/Library:Copyright Resources/Public Domain/Resources

Wondering where to find works that are in the Public Domain? Check out these resources:

Important note: neither the authors of this guide nor the owners of the above resources make any guarantee that the content contained in these resources is in the Public Domain. Ultimately, it is up to the individual user to arrive at a final determination based on the information available.

1. The HathiTrust is a digital library that contains over 3,000,000 volumes of Public Domain works - use the "full view" limiter to access the Public Domain works.

2. Project Gutenberg is a collection of over 39,000 freely downloadable e-books, all of which are in the Public Domain. And Project Gutenberg Canada has its own website and collection with more Canadian content than is available at Project Gutenberg, as well as other content which is in the Public Domain in Canada.

3. Internet Archive hosts one of the largest collections of freely available digital content on the Web and includes digitized print books, audio files, moving images and, by means of the Wayback Machine, cached copies of websites. Not all the content is in the Public Domain and please note that the Internet Archive's terms limit use to "scholarship and research purposes only." The copyright status for most content is found in the description menu and Creative Commons licensed materials are also clearly identified with the CC logo appearing under the file links.

A collection of particular note on the Internet Archive is the Prelinger Archive. This is a collection of "approximately 5,000 digitized and videotape titles (all originally derived from film) and a large collection of home movies, amateur and industrial films acquired since 2002. Its goal remains to collect, preserve, and facilitate access to films of historic significance that haven't been collected elsewhere. Included are films produced by and for many hundreds of important US corporations, nonprofit organizations, trade associations, community and interest groups, and educational institutions (Welcome)."
b) The Prelinger Archive materials are all in the Public Domain and the Internet Archive's Terms of Use do not apply to this particular collection. Read the "Rights" menu on the Prelinger Archive's homepage for the permitted uses of this collection.

4. American Memory at the US Library of Congress "provides free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience....These materials, from the collections of the Library of Congress and other institutions, chronicle historical events, people, places, and ideas that continue to shape America, serving the public as a resource for education and lifelong learning" ("Mission and History").

Not all the content is in the Public Domain but the Library provides detailed copyright information in the descriptions for most collections, as well as for individual items in a collection when their copyright status differs from the rest of the collection.
Note: the Library of Congress "does not grant or deny permission to use the content mounted in American Memory....so you must make your own, independent assessment of the legal rights that may exist in the materials. General information about copyright and other rights in the American Memory materials is provided in the Legal Notices page that links from every American Memory page" (FAQ).

5. US federal government publications created from 1976 onwards are usually available online from the US Government Printing Office at http://gpo.gov/. Federal government publications which are prepared by federal employees as part of their official employment enter the Public Domain upon creation, per Title 17, Section 105 of the United States Code. Works created by contractors are generally subject to copyright - with the rights retained by the creator. For a detailed explanation of the Public Domain as it pertains to US Federal Government publications go to askGPO and type "Public Domain" into the search box.

Another great source of US government publications is the website for the Library of Congress: www.loc.gov. Not everything on site is in the Public Domain but the Library generally includes information about copyright status and rights restrictions in the "about this item" section for each item. You can also click the "legal" link which appears on each LOC webpage for general information about copyright and permitted uses of the site's content.
Note: only US gov pubs are in the Public Domain - Canada's (& many other countries') government publications are subject to Crown Copyright.

6. International Music Score Library is an online database of musical scores and recordings. All content is in the Public Domain in Canada or the US. The site includes a "copyright made simple" page that contributors must read before adding content to the portal.

7. Choral Public Domain Library is "an Internet-based free sheet music website which specializes in choral music....The goal of CPDL is to host a large collection of music scores and other supporting files (such as midi or other sound files) which can be freely downloaded and used. Most of the scores on CPDL are modern editions based on older works whose copyright has lapsed (or which are otherwise in the Public Domain), but some scores are newly composed and offered for download by the composer" (What's it all about?).

The content hosted on site is in the Public Domain in the US.
Note: some scores are linked from the site and actually reside on third party websites - in these cases the content may not be in the Public Domain. The onus is on the user to check the copyright statements on each third party website to determine what usage restrictions may apply.

8. Historic American Sheet Music is a project from the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Duke University providing "access to digital images of 3042 pieces from the collection, published in the United States between 1850 and 1920" (About). While the original sheet music in the collection is in the Public Domain, the Library's digitized versions are not and are subject to the terms and conditions laid out as following:

"The materials on this web site are made available for use in research, teaching and private study. For those purposes the user may reproduce these materials (by download, printing, etc.) without further permission, on the condition that proper attribution of the source for all copies is provided by clearly acknowledging the name of the Library, the title of the web page or resource and the URL at which it was located.

For other uses of these materials, i.e. in commercial products, for broadcast, publication or mirroring, permission must be obtained in advance from the Duke University Libraries" (Copyright and Use).

9. Public Domain Sherpa - Public Domain maps is a list of 21 sources for maps in the Public Domain (in the US). As the site itself notes, most links lead to sites with a mixture of Public Domain and copyrighted materials - the ultimate responsibility for checking and adhering to copyright falls to the user.

10. Wikimedia Commons - is a very large online database of freely available media files - primarily images, sounds and videos. It began primarily as a means of providing access to materials which are Creative Commons licensed, but has increasingly been adding files for materials in the Public Domain. Click here for a list of Wikimedia Files with a category of "Public Domain." As always, the onus is on the user to confirm the copyright status of materials used. (For more information about this resource, please see the Wikimedia entry in our Image Sources Directory.)

11. The Data Hub maintains a list of links to collections of materials which are in the Public Domain or which have significant portions of their collections in the Public Domain.