Public Domain Explained

by David Welch

Classic characters and icons like Santa Claus and Uncle Sam are household names that have have appeared in countless works of art. They do not belong to a single original author but have become part of our public domain - the body of knowledge and innovation in which no person or legal entity can have proprietary interests. Books that have had their copyrights expire become part of our cultural and intellectual heritage which anyone can use for commercial or non-commercial purposes.

Sites like Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org/) and Children's Books Online (www.childrensbooksonline.org) allow people to freely download and distribute books legally because the books available on these sites fall into the public domain. This allows new generations of readers to discover them, whether they be for educational or entertainment purposes. In today's world of online texts, we have the unique ability to revive stories that would otherwise have disappeared along with their original creators.

Public domain was originally granted by the constitution by giving Congress the power "to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries". The laws regarding public domain are meant to protect the rights of the author; encouraging them to pursue artistic discovery and enrichment by giving them a temporary monopoly on their own work which they can profit from. Then, when the author passes on and the copyright terms expire, their work falls into public domain creating a rich source of material that new authors can draw from to produce new works of art. Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, a story that now belongs to the public domain, has been retold and reperformed countless times with countless variations that audiences have enjoyed for over a century. Disney has made effective use of public domain by retelling stories that once were owned by their respective authors but eventually fell into public domain, such as Peter Pan (Barrie), Pinnochio (Collodi), The Jungle Book (Kipling), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Carrol), and many more. While the stories and characters themselves are in public domain, the movies produced by Disney are still copyrighted - although, in time, they too, along with their music, will fall into the public domain. It is interesting to note that the film Nosferatu was originally based on Bram Stoker's Dracula, although the rights to use the novel were not secured and changes had to be made to the film. Since then, the character of Dracula has fallen into public domain and has been reused in innumerable films and novels.

Characters and stories which have become traditional icons and a vital part of our culture might be forgotten about completely without public access to books, films and music. Without the public domain's right to republish, retell, and reimagine such stories, they would probably be too rare for the new generations to rediscover. Unfortunately, the terms of public domain which began as a renewable 14 year contract have gradually increased to greatly exceed the usefulness for the author. At this point, all works by authors are copyrighted until 70 years after the author's death. There is even interest to extend copyright terms last effectively forever, which would effectively halt the growth of public domain or our cultural heritage as well.

If you are wondering about whether or not it is legal to download eTexts from sites, or to use existing material to create your own original work, then it is important to be aware of some public domain laws. Over the course of history, the laws regarding public domain have constantly been changed and updated in the United States. Also, other countries have their own unique rules and regulations regarding what falls into public domain. This has caused a lot of confusion about when something is public domain or not. While understanding the specific details concerning copyright laws is daunting, there are a few basic rules to go by when identifying works in public domain. First, anything created by the government is public domain such as NASA photos, military journalism, and census data. Stories that existed before public domain laws are in public domain such as The Odyssey or The Bible, and any book published before 1923. However, it should be noted that a translation of a story like The Odyssey may be copyrighted if it was created after 1923. Also, republished editions of The Odyssey after 1923 cannot be copied and used exactly because while the words may be public domain the text formatting and images used may not be. If the book was published between 1923 and 1963, the book is in public domain unless it was actively renewed for up to the next 67 years after it was published. If the book was published between 1963 and 1977, it will be in public domain 67 years later. Any books after that have their copyrights expire 70 years after the author's death. To simplify, in this current year of 2006, public domain books are those published before 1923 and some between 1923 and 1963 which did not renew their copyright. Additionally, an excellent source for determining the status of books considering such factors as unpublished, without copyright, and outside the United States can be found here: http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/training/Hirtle_Public_Domain