There are several massive properties that fell into the public domain in 2026, including Agatha Christie’s greatest creation. On January 1, 2026, at the stroke of midnight, several properties hit the public domain, and this includes movies, books, and music. Among the books, the first four Nancy Drew novels and The Maltese Falcon hit the public domain.
There was also a work by Agatha Christie, the best-selling novelist of all time, that has entered the public domain, and this is more important than many other works this year. The first-ever Agatha Christie novel featuring Miss Marple is now in the public domain. This means anyone can use Miss Marple in their own stories without permission.
Agatha Christie’s First Miss Marple Mystery Is Now Public Domain
Miss Marple was Agatha Christie’s second major detective, and arguably her greatest. That is because, unlike Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple was a simple older woman living in a fictional English village and acting as an amateur consulting detective. If it weren’t for Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, shows like Murder, She Wrote wouldn’t exist.
In fact, Angela Lansbury from Murder, She Wrote, actually played Miss Marple in the movie The Mirror Crack’d. In the Agatha Christie novels, Miss Marple was often portrayed as an elderly spinster, and this made her more relatable than the more stoic and determined Hercule Poirot, and the more popular of the two.
While later Agatha Christie movies have Hercule Poirot in the lead roles, it is the Miss Marple mysteries that remain a joy to read. In all, there were 12 novels in the Miss Marple series, with the first published in 1930, called The Murder at the Vicarage. That is the novel that is now in the public domain.
However, it is also essential to know that doesn’t mean everything about Miss Marple is in the public domain. The character, herself, is now available for anyone to use by name. However, only the traits shown in the first novel are in the public domain, and anything introduced in later novels is still protected by copyright.
Despite this, filmmakers and authors can write Miss Marple stories and have her in any form they create themselves, as long as they don’t infringe on the character traits introduced in later novels.
Is Hercule Poirot In The Public Domain?
Agatha Christie’s first main detective, Hercule Poirot, is already in the public domain. The author created him in 1920 with The Mysterious Affair at Styles. That novel is in the public domain, which means the character of Hercule Poirot is also in there. The first six Hercule Poirot novels are all in the public domain as of this year.
This means that, for years now, authors have been allowed to create their own Hercule Poirot books and stories without needing permission from the Agatha Christie estate. However, some of his most important stories, such as Murder on the Orient Express, are still copyright-protected, with that novel four years away from the public domain.
