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Public Domain

*June 2019

This instructional module is not intended as legal advice. All Opening Up Copyright modules are made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC-BY-4.0) International license.

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WHICH WORKS ARE PUBLIC?

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PUBLIC DOMAIN AND COPYRIGHT

THE UNIVERSE

Of

ALL CREATIVE WORKS!

PUBLIC DOMAIN

PUBLICLY AVAILABLE

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PUBLIC DOMAIN AND COPYRIGHT

Copyright waived

Copyright expired

Protected by copyright

Copyright ineligible

PUBLIC DOMAIN

Within this universe there are [c] works protected by copyright.

Some creative works were once protected by copyright, [c] but the term of copyright has expired. These works are now in the [c] public domain.

�There are also works that are eligible for copyright protection, but that protection has been [c] waived, such as through a CC0 designation. These works are also effectively in the [c] public domain.

�Finally, all works that are [c] not eligible for copyright protection, (and, which are not eligible for any other form of intellectual property protection, like trademarks, patents, or industrial designs) [c] are in the public domain.

�[c] The public domain is a key source of ideas and inspiration for all creators. It is everyone’s intellectual commons. Works that are in the public domain are not protected by copyright and can be used without restriction.

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PUBLIC DOMAIN AND COPYRIGHT

Copyright waived

Copyright expired

Protected by copyright

Copyright ineligible

PUBLIC DOMAIN

Copyright protects expressions—not ideas�
Facts and ideas are not protected by copyright

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NOT ELIGIBLE FOR �COPYRIGHT PROTECTION

Copyright ineligible

Facts

Laws of nature

Mathematical expressions

Names

Isaac Newton

Leonhardt Euler

1 + 7 = 9

#FakeNews!

eⁱ^π + 1 = 0

wut?

Edmonton Oilers

TM

Euler’s identity

Oilers identity

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NOT ELIGIBLE FOR �COPYRIGHT PROTECTION

Copyright ineligible

Facts

Laws of nature

Mathematical expressions

Names

Numerical data

Ingredients & instructions

Edmonton Oilers

TM

Euler’s identity

Oilers identity

Leonhardt Euler

Isaac Newton

3.6

3.9

3.0

2.8

4.0

3.5

3.9

3.8

4.0

3.7

3.9

GPA Scores for Isaac Newton

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COPYRIGHT EXPIRED

Copyright waived

Copyright expired

Protected by copyright

PUBLIC DOMAIN

Copyright ineligible

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MATERIAL FOR WHICH COPYRIGHT HAS EXPIRED

Copyright expired

In Canada, copyright terms may vary for:

works by organizations
government works
anonymous works
sound recordings

50 years

Death

∞

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WELL, ACTUALLY…

On December 30, 2022, the 20-year extension to the general term of copyright protection in Canada, which was a requirement under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), came into force.

The term of copyright protection was changed from life of the author plus 50 years ("Life + 50") to Life + 70. This 20-year extension does not apply retroactively to works already in the public domain in 2022.

We interrupt this instructional module �to bring you important information about the term of copyright protection in Canada.

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MATERIAL FOR WHICH COPYRIGHT HAS EXPIRED

Copyright expired

50 years

100 years

70 years

International

minimum!

Death

∞

Resize…

problems

50 years

Resize…

problems

70 years

Not anymore!

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MATERIAL FOR WHICH COPYRIGHT HAS EXPIRED

Copyright expired

WE BELONG TO THE PEOPLE NOW!

OH GOODY

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MATERIAL FOR WHICH COPYRIGHT HAS EXPIRED

Copyright expired

Copyright Terms by Country (data from 2015, updated 2022)

Also big

Big here

So big

Not small

Larger too

Not so much

Larger Public domain

Not so much

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MATERIAL FOR WHICH COPYRIGHT HAS EXPIRED

Copyright expired

#DED

WE’RE FREE!

CANLIT FTW

Y’ALL CAN’T

COPYRIGHT

THE

PUBLIC

DOMAIN!

