The Library of Congress

Here's how public domain material becomes fascinating and opens up avenues for you to make money. First thing you need to do is visit The Library of Congress website. It'll open in a separate window so follow along.

You can scroll down and see many books and papers and what nots. See the Magic Window book? Click on it. If it's changed location since I put this up, you can find it here . . . The Magic Window.

Alright. First take a look at the book. It has arrows so you can read through it. Just glance through for now.

Look below the book to the information. It tells you the number of pages and describes the book and tells you who the publisher was. It also tells you the rights - in this case - it says
Possible copyright status The Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright restrictions on this item.

That doesn't necessarily tell you it's public domain but there's a good chance it is. Many times it will state the material is in the public domain. But there's hope and you can do further research if you decide to use this book.

Should you verify this is in the public domain, there are downloads available on this page. Download it as you like. If you want to use the book but rewrite it, download the text file. You can also download it for the Kindle or other tablets but be aware you can't simply take that to Kindle and upload it as your own. You can't sell public domain books on Kindle and other book sites unless you modify the content.

You could, however, put it on a DVD and sell it on Ebay but, again,  be sure it is public domain.

Doc Strange

While checking to see if the new movie, Doctor Strange, might have come from a character in the public domain, I came across this Doc Strange comic. While he is a super hero, it doesn't appear this character spawned Doctor Strange.

Sheena, Queen of the Jungle

Pretty much everyone knows who Tarzan is. However, there is a female character who is much like Tarzan and, personally, if I was in the jungle and could be saved by either Tarzan or Sheena, I'm picking Sheena.

Like Tarzan, Sheena was also an orphan who grew up in the jungle and could communicate with animals. Her fighting skills included fighting with knives, spears, bows, and pretty much any weapons she could make.

Bound by Law

I came across this gem this morning. It talks about works in the public domain and discussed how the current copyright law does pretty much the exact opposite of what it was intended for.

I've included a link to the free pdf. This book is actually published under limited creative commons use. It can be used in any way except for commercial purposes. That's why I'm able to include the pdf here and why I will use pages on this blog from time to time to hopefully allow you to better understand the public domain law, if that's even possible.

The cartoons treat this subject in an interesting way. I highly recommend you take time to read it. Be prepared to be entertained while you learn.

Bound by Law

That's What I'm Talking About!

Just came across this video entitled "Why Everybody Wins If Batman & Superman Are Public Domain". It ties in with some of what I've been saying.

Take public domain characters or books and rewrite them or spin them or whatever and they stay in the publics eye. Many people read or watch these spin offs and want to read the original story so they are up to date with what inspired the book or movie.

Makes sense, right? I watched The Raven on YouTube and then watched The Simpsons do a show using the story. I reread the original and, finding it hard to read because of the way books were written long ago, I retold the story in modern language and then ended up reading two more Poe tales and spinning all three in my own book.

I've received emails from some readers thanking me for turning them onto the classics and they told me they were reading more of Poe's tales and asked if I'd be modernizing them as well.

There are loads of books and movies and art that should not be forgotten and when we bring these public domain masterpieces into the new generation of readers, we keep them alive and possibly fire up the juices in the readers and they do the same.

Everyone Wins.

Alice in Wonderland

Are you aware that Alice in Wonderland is in the public domain?

Well it is and it gives me a chance to remind you of an important point. The original story is in the public domain and you can use it as it, or modify it or reference it to write a story of her further adventures, which has been done and likely will be done again. It's a good story.

So, what's the problem?

If you want to rewrite this book or continue her adventures, read the book! Read it. Take the time. You what might happen? Someone takes the easy way out and watches the Disney version. That version is copyright to Disney and there are story lines that are unique to their version and you could be violating copyright laws if you use their story and rewrite it.

Do not take the easy way out. Read the book  Same goes for any other book you might be considering using as your story line. Now, many times the original book is available in audio and that will work. Check YouTube as they have many audio books. Just be certain they are public domain.

Use these original public domain books for ideas but don't take shortcuts.

If you do, well, don't say you weren't warned.

Captain Marvel Jr

It just boggles my mind at times some of the things I come across searching through public domain materials. I had no idea there was a Captain Marvel Jr. Did you?

I've been finding so many characters I had no idea existed when searching old comic books. There's no reason why someone can't revise some of these characters and start a new series. Use the characters as they are or rename them. It doesn't even have to be a comic book. I've taken comic books and wrote books and used some of the comic panels in the book, changing the dialogue to fit my needs.

Does that give you and idea?

