Public Domain works are creative works that are no longer protected under copyright because either:
- The rights have expired.
- This can get complicated depending on when and where the work was originally created. See this table from Cornell Law for more information.
- The rights have been purposefully waived
- Some creators do not wish to protect their work with copyrights. They may still come with stipulations on use, see the Creative Commons page.
- The work was produced by the U.S. Government.
- Or they may not be applicable.
- Work must be in a fixed tangible medium to be covered by copyright protections, which means that ideas, thoughts, common facts, etc. cannot be copyrighted.
