How Do You Know If a Work is Public Domain?

How Do You Know If a Work is Public Domain?

This isn't always easy to decide what is in the public domain but there are some general guidelines that should help you:

Copyright laws vary from country to country. In the United States, there are three general rules that you need to follow to help you assess potential public domain works:

• Published before 1923

• Published between 1923 and 1978 without a valid copyright notice

• Published between 1978 and March 1, 1989, without a notice and registration

• Published between 1923 and 1963 with a copyright notice but author failed to renew it (According to a report, only 7% of copyrights issued through 1958 were renewed)

However, a work is not public domain if any of the following conditions apply:

• Published between 1923 and 1963 with a copyright notice, properly renewed before its expiration for the first 23-year protection term

• Published between 1963 and March 1, 1989 with a valid copyright notice

• Published or created any time after March 1, 1989 (Works after this date are deemed automatically under copyright protection)

Bottom line is you need to do research before using material published after 1922.

Listen, if it's too much work for you then don't use it. But the thing is if you find good public domain material and use it correctly, you can make money. Ask Disney.