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WHAT IS THE PUBLIC DOMAIN AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
The public domain consists of creative works that are not eligible for or are no longer protected by United States copyright law. Stated another way, this means that works, such as textual material, artwork or photographs, that are in the public domain were either not eligible for copyright protection or are no longer controlled by their copyright owner. Instead any work that is in the public domain belongs to the public at large.
The significance of a work being in the public domain is that a public domain work is no longer protected by copyright law and thus is entitled to be used in whole or in part by any member of the public without permission or payment for its use and for any purpose.
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COPYRIGHT DURATION
BASED ON 1998 SONY BONO
COPYRIGHT TERM EXTENSION ACT
Publication or
Creation |
Copyright Duration
(as of January 1, 1999) |
Published between
1909 through 1922
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Initial term of copyright was 28 years and if renewed extended for an additional 28 years.
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Published between
1923 through 1963
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Initial term of copyright was 28 years and if renewed copyright extended for additional 67 years (Term = 95 years).
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Published between
1964 and 1978
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Initial term of copyright was 28 years and automatic renewal for additional 67 years (Term = 95 years).
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Created on or after
January 1, 1978
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Sole Author - life of author plus 70 years.
Joint Authors - life of longest surviving author plus 70 years.
Work Made For Hire - 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever less.
Anonymous/Pseudonymous - 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever less. If name of author disclosed to Copyright Office than life of author plus 70 years.
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Created before 1978 but not
published on or before
December 31, 2002
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Life of author plus 70 years, but copyright protection will not expire before December 31, 2002.
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Created before 1978 and
published on or before
December 31, 2002
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Life of author plus 70 years, but copyright protection will not expire before December 31, 2047
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This article is not legal advice. You should consult an attorney if you have legal questions that relate to your specific publishing issues and projects.
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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.
An important wrinkle to understand about public domain material is that collections of it may be protected by copyright. If, for example, someone has collected public domain images in a book or at a website, the collection as a whole may be protectible, even though individual images are not protected. You are free to copy and use individual images but copying and distributing the complete collection may infringe what is known as the "collective works" copyright. Collections of public domain material will be protected if the person who created it has used creativity in the choices and organization of the public domain material. This usually involves some unique selection process, for example, a poetry scholar compiling a book, The Greatest Poems of e.e. cummings.
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Copyright has expired for all works published in the United States before 1923. In other words, if the work was published in the U.S. before January 1, 1923, you are free to use it in the U.S. without permission. As an example, the graphic illustration of the man with mustache was published sometime in the 19th Century and is in the public domain, so no permission is required to include it within this book. These rules and dates apply regardless of whether the work was created by an individual author, a group of authors or by an employee (the latter sometimes referred to as a "work made for hire.")
Because of legislation passed in 1998, no new works will fall into the public domain until 2019 when works published in 1923 will expire. In 2020, works published in 1924 will expire and so forth. If a work was written by a single author and published after 1977, the copyright will not expire until 70 years after the author's death. If a work was written by several authors and published after 1977, it will not expire until 70 years after the last surviving author dies.
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