Jack Frost Cartoon

Here is an example of using public domain films. I downloaded this cartoon and then uploaded it to YouTube.  On the YouTube page I include a link to this blog in order to increase traffic.

Of course I made sure this was in the public domain.

Public Domain Comedy Break

I really don't have a clue what movie this scene was in. I'm thinking maybe Hercules but really not sure but this is an example of something I took from an old comic book that is in the public domain. I enhanced the picture.

I wish I could take credit for the line but it was a part of the clip and I had to share it.

Examples You Can Learn From

I've been asked a number of times. What's the best way to write a book using material from the public domain?

Kinda thought I've made that clear but let me show you some examples.

Go to FairyTaleMania.com. That's one of my websites. Take a look at the books listed on the site. Those are my books and you can probably tell they are written using fairy tales that are in the public domain.

Buy a book or two. Seriously. You want to learn? My books sell for a few bucks and they are an education if you want to do the same thing. Read them. Compare them to the tales you are familiar with. Learn from them and, if I say so myself, you'll get a kick out of reading them.

But be careful. Don't watch a Disney movie, for instance, that has taken a work from the public domain and redone it. Snow White is an example. Read the original tale and use that information and you're safe. Write a new tale using Disney's version and . . .  well . . . good luck.

If I was to recommend one of my books for you to use like you would use a schoolbook, I would recommend my Snow White story. Lots of characters from the public domain are mixed in and tales are woven throughout.

Here's another lesson for you. That book and the others I've written are copyright to me. Even though they use public domain material it's been changed considerably and is mine. You would not be able to use my material or new characters from it but you can still read the book and learn how to do the same thing yourself.

Public Domain Radio - The Lone Ranger

The Lone Ranger is one of about a gazillion radio series that have found their way into the public domain. OK, gazillion might be exaggerating but . . .

This brought back memories of when I was a kid and my grandpa would always listen to this on the radio. I know I'm dating myself but it is what it is.

Could you use old radio files to make money? Think of the possibilities.

The Lone Ranger

Public Domain TV Shows and Movies

There are plenty of movies and TV shows that have entered the public domain. Some of them from not too long ago.

Remember Dragnet? Enjoy this episode and realize that you can actually take these old shows and use them as you wish. Maybe on your website or possibly burn them onto a DVD and sell them on Ebay?

Or how about the popular One Step Beyond.

Public Domain - Dragnet

Public Domain - One Step Beyond

Be Careful

I've told you about Gutenberg. You can go there and use their public domain books in any way you like. A fantastic site and worth donating to.

But beware. There are sites out there that bring you public domain books but have a stipulation on their site that you need to beware of.

Bartleby.com is such a site. But be careful if you plan to do more than use the works here for personal use. They claim copyright on all of the content they provide.

Wait. What? It's public domain material. It is and if you find it on many other sites, dive in.

But Bartleby has a user agreement that warns you not to “modify, publish, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, reproduce, create new works from, distribute, perform, display, or in any way exploit” any of its content.

Hmmmm. My advice is to enjoy the stuff they give you but find the text elsewhere if you want to use it commercially or on your own website or blog. Hey - They did the work digitizing material so you need to respect their rules.

Tales of Horror

Let's say you want to write and publish a horror story but you just can't come up with an idea. Not a problem.

Comic Books to the rescue.

Seriously. There are huge amounts of public domain comic books out there where you can easily read stories and rewrite them and publish them as a book. Comic Book Plus is a site where every comic book they have is verified in the public domain.

Go into a category you are interested in and start reading. You're sure to come up with new ideas to get you started writing your own book.

Here's an example of one of the covers.

Enjoy Free Audio Books

Let me get something straight right now. This blog is not only about how to use public domain materials to make money. It's not.

It's also about showing you where you can go to enjoy free entertainment.

Let's take audio books. I know there are subscription sites out there that allow you to enjoy listening to audio books for a monthly fee. That's great. You can also buy books for your Kindle or other reading devices at reasonable prices.

But you can also find free entertainment from the public domain. There are great classic books out there. The Picture of Dorian Gray or The Raven  or Alice in Wonderland.

What if you could listen to these books online at no cost?

Loyal Books and LibriVox allows you to do just that.

And guess what? This is also a terrific way to listen to a story you might want to use as inspiration for writing your own book using that general theme.

Maybe you can write a best selling remake of Alice in Wonderland. You can borrow from the story you listen to on these sites without any worries. If you watch it on TV or at the movies, it's rewritten and likely is not in the public domain.

See the difference?

Superman Should be in the Public Domain - And Was

This video shows some of the complications you can face when dealing with works that are in the public domain - well - should be.

