Public domain

The public domain comprises the body of knowledge and innovation (especially creative works such as writing, art, music, and inventions) in relation to which no person or other legal entity can establish or maintain proprietary interests. This body of information and creativity is considered to be part of the common cultural and intellectual heritage of humanity, which in general anyone may use or exploit.

Expiration

In the United States, all copyrights and patents have a finite term; when this expires, the work or invention is released into public domain. In most countries, patents expire 20 years after they are filed. A trademark registration may be renewed and remain in force indefinitely provided the trademark is used, but could otherwise become generic.

Related Topics:
Trademark - Generic

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Copyrights are more complex; generally, they expire in all countries when all of the following conditions are satisfied (except Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, and Samoa):

Related Topics:
Colombia - Guatemala - Mexico - Samoa

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• The work was created and first published before January 1, 1923, or at least 95 years before January 1 of the current year, whichever is later.
• The last surviving author died at least 70 years before January 1 of the current year.
• No Berne Convention signatory has passed a perpetual copyright on the work.
• Neither the United States nor the European Union has passed a copyright term extension since these conditions were last updated. (This must be a condition because the exact numbers in the other conditions depend on the state of the law at any given moment.)

These conditions are based on the intersection of United States and European Union copyright law, which most other Berne Convention signatories recognize.

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Note that copyright term extension under U.S. tradition usually does not restore copyright to public domain works (hence the 1923 date), but European tradition does because the EU harmonization was based on the copyright term in Germany, which had already been extended to life plus 70.

Related Topics:
The EU harmonization - Germany

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United States law

Generally, it is held under Feist that Congress does not have the power to re-copyright works that have fallen into the public domain. But re-copyrighting has happened before. "After World War I and after World War II, there were special amendments to the Copyright Act to permit for a limited time and under certain conditions the recapture of works that might have fallen into the public domain, principally by aliens of countries with which we had been at war." (Testimony of Dorothy Schrader, general counsel of the U.S. copyright office, hearing for H.R. 1623, serial 100/50)

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Works created by a United States government agency are public domain at the moment of creation. Examples are: NASA photographs, military journalism, federal court opinions (but not necessarily state court opinions), congressional committee reports, census data, etc. Availability of such documents may, however, be limited by secrecy laws.

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Before 1978, unpublished works were not covered by the federal copyright act. This does not mean that the works were in the public domain; it means that they were covered under (perpetual) state copyright acts. Web sites that claim that "pre-1923 works are safe" are wrong. These works, now under federal copyright, will not expire for several more decades.

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Until the Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1987, the copyright term in the United States was only five years for works published without a copyright notice, unless the work was registered with the Library of Congress in that time period.

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The contributions to the public domain have been effectively zero for many years now. Critics of copyright term extensions have said that Congress has achieved a perpetual copyright term "on the installment plan." Statement of Professor Peter Jaszi, The Copyright Term Extension Act of 1995: Hearing on S.483 Before the Senate Judiciary Comm., 104th Cong.

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British law

British government works are restricted by either Crown Copyright or Parliamentary Copyright. Published Crown Copyright works become public domain at the end of the year 50 years after they were published, unless the author of the work held copyright and assigned it to the Crown. In that case, the copyright term is the usual life of author plus 70 years. Unpublished Crown Copyright documents become public domain at the end of the year 125 years after they were first created. However, under the legislation that created this rule, and abolished the traditional common law perpetual copyright of unpublished works, no unpublished works will become public domain until 50 years after the legislation came into effect. Since the legislation became law on 1 August 1989, no unpublished works will become public domain under this provision until 2039. Parliamentary Copyright documents become public domain at the end of the year 50 years after they were published. Crown Copyright is waived on some government works provided that certain conditions are met.

Related Topics:
British - Crown Copyright - Parliamentary Copyright - Common law - 1 August - 1989 - 2039

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Canadian and Australian law

These numbers reflect the most recent extensions of copyright in the United States and Europe. Canada and Australia have not, as of 2004, passed similar twenty-year extensions. Consequently, their copyright expiry times are still life of the author plus 50 years. As a result, works ranging from Peter Pan to the stories of H. P. Lovecraft are public domain in both places. (The copyright status of Lovecraft's work is debatable, as no copyright renewals, which were necessary under the laws of that time, have been found. Also, two competing parties have independently claimed copyright ownership on his work.)

Related Topics:
2004 - Peter Pan - H. P. Lovecraft

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As with most other Commonwealth of Nations countries, Canada and Australia follow the general lead of the United Kingdom on copyright of government works. Both have a version of Crown Copyright which lasts for 50 years from publication. New Zealand also has Crown Copyright, but has a much greater time length of protection at 100 years from the date of publication. Ireland also has a fifty year term on government works, although since it is no longer a monarchy, such a copyright is, of course, not called Crown Copyright. India has a government copyright of sixty years from publication, to coincide with its somewhat unusual life of the author plus sixty years term of copyright.

Related Topics:
Commonwealth of Nations - Canada - Australia - New Zealand - Ireland - India

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Examples

Examples of inventions whose patents have expired include the inventions of Thomas Edison.

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Examples of works whose copyrights have expired include the works of Carlo Collodi and most of the works of Mark Twain, excluding the work first published in 2001, A Murder, a Mystery, and a Marriage. In the United States, Frank Capra's classic film, "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946) was put into the public domain in 1974, because someone inadvertently failed to file a copyright renewal application with the Copyright Office during the 28th year after the film's release or publication. It wasn't until 1993 when Republic Pictures relied on the 1990 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Stewart v. Abend to enforce its claim of copyright of the film. As a result, only NBC is currently licensed to show the film on U.S. network television, the colorized versions have been withdrawn and Republic now has exclusive video rights to the film (under license with Artisan Entertainment).

Related Topics:
Carlo Collodi - Mark Twain - A Murder, a Mystery, and a Marriage - Supreme Court - NBC - Artisan Entertainment

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Some works may never fully lapse into the public domain, such as the play Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie. While the copyright of this work expired in the United Kingdom in 1987, it has been granted special treatment under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (Schedule 6) that requires certain royalties to be paid for performances within the UK, so long as Great Ormond Street Hospital continues to exist.

Related Topics:
Peter Pan - J. M. Barrie - Great Ormond Street Hospital

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