subject: How To Make An Utter Fortune With Public Domain Work [print this page] A work that is in the public domain is any product that is tangible or in a medium that is tangible and is not protected by the Copyright Act of 1976. To be clearer, the following are the criteria of works in the public domain according to Lolly Gasaway of the University of California:
When work is published before 1923, it is in the public domain.
When work is published from 1923 to 1963, it is in public domain if published without notice. A notice means indicating on the published work that it is copyrighted by the author and may not be reproduced without permission. When the work is made available with the notice, then it has a minimum of 28 years in exclusivity with the original author. The copyright can be renewed for another 67 years. After which, it belongs to public domain.
When the work is published with notice from 1964 to 1977, it has exclusive rights to the owner for the first term at 28 years and an automatic extension of 67 years for the second term. Note that according to the Berne Convention Implementation Act, works published without notice from the beginning of 1978 to the end of February 1989 may retain their copyright as per this rule only if they show efforts to correct the accidental omission within five years from publication, like placing notices on the unsold copies.
In 1976, when the Copyright Law was enacted in Congress, it mandated that any product created after the end of 1977 retain exclusive copyrights to its original author for the entire life of the product plus 70 years. If the work is an outcome of corporate authorship, then retention remains for 95 years from the date of publication or 120 years from the date of creation, whichever is shorter. This law applies to work that is fixed in a tangible medium of expression.
However, if works are not published (meaning distributed without notice), then the effective date of 1976 Act (January 1, 1978) will be used as reckoning. The copyright retention is for 70 years in addition to the life or until December 31, 2002, whichever is greater.
When the work is crafted before the end of 1977, but published between that and end of 2002, its effective life begins at the start of 1978 and counts 70 years after that or until December 31, 2047, whichever is greater.
After comprehensive understanding of the implementation rules of the copyright act, how then can you use this to your advantage? Following are some suggestions on how to make utter fortune from works in the public domain. It is unethical and against the law to resell products in the public domain, but if you can create unique ways of using them, you may claim it as your own.
Generate website traffic by publishing excerpts from works in public domain. One of the easiest ways of using works in public domain is to publish trivia about history, science and public domain inventions in your website. Such information can attract people to go to your website and view the rest of the page. As such, you have generated traffic, and it is then up to the rest of the contents of your website to sell unique products of your own or publish original articles with mention to famous public domain works.
Republish public domain works by developing them to modern useful tools. If you come across facts and world trivia, then you may create an online tutorial or class about them. If you have a collection of music in public domain, then you can teach instruments online using them. Or if you find passages alluring to popular subjects such as love, relationships or life, then you may create cards, stationery, etc, that have them.
Create unique products of your own using works in public domain. A proven example of a unique product is to create a compilation of music in the public domain that may cater to a single theme or music genre. People who are looking for such specific collection will likely to buy your compilation. As long as you are able to give proper mention of the original author, then you have done your part.
If you can imagine the possibilities, then the sky is the limit as far as taking advantage of free creativity. It can go where your creativity takes you and you can definitely make utter fortune with public domain works.
