Public Domain & Copyright

August 24, 2009
Intellectual Property News and Interesting Facts

The public domain is most often discussed in contrast to works whose use is restricted by copyright.

Under modern law, most original works of art, literature, music, etc. are covered by copyright from the time of their creation for a limited period of time (which varies by country).

When the copyright expires, the work enters the public domain.

It is estimated that currently, of all the books found in the world’s libraries, only about 15% are in the public domain, even though only 10% of all books are still in print; the remaining 75% are books which remain unavailable because they are still under copyright protection.