Three Rules Of The Public Domain: How Do You Know If a Work is Public Domain?

One can develop a complete commerce based around the re-marketing of content in the Public Domain without spending a single dime, but you will need to comply to some rules regarding what is versus what is not public domain, and this is different from country to country. To simplify matters, this article will focus on what is versus what isn’t in the public domain in the United States.

The USA is the ideal gateway of public domain content, for the simple reason that it is the most important market and contains the largest collection of English language creative works out of all the English language countries. This will make it easier for you to fast track your public domain success. Here are three simple rules which will help you to determine, at least to begin with, whether the copyright on a U.S. origin created work is still in effect or has ended.

GUIDELINE #1: Works published in the United States prior to 1923 are in the public domain. Whilst the phraseology used in books published prior to 1923 is somewhat archaic, the pre-1923 era also contains many classics. Besides books, you have drawings, photographs, and films to name a few. The Public Domain Expert has demonstrated that there is an absolute goldmine of content for the taking for those who put in the energy and time to update, repackage, and re-publish it.

GUIDELINE #2: Works published in the United States between 1923 and March 1, 1989 are also copyright protected, provided that certain procedures have been adhered to. If the author, publisher or creator of the work neglected to observe the following procedures, the work will fall into the public domain:
- Published between 1923 and 1978 without a valid copyright notice;
- Published between 1978 and March 1, 1989, without a notice and registration;
- Published between 1923 and 1963 with a copyright notice but author failed to renew it in the 28th year after publication.

GUIDELINE #3: Works created post March 1, 1989, even if not published, are copyright protected for 70 years after the author has passed away. Works made for hire post March 1, 1989 are copyright protected for one hundred and twenty years from the date of creation, or ninety five years from publication, whichever comes earlier.

This rule spares authors nowadays of the need to file a formal copyright notice, although it is still advisable to do so in case the need should ever arise where you need to enforce your rights or seek damages in a court of law.

The phrase “works made for hire” refers to publications created by an employee, paid professional or freelancer, who have created something for a third party. One exception to this rule is that the majority of Federal United States Govt publications, even if created post March 1, 1989, are generally public domain by default.

The 3 rules above are broad-stroke and there are some finer points and some exceptions that are applicable to creative works in the post 1923 period. Public domain lawyer Bob Silber goes into detail on some legal particulars in the Public Domain How To resource by Russell Brunson, a first-rate resource for anyone who have a goal to create a business and profit from the republishing of creative works in the public domain.