LEARNING OUTCOMES
- Explain what the public domain is
- Communicate the value of the public domain
THE BIG QUESTION: WHY IT MATTERS
Why is it important that works eventually fall out of copyright? Are there any works that do not qualify for copyright protection and may be freely used?
A critical aspect of copyright law is that the protection it provides does not last forever. After a set term, the copyright expires and the work enters the public domain for everyone to copy, adapt, and share. Likewise, there are certain types of works that fall outside the scope of copyright.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: WHY IT MATTERS TO YOU
Have you ever seen ancient Egyptian sculptures in real life? Have you ever listened to a Beethoven symphony? Have you ever read Tolstoy’s novel War and Peace? These works are in the public domain. What other public domain works have you enjoyed in your lifetime? Have you ever created something new using a work in the public domain?
Acquiring Essential Knowledge Despite the expansive reach of copyright, there is still a rich (and growing) public domain full of works which are free from copyright. Works enter the public domain in one of four ways:
! NOTE Moral rights may continue to exist in works that have otherwise entered the public domain. See section 2.1 “Copyright Basics.”
- The copyright expires.
- While copyright terms are longer than ever before, they are not infinite. In most countries, the term of an individual’s copyright expires 50 years after her death. In some countries, the term is longer and can be up to 100 years after the author dies. Review the map in figure 2.3 (earlier in this chapter) for an overview of copyright terms around the world.
- The work was never entitled to copyright protection.
- Copyright covers vast amounts of content created by authors, but certain categories of works fall outside the scope of copyright. For example, works that are purely functional are not copyrightable, like the design of a screw. The Berne Convention identifies additional categories that
