Copyright Basics For Educators and Students: The Public Domain

What is the Public Domain?

The public domain refers to works that are not copyright protected and can be used freely, without seeking permission. Works can pass into the public domain through various ways, so it is important to always check carefully to determine if a particular work is really in the public domain before assuming you may use it without permission. 

• United States government documents (note: foreign documents may be protected)
• Materials marked with Creative Commons licenses instead of a copyright symbol (note: different licenses affect sharing, use, and attribution)
• When copyright has expired, materials move to the public domain
• Factual and non-creative works like telephone books

Anyone may reproduce, redistribute, or adapt works in the public domain. Permission for use is no longer required.

Use these links to explore some repositories of open domain materials. 

NOTE: Not all materials in these repositories will be in the public domain. Make sure to check before reproducing any material

How do you determine if something is in the public domain?

Unfortunately, there is not a straightforward answer. It all depends on what the copyright law was when the work was published. Copyright law has gone through many changes and iterations since it first appeared in the United States Constitution.

Expansion of U.S. Copyright Law, from 1790-2008 By Vectorization: Clorox (diskussion), Original image: Tom Bell. (Image:(C) Term by Tom Bell.gif) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

What's in the Public Domain?

Because copyright law has expanded so rapidly the rules of copyright expiration have changed dramatically. Use these cheat sheets to help determine what is in the public domain.