Amazon.com: The Public Domain: How to Find & Use Copyright-free Writings, Music, Art & More: 9781413304541: Fishman, Stephen: Books

The Public Domain is the definitive guide to the creative works that are not protected by copyright and can be copied freely or otherwise used without paying permission fees. The book explains step-by-step how to recognize when a work is in the public domain. Chapters cover: § writings § music § art § architecture § maps § choreography § photography § film and video § computer software and databases The book also lists hundreds of resources, such as websites, libraries and archives, useful for locating public domain works. Still the only book of its kind, the 3rd edition is completely updated, covering several new copyright cases, as well as additional information about the emergence of the Copyright Commons.

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Public Domain, The: How to Find & Use Copyright-Free Writings, Music, Art & More
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"A superb offering showing how to avoid lawsuits by getting one's handson thousands of public domain songs, movies and manuscripts." -- James Coates, Chicago Tribune

"How do you tell the difference between what's copyrighted and what isn't? A good starting point is StephenFishman's Public Domain." -- Associated Press

"The constitutional guarantee of a public domain was one of the Framers' most important gifts to our cultural tradition. -- Laurence Lessig, author, Code & Other Laws of Cyberspace

About the Author

Stephen Fishman received his law degree from the University of Southern California in 1979. After stints in government and private practice, he became a full-time legal writer in 1983. He has helped write and edit over a dozen reference books for attorneys. He is the author of Web & Software Development: A Legal Guide, The Copyright Handbook, Consultant & Independent Contractor Agreements, Working for Yourself, and Working With Independent Contractors, all published by Nolo.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Nolo; 3rd edition (January 1, 2006)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 538 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1413304540
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1413304541
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.95 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7 x 1.25 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #8,351,715 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #677 in Copyright Law
- #30,634 in Law (Books)

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Stephen Fishman

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Stephen Fishman has dedicated his career as an attorney and author to writing useful, authoritative and recognized guides on taxes and business law for entrepreneurs, independent contractors, freelancers and other self-employed people, as well as books on copyright law and the public domain. He is the author of over 20 books and hundreds of articles, and has been quoted in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, and many other publications. He lives in Alameda, California with his wife.

His website is at www.fishmanlawandtaxfiles.com

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Customers find this guide to be a fantastic resource, describing it as a must-have for creative people. The book thoroughly examines public domain, with one customer noting it covers everything needed to understand it. They appreciate the material quality, with one review mentioning it serves as a huge source of material.

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11 customers mention "Advice"11 positive0 negative

Customers find the book to be a fantastic and thorough guide, describing it as a must-have for creative people.

"...on how to find and use material that is copyright free, making it immensely useful for many types of writers and artists...." Read more

"...endevour, this book offers a huge source of material, content and ideas." Read more

"This is a great "how to" book on negotiating the tricky slopes of using any kind of materials with or without copyrights...." Read more

"Fantastic guide, covers everything you need to know about public domain. I have learned so much from this book...." Read more

3 customers mention "Content"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's content, with one review noting it thoroughly examines public domain and covers everything needed to understand it, while another mentions it reveals sources of copyright-free books.

"...is a ton of information on how to find and use material that is copyright free, making it immensely useful for many types of writers and artists...." Read more

"...Because it thoroughly examines public domain, especially legal aspects of it including finding out whether or not a work is in the public domain, it..." Read more

"Fantastic guide, covers everything you need to know about public domain. I have learned so much from this book...." Read more

3 customers mention "Material quality"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the material quality of the book, with one noting it serves as a huge source of content.

"...There is a ton of information on how to find and use material that is copyright free, making it immensely useful for many types of writers and..." Read more

"...or inspiration for any creative endevour, this book offers a huge source of material, content and ideas." Read more

"Excellent, thorough and high quality." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

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Brontë Fan
A fantastic resource
Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2008
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Truth be told, I first borrowed this book from the library, then renewed it, so I see that I will want to have my own copy on hand as reference. It is clear, easy to use, and thorough. There is a ton of information on how to find and use material that is copyright free, making it immensely useful for many types of writers and artists. This is not about profiting off the work of others. Many creative individuals enjoy dipping back into the past in order to create new works, make commentary, or utilize unique visual material. This book shows you how to do so legally and economically.

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3 people found this helpful

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Thomas Reiter
Excellent, practical advice
Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2004
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I made the mistake of buying the first edition of this book (published in 2001), but found it to be an excellent guide to the legal issues involved with public domain textual material. I have already published one book which relied heavily on public domain materials, and am working on a second, and when I bought this book I had several specific questions that I was trying to answer. This book answered all of them, as well as some that I hadn't thought of! I'll probably end up buying the second edition, just to see what has changed in the last few years.