1964

2015

2017

Public domain

Not so much

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COPYRIGHT WAIVED

Copyright waived

Copyright expired

Protected by copyright

PUBLIC DOMAIN

Copyright ineligible

PUBLIC DOMAIN

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COPYRIGHT WAIVED

Copyright waived

U.S. Federal Government’s waiver of copyright �(17 U.S.C. §105)

Canada’s Crown copyright (Copyright Act s.12)

WE BELONG TO THE PEOPLE!

WE DON’T!

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COPYRIGHT WAIVED

Copyright waived

Creative Commons Zero (CC0) Designation

When you use the CC0 mark:

You surrender all rights
You do not have to be attributed as the creator

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IDENTIFYING�PUBLIC DOMAIN WORKS

Copyright waived

#DED

OLD

FREE

WAS THE CREATOR A CORPORATION?

WHEN DID THE LAST CO-CREATOR DIE?

WAS THE WORK PUBLISHED?

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES

You should now be able to:

Describe the public domain’s scope and relationship with copyright

Recognize the three categories of works in the public domain

Identify public domain works

Contribute your own works to the public domain

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION

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A work can be simultaneously in the public domain and protected by copyright in Canada:

True
False

Which of the following works would not be in the public domain in Canada:

A work for which the term of copyright has expired
A work which was never protected by copyright
A work for which copyright protection has been waived
A Government of Canada report published in 1982

QUESTIONS

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Select the factor that would be relevant for determining if a single-authored book is in the public domain:

The book has a Creative Commons Attribution [CC-BY] license
The book was published in France
The author died in 1964
The author was Canadian

One way an author can place a work in the public domain is to:

Make it available on the public internet
Apply to the Copyright Board of Canada
Get approval from the Minister of Innovation
Assign a CC0 license

QUESTIONS

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Ashby, M. & Nickle, D. (Eds.). Licence Expired: The Unauthorized James Bond. ChiDunnit.

Boyle, J. (2008).The Public Domain. Yale University Press. http://thepublicdomain.org/thepublicdomain1.pdf

Brin, L. & Swartz, M. (2022). 6 The Public Domain and Libraries: History, Contexts, Threats and Opportunities. In J. Coates, V. Owen & S. Reilly (Eds.), Navigating Copyright for Libraries: Purpose and Scope (pp. 133-152). De Gruyter Saur. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110732009-008

Canadian Association of Research Libraries. (2023, February 27). Frequently Asked Questions About Term Extension for Authored Works. https://www.carl-abrc.ca/influencing-policy/copyright/faq-term-extension-for-authored-works/

Craig, C. J. (2010). The Canadian Public Domain: What, Where, and to What End? Canadian Journal of Law and Technology, 7, 221-241. https://works.bepress.com/carys_craig/27/

The Public Domain Manifesto: https://publicdomainmanifesto.org/manifesto/

Public Domain Review’s Guide to Finding Interesting Public Domain Works on the Internet: https://publicdomainreview.org/guide-to-finding-interesting-public-domain-works-online/

REFERENCES AND RESOURCES

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Sheppard, Adrian. (2022, December 12). Reconsidering the Copyright Bargain: the impacts of the CUSMA term extension. The Quad. https://www.ualberta.ca/the-quad/2022/12/reconsidering-the-copyright-bargain-the-impacts-of-the-cusma-term-extension.html

University of Alberta Copyright Office – Public Domain Flowchart: https://www.ualberta.ca/faculty-and-staff/copyright/intro-to-copyright-law/licensed-royalty-free-content/pd-flowchart---types.html

Wikimedia Public Domain Images: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Free_media_resources/Photography

REFERENCES AND RESOURCES

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Mixmaster_Andy. (2017). Krupnyj Plan. Pixabay. Pixabay License. https://pixabay.com/videos/krupnyj-plan-books-choice-12802/

PNG All. (2016). Galaxy PNG Image. PNG All. CC BY-NC. http://www.pngall.com/?p=14390

PNG All. (2016). Galaxy PNG Clipart. PNG All. CC BY-NC. http://www.pngall.com/?p=14352

