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Public Domain
Slides produced by the Copyright Education & Consultation Program
Guiding Questions• What is the public domain?
• How long until a work enters public domain?
• How can I tell if something is in the public domain?
• How can I use public domain materials?
Slides produced by the Copyright Education & Consultation Program
What is the public domain?
• Materials that are no longer, or never were protected by copyright
• For example:
o Works by the federal governmento Works on which the copyright has expiredo Works that were never covered by intellectual
property laws (e.g. titles)
Slides produced by the Copyright Education & Consultation Program
How long until a work enters public domain?• Currently seventy years beyond the creator’s
death (usually)
• The status of most protected works is complicated as copyright law has been amended many times over the last century
• Books and other materials published before 1923 typically belong to the public domain
Slides produced by the Copyright Education & Consultation Program
How long until a work enters public domain?• There are several helpful charts that can help
you figure out how copyright terms work:
o By Professor Lolly Gasaway at the University of North Carolina: http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm
o By Peter Hirtle at Cornell’s Copyright Center: http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm
Slides produced by the Copyright Education & Consultation Program
How do I know if something is in the
public domain?• The U.S. Copyright Office has copyright
information for registered works
o http://www.copyright.gov/records contains information for works registered after 1978
o For works registered earlier, try checking Stanford’s Copyright Renewal Database at http://collections.stanford.edu/copyrightrenewals
• Check the publisher or author website
Slides produced by the Copyright Education & Consultation Program
• Check the work closely for a creative commons license or other type of license
o Licenses take precedence over copyrighto Licenses are different than public domain but
may still allow you to use the work
How do I know if something is in the
public domain?
Slides produced by the Copyright Education & Consultation Program
How can I use public domain materials?
• Anyone can use works that have fallen into the public domain however it is important to still respect the ‘moral rights’ of the creator
o Moral rights include (but are not limited to) • Right of paternity– the right of the original
creator to be recognized as such• Right of integrity – the right to prevent work
from being distorted in ways that impact the reputation of the creator
Slides produced by the Copyright Education & Consultation Program
Questions?
Slides produced by the Copyright Education & Consultation Program
Other Resources• Copyright Education & Consultation Page on
public domain
o http://go.illinois.edu/copyright/public-domain
• U.S. Copyright Office
o http://www.copyright.gov/records/
• Tales from the Public Domain: Bound by Law?
o http://www.law.duke.edu/cspd/comics/
Slides produced by the Copyright Education & Consultation Program
More Info …
The Copyright Education & Consultation Program is funded by a Library and Technical Services Grant Administered by
the Illinois State Library
Please visit our website at http://go.illinois.edu/copyright
Slides produced by the Copyright Education & Consultation Program
