First – What is the “Public Domain”

The Public Domain refers to the huge and diverse compilation of creative works that are not under the protection of copyright law.  Artisitic creative works include films and plays, paintings, photographs, drawings, illustrations, cartoons, postcards, to name some examples.   Literary and musical examples include books, magazines, articles, instruction manuals, courses and workbooks, reports, and musical compositions and lyrics.  And since government printing and publishing is all at taxpayer expense, government publications of all kinds (except Classified!) are in the Public Domain.

Next – How does copyright law relate to the Public Domain

To put it simply, for the time being, for a “work” to be in the Public Domain means that it is free from the protection of copyright law.  In other words, this would mean that anyone is free to copy, change, modify, and “repurpose” and eventually sell an item obtained from the public domain that they have transformed into a creative product of their own – known as a “derivative” product.

This is where entrepreneurship comes in!

By using the Public Domain and discovering and locating works and then changing them yourself into your own newly created “derivative” product, you can now use them to grow or build a very profitable business.

The Public Domain is a great resource for content for a virtually limitless category of usages and applications.  It is definitely worth looking into and I will have more on the topic of Public Domain next time.

Go visit these 2 websites – Public Domain Books Online at www.pdbooksonline.com and Public Domain Photos at www.public-domain-photos.com.

NOTE If you think you have found a book, a photograph, or anything else you believe to be in the Public Domain, you must be sure to check its status to be certain.  One rule is – anything published (in the U.S.) before 1923 is safely in the Public Domain. There are more details, however, to be aware of so that you avoid any trouble with copyright law issues.

Till next time,

Jackie