Research Guides: Copyright Issues: Public Domain

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What is Public Domain?

A work typically enters the Public Domain when its term of copyright expires. Determining whether or not a work is in the Public Domain can be complicated, however, as the term of copyright often differs depending on a work’s authorship, format, date of publication, and country of origin. The term "public domain" encompasses materials for which:

The copyright has expired
The copyright owner has intentionally and explicitly "dedicated" it to the public domain
The copyright owner did not follow copyright renewal rules
Copyright law does not protect (such as works created by U.S. Government employees during the course of their employment, and works that cannot by copyrighted (such as ideas, common knowledge, data points etc.) (Stim, n.d.)

NOTE: Public domain is different than "publicly accessible" or "free online."

References

Stim, Rich. “Welcome to the Public Domain.” Copyright and Fair Use, Stanford University Libraries, fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/public-domain/welcome/.

Public Domain Resources

Boyle, J. (200) The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind. Yale University Press https://www.thepublicdomain.org/download/ This link opens in a new window
Comic book about the Public Domain licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike License.
Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets This link opens in a new window
Primary Source Sets are public domain materials curated to help students develop critical thinking skills by exploring topics in history, literature, and culture through primary sources. Drawing online materials from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States, the sets use letters, photographs, posters, oral histories, video clips, sheet music, and more. Each set includes a topic overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.
Guide to Finding Interesting Public Domain Works Online This link opens in a new window
From the Public Domain Review and Public Knowledge Project
HathiTrust This link opens in a new window
The HathiTrust Digital Library contains over seven million volumes and over one billion pages of scanned books and other materials. About 20 percent of all content is in the public domain. You can also browse several public collections. Content is available in simage formats, text, and PDF. 1200s-present.
Project Gutenberg This link opens in a new window
Classics and historical works, nearly 48,000 digitized books all in the public domain (in general, published before 1923). Over 50 languages.
Welcome to the Public Domain This link opens in a new window
Stanford University Libraries' information page on the public domain