On January 1st of every year, new heritage works enter the Public Domain. Unfortunately most of these works can still end up being inaccessible to the public, despite the fact that, legally speaking, nothing should prevent public access, or reuses even for commercial purposes.
The Public Domain Day is organised each year in order to share experiences and best practices in opening up this material, all around the world!
This event aims at gathering scholars, policy-makers, practicionners, and advocates to celebrate the Public Domain in Europe.
Public Domain Day 2026
We celebrate Public Domain Day on January 15th in the Royal Library in Brussels!
2025
In 2025, a European wide public domain day was celebrated on 9 January in Brussels, Belgium.