public domain
Copyright-free zone
Public domain describes creative works not protected by copyright, trademark, or patent—free for anyone to use, copy, or adapt without permission.
Works enter the public domain when intellectual property rights expire, are forfeited, or never existed: Shakespeare's plays are in the public domain.
Government documents are often public domain by law.
The term extends beyond creative works to mean generally available: That information is already in the public domain.
Legal rights over inventions
- royalty-freeNo per-use payments
- unpatentedWithout legal invention protection
- fair useLimited copying permitted legally
- licenseFormal grant of permission
infringement · expiration · nonproprietary · prior art · Creative Commons · legal doctrine · statute · open access
Enduring fictional works
- folk songsInherited communal music
- ShakespeareElizabethan dramatist and poet
- MozartEighteenth-century Austrian composer
- ancient textsHistorical written documents
traditional melodies · vintage photographs · historical maps · nursery rhymes · fairy tales · mythology · legends · classical compositions
Great age, ancient era
- artifactsHuman-made historical objects
- monumentsStructures commemorating notable achievements
- cultural heritageInherited collective traditions
- archaeologyStudy of physical remnants
traditions · oral history · indigenous knowledge · collective memory · historical records · ancient manuscripts · ethnomusicology · folk art
Electronic collection of texts
- digitizationAnalog-to-electronic transformation
- preservationMaintaining something's condition
- scanBrief visual sweep
- transcriptionWritten version of speech
intellectual property
Legal rights over inventions
- royalty-freeNo per-use payments
- unpatentedWithout legal invention protection
- fair useLimited copying permitted legally
license · infringement · expiration · nonproprietary · prior art · Creative Commons · legal doctrine · statute · open access · dedication
classic literature
Enduring fictional works
- folk songsInherited communal music
- ShakespeareElizabethan dramatist and poet
- MozartEighteenth-century Austrian composer
ancient texts · traditional melodies · vintage photographs · historical maps · nursery rhymes · fairy tales · mythology · legends · classical compositions · silent films
antiquity
Great age, ancient era
- artifactsHuman-made historical objects
- monumentsStructures commemorating notable achievements
- cultural heritageInherited collective traditions
archaeology · traditions · oral history · indigenous knowledge · collective memory · historical records · ancient manuscripts · ethnomusicology · folk art · customs
digital library
Electronic collection of texts
- digitizationAnalog-to-electronic transformation
- preservationMaintaining something's condition
- scanBrief visual sweep
- Open Dataopen data, data access, open government, data sharing, FOIA
- publishing lawcopyright, infringement, reproduction rights, distribution rights, digital rights
- booksnovel, textbooks, study guides, book, paperback
- publishingpublishers, editors, editor, books, publications
- book worlddystopian fiction, young adult fiction, fantasy novels, graphic novels, memoir
- e-booksebook, e-books, PDF, Kindle, download
public domaincopyrighted
Legally owned creative work
patented · trademarked · proprietary · all rights reserved · registered trademark
public domainrestricted
Limited in scope
closed · exclusive · paywalled · private · restricted access
public, domain, publish, republic, publication, publicity, publishing, published, publisher