Public Domain
The term “public domain” refers to creative materials that are not protected by intellectual property laws such as copyright, trademark, or patent laws. The public owns these works, not an individual author or artist. Anyone can use a public domain work without obtaining permission, but no one can ever own it. For instance, if you wanted to publish an edition ofThe Great GatsbyorSilas Marneryou are free to do so.
Copyright law has changed over time, so the length of copyright protection for a particular work depends on a number of factors, including when the work was created or published, who created it, and what legal formalities were followed. In general, a work created today will have copyright protection for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years. Works published in the United States prior to 1928 are in the public domain. In 2024, works published prior to 1929 will enter the public domain, in 2025, works published prior to 1930, and so on (95 years). There are numerous situations in which a work published after 1928 or within 70 years of the death of an author will be in the public domain, but they can be tricky to determine. For an in-depth look at public domain, check out the Peter Hirtle'sCopyright Term and the Public Domain. Please contact me if you have questions about whether a work is in the public domain.
Public Domain Resources
- Project Gutenberg: Collection of over 70,000 ebooks.
- Internet Archive: 41 million books and texts; 14.7 million audio recordings; 8.4 million videos
- HathiTrust;The digital library of 18+ million digitized items brings together the collections of more than60 academic and research librariesfrom across North America and other countries.To access the largest number of volumes and features, please log in as a Wellesley user: Select the LOG IN button and then choose Wellesley College from the drop-down menu. You may then be prompted to authenticate yourself via the Wellesley login screen.