It used to be straight forward. Not anymore.

I told you Congress passed a law changing when works actually enter the public domain. If the works are before 1923 you have no issues.

Before 1964? Possibly and possibly not.

Again, you have an obligation to be certain any work you decide to use or change is legally in the public domain and, if it is, dive in.

But please do not ask me if a product is in the public domain because I have plenty of research to do finding out the same thing.

But come on. Once you find what you want and you know it is public domain material, you have everything laid out in front of you and instead of starting a book, for instance, from scratch, you have the story that you can now change and make your own.

It's not quite that simple unless you don't mind putting out junk, but if you treat it the way you should, you can come up with a pretty good book.

Reading a number of Poe's works took time. But I found stories I enjoyed and retold a few so the modern reader could read and enjoy them. Simply put, I used modern language and tried to eliminate all the boring parts.

Next I found three stories that I felt had a very similar theme and would work as a single book. I'm happy with the way that turned out and I plan to continue doing more of the same.

Later I'll tell you a really cool idea that will help you get more ideas for writing.

Now, here's the video about Superman and why it was and then wasn't in the public domain.

The Jungle Book

Would it surprise you to know that the Disney story, The Jungle Book, was actually taken from the public domain and rewritten? The story it borrowed from was The Jungle Book, which was written by Rudyard Kipling. The book was a collection of stories by Kipling. The stories were first published in magazines in 1893–94.

You can read the original tale here. If you're familiar with the Disney version, you'll be amazed when you read through this story. This gives you a prime example how you can take a work from the public domain and create your own story which, by the way, would then be copyright by you.

That's important to understand. If you simply copy one of these books and put your name down as the author, there is nothing to prevent others from doing the same. It's legal but come on . . . that doesn't benefit anyone. Read the story you enjoy and then sit down and use it as a template to develop your own story.

I'll feature a number of my books on this site and they will all be books I've written with inspiration to stories in the public domain. You can go to Amazon and read the free previews of the books and you might want to buy whichever ones interest you, not only for entertainment but also as an education on how to create your own book using the public domain.

No, not all my books are written in this manner, as I generally sit down with an idea and start writing and see where the idea goes.  I don't write out an outline or anything.

But obviously when I fracture a fairy tale I reference the original fairy tale. And in A Victim of Circumstance I read a number of stories by Edgar Allan Poe and then sat down and started writing an original story using the concepts from three of his tales. The story just kind of flowed.

Disney and Public Domain

In previous posts I pointed out that the Walt Disney Company used public domain material to build their empire. Kudos to them for doing so as it opened up lots of entertainment for kids and adults.

Take away kudos because they were instrumental in Congress passing a law that changed the public domain rules and made it more difficult for others to follow the same path they followed.

Check out the article I wrote on my cartoon page that explains what I'm talking about and be sure you watch the video. . .  Thanks A Lot, Disney

Public Domain Sites

There are so many sites where you can get free public domain books or pictures or music and even videos from the past. I'll talk about these sites as we go along and add links to them.

The first site I want to mention is Project Gutenberg. What a terrific site. Even if you don't have plans to make money using public domain, you can pick up free books and read them online or on your Kindle, etc. All the works of Edgar Allan Poe are there as well as Grimm Fairy Tales and Wizard of Oz and about a gazillion (yeah - exaggerating a bit) other books.

Some even have images. There are books available for the young and old.

Now, even though you could, I do not recommend you take public domain books and simply republish them and sell them. Obviously if you're doing a cookbook or something similar, you might be copying the recipes but make your book unique. I like to read one of the classics and then retell them so they are easier for today's readers to red and enjoy.

How many ways has Snow White been rewritten? Or Peter Pan.

I took three of Poe's tales and retold them in one book and wrote my own story using all three tales in another. It can be done. When you take the time and use public domain material correctly, the public benefit from reading new and unique tales.

I'll take you through the process in a future post. You can read a free preview on Amazon by clicking on the book.

What is Public Domain

Chances are that if you are reading this you know what public domain products are. In a nutshell these are books or films or other similar products where their property rights have expired, have been forfeited, or are inapplicable.

I know, right? I'll use works by Edgar Allan Poe as an example. These books were written long ago and can legally be used by writers and others in any way they want.

I am not a lawyer and do not want to give a lot of advice as to what you can or can't use, so check out these rules for using public domain materials.

The purpose of this site is to show you how you might use public domain materials to create your own books, for the most part. And before you start screaming "foul" and criticize anyone who would do so, understand that Walt Disney made use of public domain stories to create an empire.