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Copyright Basics and Beyond: Copyright Term and the Public Domain

What Is the Public Domain?

What is the Public Domain?

The public domain refers to all material that is not under copyright protection, and can therefore be used freely and without restriction. This includes works that have exceeded the duration of copyright, works produced by federal or state governments, and works that have been dedicated to the public domain by their creators.

Additional Resources

Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States

(See footnote 1)

 

Disclaimer & CC License

Information contained on this website is educational in nature and is not to be construed as legal advice.


Creative Commons License
This guide was originally designed by Cornell University under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License