PNG All. (2016). Galaxy Transparent. PNG All. CC BY-NC. http://www.pngall.com/?p=14481

PNG All. (2016). Galaxy. PNG All. CC BY-NC. http://www.pngall.com/?p=14524

Barrington Bramley.(1992). Copy of Godfrey Kneller’s Isaac Newton portrait. Wikimedia. Public Domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GodfreyKneller-IsaacNewton-1689.jpg

Jakob Emmanuel Handmann. (1753). Portrait of Leonhardt Euler. Wikimedia. Public Domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leonhard_Euler_by_Handmann.png

OpenClipart-Vectors. (2016). Book Cook Eat… Pixabay. Pixabay License. https://pixabay.com/images/id-1292854/

Adrien Coquet. (2019). Exclamation. The Noun Project. CC BY. https://thenounproject.com/browse/icons/term/exclamation/

IMAGE AND SOUND REFERENCES

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Record scratch. (2022). Pixabay. Pixabay License. �https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/record-scratch-108233/

josemdelaa. (2016). Clock Quick Passage of Time… Pixabay. Pixabay License. https://pixabay.com/videos/id-3019/

William Powell Frith. (1859). Charles Dickens. Wikimedia. Public Domain. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Charles_Dickens_by_Frith_1859.png

Barbara Kraft. (1819). Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Wikimedia. Public Domain. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Wolfgang-amadeus-mozart_1.jpg

Balfour Smith & Canuckguy, Badseed. (2015). List of different countries and the length of their standard copyright in years. Wikimedia. CC BY. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:World_copyright_terms.svg

Paul Baack. (2009). The author was a spy. Flickr. CC BY. https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulbaack/3312630626

SchroCat. (2012). Fleming’s paperback Bonds. Wikimedia. Public Domain. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Fleming%27s_paperback_Bonds.jpg

IMAGE AND SOUND REFERENCES

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OpenClipart-Vectors. (2013). Canada Flag… Pixabay. Pixabay License. https://pixabay.com/images/id-159585/

TheDigitalArtist. (2016). United Kingdom Flag… Pixabay. Pixabay License. https://pixabay.com/images/id-1332946/

TheDigitalArtist. (2016). United States Flag… Pixabay. Pixabay License. https://pixabay.com/images/id-1327120/

StockSnap. (2017). Laptop Computer Browser…. Pixabay. Pixabay License. https://pixabay.com/images/id-2562325/

University of Alberta. (2023). Canadian Copyright Term Flowchart. University of Alberta. CC BY. https://www.ualberta.ca/faculty-and-staff/copyright/intro-to-copyright-law/licensed-royalty-free-content/pd-flowchart---types.html

Closing Slides Music: Rybak, Nazar. (n.d.). Corporate Inspired. HookSounds. CC BY. http://www.hooksounds.com/

Unattributed materials are contributions from the Opening Up Copyright Project Team and placed in the Public Domain.

IMAGE AND SOUND REFERENCES

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University of Alberta. (2019). Public Domain. Opening Up Copyright Instructional Module. https://sites.library.ualberta.ca/copyright/

For the project overview and complete list of modules please visit the project website at: https://sites.library.ualberta.ca/copyright/

Questions, comments, and suggestions should be directed to: ouc@ualberta.ca

This module is made available and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence

Suggested Citation:

LICENSING AND ATTRIBUTION

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Copyright Office

Technologies in Education

Centre for Teaching and Learning

University of Alberta Libraries

School of Library and Information Studies

Adrian Sheppard

Amanda Wakaruk

Mireille Smith

Anwen Burk

Jamie Stewart

Matt Cheung

Cosette Lemelin

Graeme Pate

Krysta McNutt

Michelle Brailey

Jesse Carson

Julia Guy

Kris Joseph

Michael B. McNally

CONTRIBUTORS

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Opening Up Copyright modules were initially funded through the University of Alberta, Centre for Teaching and Learning’s Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund (TLEF) with in kind contributions from the Copyright Office and the School of Library and Information Studies.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT