We invite filmmakers, artists, and creatives of all skill levels and backgrounds to celebrate Public Domain Day, by creating and uploading a short film not exceeding 4 minutes to the Internet Archive.This contest offers a chance to explore and reimagine the creative treasures entering the public domain, especially works from 1931 that enter the public domain on January 1—classic literature, early sound films, cartoons, music, and art. Participants are encouraged to use materials from the Internet Archive’s collections to craft unique films that breathe new life into these cultural gems.Top entries will be awarded prizes up to $2,000, with winners announced during our in-person Public Domain Day Celebration on January 27, 2027. All submissions will be featured in a special Public Domain Day Collection on archive.org and highlighted in a January 2027 blog post.Join us in this creative celebration of cultural heritage and timeless art!GuidelinesMake a short movie up to 4 minutes max using at least one work published in 1931 that will become Public Domain on January 1, 2027. This could be a poem, book, film, musical composition, painting, photograph or any other work that will become Public Domain next year. The more different PD materials you use, the better!Note: If you have a resource from 1931 that is not available on archive.org, you may upload it and then use it in your submission. (Here is how to do that). Your submission must have a soundtrack. It can be your own voiceover or performance of a public domain musical composition, or you may use public domain or CC0 sound recordings from sources like Openverse and the Free Music Archive. Also check out items from WNYC’s 2026 Public Song Project hosted in the Internet Archive’s collections. Note that not all submissions in this collection are licensed for re-use, so please verify that the song is properly licensed before using.Note: Sound recordings have special status under Copyright Law, so it’s important to note that while musical compositions from 1931 will be entering the public domain, the sound recordings of those works are not entering the public domain. Sound recordings published in 1926 will enter the public domain this year. Mix and Mash content however you like, but note that ALL of your sources must be from the public domain. They do not all have to be from 1931, and can include published works from years earlier than 1931 as well. Remember, U.S. government works are public domain no matter when they are published. So feel free to use those NASA images! You may include your own original work if you put a CC0 license on it.We are celebrating the public domain as a triumph of human creativity, and we want your submission to reflect that spirit. The contest honors the imagination, craft, and originality that people bring to remixing culture, so your final film should be a human-made work of art. If you use AI tools in your submission, please explain how they are used.Add a personal touch, make it yours! (It is a celebration after all!)Submission DeadlineAll submissions must be in by 11:59pm PST, January 7, 2027.How to SubmitCreate an Internet Archive account.Upload your film to archive.org.Add a subject tag field of “remix contest 2027” in the upload form.Link all your sourced materials from 1931 or prior in the upload description.Copy the URL/link to your submission, you will need it for the submission form.Complete the online Submission Form.To help get you started here are some materials that will become part of the public domain on January 1, 2027. Books: 1931 was a year full of many great literary works, including: Sanctuary by William Faulkner. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. The first edition of The Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer. The Waves by Virginia Woolfe. The Adventures of Mickey Mouse from Walt Disney Productions; the first original Disney storybook. The Road Back by Erich Maria Remarque; sequel to All Quiet on the Western Front. The Shadow slinks into the public domain with the first volumes of The Shadow Magazine. Films: Frankenstein and Dracula from Universal scare up new potential for stories. Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights exhibits the potential of silents in the age of the Talkie. Another Marx Brothers comedy, Monkey Business, creates opportunities for laughs aboard a ship. The German expressionist film M by Fritz Lang starring Peter Lorre creeps into the public domain. Provocative pre-Code film, Safe in Hell, pushes limits now in the public domain. Even more cartoons including Pluto’s first appearance with his name and status as Mickey’s dog in The Moose Hunt.Musical Compositions: Iconic jazz pieces continue to stack up including All of Me. Iconic works from African American composers and musicians join the commons like Duke Ellington’s Mood Indigo and Cab Calloway’s Minnie the Moocher. The Great Depression inspired escapist anthems like Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams And Dream Your Troubles Away. Early versions of iconic film songs like As Time Goes By become free for all to use.You can record your own versions of any of these compositions and reuse them in your film.Sound Recordings (1926): I’ve Got the Girl from Don Clark and his Orchestra features Bing Crosby in a supporting role in his first ever sound recording. Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five rolled out some iconic scat singing in Heebie Jeebies. The California Rambler’s Breezing Along With the Breeze puts a pep in your step. The iconic Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra continued their prolific 1920s output with Valencia.Be sure to double-check when these recordings were published as sound recordings follow different rules that other creative works. Sound recordings published in 1926 will enter the public domain this year, not 1931. Prizes1st prize: $20002nd prize: $15003rd prize: $1000Honorable Mentions: $250Judges will be looking for videos that are fun, interesting and use public domain materials, especially those from 1931. Submissions should highlight the value of having cultural materials that can be reused, remixed, and re-contextualized for a new day. Winners will be announced and previewed at our virtual event, then shown on the “big screen” and celebrated in person at the in-person Public Domain Day party in San Francisco. Winners’ pieces will be purchased with the prize money, and viewable on the Internet Archive under a Creative Commons license.For further reference, check out past entrants from 2026.The post 2027 Public Domain Film Contest: The Internet Archive is Looking For Creative Short Films Made By You! first appeared on Internet Archive Blogs.