated fact already cited on its character’s own record; nothing here is reported independently of that sourcing.
Universal's 1931 Dracula film
The Bela Lugosi screen performance clears the 95-year US term. The novel itself has been free for decades — this is the film, specifically.
The 1928 Mickey Mouse design
Steamboat Willie and Plane Crazy clear the US term. Later Mickey redesigns stay protected, and Disney's trademark is unaffected.
Tigger
Introduced two years after the rest of the cast, in The House at Pooh Corner (1928) — his clock runs on his own publication date, not the franchise's.
The full Sherlock Holmes canon
The last Conan Doyle stories clear the US term. No version-dependent caveat remains on the character.
Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, and most of the cast
The core Hundred Acre Wood cast enters the US public domain — all but Tigger, who has to wait two more years.
1931 releases January 1, 2027.
That’s the whole rule for images and characters at MVP: works published in the US in 1930 or earlier are already free; 1931 clears next.