DEFINING PUBLIC DOMAIN

What is public domain...and why should you care?

The phrase “public domain” naturally conjures an image of an area open to the public. It’s logical to guess this phrase refers to community parks, playgrounds, unprotected natural land (if there’s any of that left), and structures like malls or downtown squares. Any place a bunch of folks can get together without danger of trespassing or loitering accusations might be a “public domain.”

However, this phrase also refers to a specific body of intellectual property. Books, music, movies, images and photographs whose copyrights—the little law that makes Bill Gates grin every time somebody says “Microsoft”—have expired, or which were never copyrighted in the first place (at least before 1989) are officially considered “public domain.” They belong to the public, and any person may use their contents in any way they choose.

Why should you care? Because knowledge of public domain works, blended with a little business savvy and entrepreneurial spirit, can make you money...whether you’re just looking for some spare cash, or the fortune you’ve always dreamed about.

You are about to discover the secrets to cashing in on the public domain. You’ll find out what defines this vast pool of resource material that’s free and clear for your use; how to locate and verify public domain works; which books, movies, music or images are the most likely to earn a profit; and how to get started making money in this exciting and largely untapped field.

NOTE: The majority of e-books on public domain profits provide exciting-sounding information on how to make money without actually explaining anything, and then try to convince you to buy more products or services from them, or have you resell their books to others so they can profit from your marketing efforts.

That’s not what we’re going to do here.

Here you will find everything you need to know to get started making real money in the public domain, from finding copyright-free works to preparing them for sale, from creating a web site to marketing your products online. You’ll also get lots of links to essential web resources, articles, databases and free tools to help you succeed. Some of the products and services discussed have a small price tag attached—but if you choose to use them, you are buying convenience, not withheld information.

You don’t have to spend another dime of your own money to profit from the public domain!

With a little effort and patience, you can start making money with no investment whatsoever. And most of the work is done for you: this book contains direct links to absolutely free resources for every step of the process.

And now…it’s time to enter the public domain!

Requirements for public domain works

Each country has its own set of guidelines to determine whether a work’s copyright has expired or is not valid. Here we’re concerned with copyright law in the United States. There are three general rules you can use to evaluate works and decide whether they might be in the public domain.

The first rule is fairly straightforward: If the work was published in the United States any time prior to 1923, it is now considered public domain.

There are no exceptions to this rule. Anything published, created or produced before 1923 is in the public domain. You may think nothing published that long ago is of interest to modern consumers, but there is plenty of “outdated” material still relevant and entertaining today. With a little digging, you can uncover some real gems.The third rule is also cut-and-dried:

All works, published or unpublished, created after March 1, 1989, are copyright protected for 70 years from the date the author dies. All works made for hire (corporate authorship) after March 1, 1989, are copyright protected for the shorter of 95 years from publication, or 120 years from creation.

These days, filing for copyright protection is no longer necessary. All creative work is automatically covered under copyright law, as of March 1, 1989. “Works made for hire” refers to corporate publications such as newsletters, employee manuals and annual reports, or any situation in which a creative professional was paid to produce a work for another party.

What, you may ask, happened to the second rule? Well, this one is a bit more complicated. Between 1923 and March 1, 1989, there are several factors to consider when determining whether a work is considered public domain.

If the work was published in the United States between 1923 and March 1, 1989, current copyright protection depends on whether certain formalities were observed such as notice of copyright, registration, and/or renewal.

Huh?

In order to understand this rule, you must know about the various changes to copyright law that occurred in this period. Following is a general description of which works are considered public domain—but keep in mind there are some exceptions.

1. Any work published in the United States without a valid copyright notice between 1923 and 1978 is now in the public domain.Prior to the law granting copyright protection to all creative works, published or unpublished, a tangible copyright notice must appear within the work. Otherwise it is public domain. However, published works during this period with a copyright notice are protected for up to 75 years. The words “up to” are important, because not all of the work falling within this time frame has a 75-year copyright. Which brings us to the second clarification to this rule...

2. Any work published in the United States between 1923 and 1963 with a copyright notice that was not renewed is now in the public domain.

The Copyright Act of 1909, which remained in effect through January 1, 1978, stated that any work with a copyright notice was protected for two consecutive terms of 28 years each. However, the second term of protection was only granted to works whose authors or creators filed a renewal application with the copyright office prior to the expiration of the first term. Therefore, works published and copyrighted between 1923 and 1978 were protected for a total of 28 or 56 years from the date of publication, depending on whether or not they were renewed.

To further complicate matters, the Copyright Act of 1976 (which went into effect in 1978) took into consideration the shorter term of previously published works in comparison to the 75-year protection that was then being extended. The second term for works who had applied for copyright renewal was lengthened to 47 years, in order to equal a total of 75 years for the two terms combined. This extension did not affect works whose copyright was not renewed.

In 1998, then-President Clinton quietly signed into effect the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, sponsored by the late singer-songwriter and congressman. This virtually unnoticed law extended copyright protection for works renewed after 1923 a further twenty years, for a total protection term of 95 years. Some believe this particular protection will be extended every time Mickey Mouse nears passage into the public domain, as the Disney Corporation contributed significantly to the lobby for passing this law. For now, the expiration time stands at 95 years.

(An important note: In 1992, the Copyright Renewal Act eliminated the need for the filing of a renewal application. Therefore, any work first published between January 1, 1964, and December 31, 1977, was automatically renewed for the extended 47-year copyright protection term.)The only way to tell whether a copyright registered between 1923 and 1963 was renewed is to obtain a certified copyright search report (a process that will be covered further in this book). But there is good news: this pool of available material is larger than you might think. Only 7 percent of books published in the United States through 1958 were renewed for a second term. So checking into copyright renewal for works from this period will more often than not prove worth your while!

The final stipulation to works produced prior to the 1989 blanket copyright protection law is this:3. Any work published in the United States between 1978 and March 1, 1989, without copyright notice that was not registered at the Copyright Office is now in the public domain.

Since automatic copyright protection did not go into effect until the 1989 law, and copyrighted work after 1978 was given a 75-year term of protection, any work published without notice prior to March 1, 1989, is considered public domain. Registration was encouraged but not necessary; works during this period with copyright notices are protected for 70 years from the death of the author, just as all post-3/1/89 works are.There is one final exception to all of the above rules: United States government works. (Are you surprised? 

The government is exempted from everything else!) 

Any publication released by the federal government is considered public domain, regardless of publication date, and is not protected under copyright law. Entrepreneurs have made successful businesses based entirely on repackaging and selling copies of government publications.Be aware, however, that federally funded projects written by non-government authors are covered by the copyright protection extended to works of corporate authorship. 

Also, state and local government publications may be copyrighted.

http://bit.ly/2X5Arkk