38 Public Domain
What is the Public Domain?
The term “public domain” encompasses those materials that are not protected by intellectual property laws such as copyright, trademark, or patent laws. No individual owns these works; rather, they are owned by the public. Anyone can use a public domain work without obtaining permission and without citing the original author, but no one can ever own it.
How do works arrive in the Public Domain?
There are four common ways that an item will arrive in the Public Domain.
The copyright has expired.
Copyright has expired for all works made in the United States prior to 1923. If the publication date is before January 1, 1923, then the work is in the Public Domain.
Because of legislation passed in 1998, copyright expiration was extended. Works published in 1923 will expire in the year 2019; in 2020, works published in 1924 will expire.
For works published after 1977, copyright will not expire until 70 years after the last surviving author dies.
The copyright owner failed to follow renewal rules.
Works published in the United States before 1964 fall into the public domain if copyright was not renewed with the Copyright Office during the 28th year after publication. No renewal meant a loss of copyright.
For works published between 1923 and 1964, research with the Copyright Office is needed to know whether the item is in the Public Domain. For a helpful guide to researching Copyright Office records, please see this guide from Stanford University Libraries.
The copyright owner deliberately places the item in the Public Domain.
Sometimes, a copyright owner will choose to release their work to the Public Domain. They can do this via a CC-0 license or by placing a statement such as “This work is dedicated to the Public Domain” on their work.
It is important to verify that the person dedicating the work to the Public Domain is, in fact, the owner of the copyright for the work.
Copyright law does not protect this kind of work.
Copyright law does not protect the titles of books or movies, nor does it protect short phrases such as, “Beam me up.”
Copyright protection also doesn’t cover facts, ideas, or theories, which has important ramifications for the collection of data. While the facts of data are not subject to copyright, their organization may be. For help with questions surrounding copyright and data, contact Office of Scholarly Communication and Publishing.
(Information for this section was gleaned from “Welcome to the Public Domain” from the Stanford University Libraries.)
How do I use Public Domain works?
When using works from the Public Domain, you do not need to credit the author nor do you need to get permission, according to a 2003 ruling from the US Supreme Court.
However, it is wise to cite your sources, so crediting the original author or the source is a best practice. Be careful of copying directly from a Public Domain work, as this could qualify as plagiarism.
How can I find Public Domain works?
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Guide to Finding Interesting Public Domain Works Online
From the Public Domain Review at the Open Knowledge Foundation, this guide has links to sources for Public Domain works of many types, such as images, texts, videos, and more. -
Smithsonian Institution Public Domain Images
Images from the collection of the Smithsonian Institution that are in the Public Domain. -
Public domain audiobooks read by volunteers.
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New York Times Public Domain Images
Images from the New York Times that are in the Public Domain. -
Wikimedia Commons Public Domain
A listing of items from Wikimedia Commons that are in the Public Domain. -
Books in the Public Domain from Project Gutenberg.
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Thousands of short films in the domains of education, advertising, and industry.
Resources
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This slider can help you determine whether something is in the Public Domain or not.
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Welcome to the Public Domain (Stanford)
Stanford University Libraries maintains this page with more information about the Public Domain, with examples and use case scenarios. -
Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States
This is a large chart detailing the types of items and the nature of items with relation to their copyright term. Includes information about sound recordings and works published outside of the US.