Copyright in the Classroom: Public Domain

Per Stanford University, "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. 

There are four common ways that works arrive in the public domain:

• the copyright has expired
• the copyright owner failed to follow copyright renewal rules
• the copyright owner deliberately places it in the public domain, known as 'dedication,' or
• copyright law does not protect this type of work."

There are a lot of very specific rules and regulations regarding what becomes public domain and when, so determining what is or isn't in the public domain can be a complicated and lengthy process.

Any work that falls into the following categories is in the public domain:

• Published before 1923
• Published between 1923 &1963 with copyright notice, but no renewal
• Published between 1923 & 1977 with no copyright notice
• Published between January 1, 1978 & March 1, 1989 with no copyright notice and no registration
• The author/owner has given up rights

An easy way to remember what’s in the public domain is FRIDGE:

• Facts: Not protectable by copyright
• Recipes/Methods: Not protectable by copyright
• Ideas: Not protectable by copyright
• Dedicated Works: Works in which the author has dedicated the work to the public domain, irrevocably giving up their rights
• Government Works: Works created by US Government employees in the course of their employment aren’t protectable by copyright law in the United States
• Expired Works: Works in which the copyright has expired are no longer protected by copyright and are considered to be in the public domain.

via The Pennsylvania State University Library