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20 people found this helpful

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Morgan Davies
The Public Domain - Revealed
Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2009
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The Public Domain shows you how you can make money with public domain books, articles, music, and more. It reveals sources of public domain books, articles, music, and so on, both old and new. Because it thoroughly examines public domain, especially legal aspects of it including finding out whether or not a work is in the public domain, it can help keep you avoid legal problems.

If you are looking for material or inspiration for any creative endevour, this book offers a huge source of material, content and ideas.

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4 people found this helpful

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Kath in CO
How to Be Smart in Using Free Materials
Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2013
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This is a great "how to" book on negotiating the tricky slopes of using any kind of materials with or without copyrights. There is some repetition, but it allows you to read the chapters you need as stand-alines. Good for background on understanding U.S. copyright law and the changes for different time periods

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2 people found this helpful

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Sandra Hope
Good Basic Info But Non-Specific
Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2006
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I probably had the wrong expectations for this book but I was hoping it would (quickly) help me validate whether info I've used required permission. I suppose it did this in an indirect way, however, the free use stuff included old songs etc. that were not appropriate for my topic.

Book is well written so long as it fits with what you need to validate.

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5 people found this helpful

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Vicki Becker
Great Reference Guide!
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2012
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Fantastic guide, covers everything you need to know about public domain. I have learned so much from this book. The author is extremely knowledgeable, the book is well organized and written. If you need to know public domain laws get the book!

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2 people found this helpful

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Eric Therrien
Public domain movie use, useless in public settings. Whole thin waste of time.
Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2023
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“People and companies often get so upset about competitive uses that that they often file lawsuits even when the material invilved is not especially valuable”.
I had hoped to talk to the city, and show a few public domain movies, Such as “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” in July, in a local park. The city has been battling a homelessness problem, coupled with an opioid epidemic coming out of covid, and it would be a nice break fir everyone.I already volunteer doing DJ work for seniors, at several sites.
The problem is if I did just that, the movie theaters in a nearby town, would most likely find a way to file a lawsuit, to protect their interests. Even though i would be in the right, being a disabled veteran, with little income, i could not afford a lawyer to defend myself in court, and would just get harrased.
And as horrible as it is “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians”, is better than anything than Disney has produced in the last 3 years, so i can see why they’d be ticked off.Which is why you NEVER, see anyone doing public performances of old public domain movies, ANYWHERE.
Maybe if it was a stupid movie at a convention or something, you could get away with it. But as usual the law is weaponized against the average citizen in the US, and our rights are just trampled on by those with the money, to tie things up in court, with lawyers.

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Rita Mills
Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2015
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This had so much good info in it that I bought another one for a friend.

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Top reviews from other countries

Tyler Jackson Toyne
Essential Book for Documentary Filmmakers
Reviewed in Canada on September 19, 2024
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If you want to figure out how to access millions of hours of marvelous footage that is free to use, then look no further. This book is amazing.

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Dr. P. R. Lewis
Public property
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 3, 2012
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When a work loses copyright protection, it falls into the Public Domain and can then be used freely by anyone, much like patents after 20 years. Copyright protection lasts much longer, 70 years after the death of the author, so care is needed in determining the status of any work before copying. The book on the Public Domain is based on US law, although UK law is very similar in most respects. There are some important exceptions however. Thus all US government works are by their constitution, automatically in the public domain, and the vast archives can be used freely by anyone (why doesn't the UK follow this lead?). All patents are also public property, everywhere, so an author can legitimately publish patents or patent diagrams freely, even before the 20 year limit is reached. And the number of copyright-free books, articles and papers are collected together in a growing number of websites, such as the famous Gutenburg project shows. The author of this book provides a detailed guide to researching such websites, and gives essential guidance to all those who want to use such sources. However, a number of institutions both in the USA and the UK, such as libraries and universities, make money from such free works by demanding a licence to use those works, an insidious process of theft from the public. We came across the practice when writing a new book on the Tay bridge disaster ( Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay: Reinvestigating the Tay Bridge Disaster of 1879 (Revealing History) ), and we used a number of copyright-free photographs held by a university library. We paid the fee for use of the material in teaching texts, but when I subsequently used the same images in a book, an extra fee was demanded. I subsequently bought my own copies of the images on e-bay for a small sum, and to ensure that the public could use them freely, I downloaded them to Wikipedia Commons, where they now sit and are free for anyone to download and use as they wish. The university library has lost the publicity for such photographs by its own restrictive and miserly policies. And the book reviewed here discusses the same monopolistic practices in the USA. But there may be many other sources of those works, which will entail some research and diligence to discover. The Commons movement has grown apace as authors such as myself, scan and send such material to sites like Wikipedia for the public good. In other examples, I have placed my own forensic photographs on Wikipedia to illustrate failure phenomena for example, so others can benefit. The book on the Public Domain is a superb resource for all authors and others, such as teachers and lecturers, and as far as I know, is unique. However, it would be helpful if a British edition tuned to the UK resource base could be published.

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