Public domain
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[edit] Copyright Law
[edit] Definition
The term public domain is an often misunderstood and misused term. Generally it means that the material is not protected by copyright. There are three situations in which a work will be in the public domain: (i) a work for which copyright protection was never available; (ii) a work for which copyright protection was never properly secured, and (iii) a work for which copyright protection has expired or has otherwise been lost.
One definition of public domain is:
- . . . consisting of works that are either ineligible for copyright protection or with expired copyrights. Public domain refers to the total absence of copyright protection for work The public domain is a range of abstract materials commonly referred to as intellectual property which are not owned or controlled by anyone. The term indicates that these materials are therefore "public property," and available for anyone to use for any purpose.[1]
[edit] Effect of the Public Domain
"[T]he bedrock principle of copyright law [is] that works in the public domain remain there."[2] "[O]nce the . . . copyright monopoly has expired, the public may use the . . . work at will and without attribution."[3] "These imaginative works inspire new creations, which in turn inspire others, hopefully, ad infinitum. This cycle is what makes copyright 'the engine of free expression.'" [4]
However, works that are in the public domain in the United States may still be protected by copyright elsewhere in the world.
[edit] Patent Law
"Congress may not authorize the issuance of patents whose effects are to remove existent knowledge from the public domain, or to restrict free access to materials already available."[5]
[edit] References
- ↑ Public Domain Definition
- ↑ See Golan v. Gonzales, 501 F.3d 1179, 1187 (10th Cir. 2007).
- ↑ Dastar Corp. v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., 539 U.S. 23, 33–34 (2003).
- ↑ Golan v. Holder, 2009 WL 928327, 90 U.S.P.Q.2d (BNA) 1202 (D. Colo. 2009), citing Harper & Row Publishers, Inc. v. Nation Enters., 471 U.S. 539, 558 (1985).
- ↑ Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 6 (1966)/
