Content on this site adapted with permission from the Purdue University Office of Copyright.
It is the responsibility of all members of the Purdue University Global community to make a good faith determination that their use of copyrighted materials complies with the United States Copyright Law and Purdue University Global's policies. The purpose of this site is to educate the Purdue University Global community on copyright. The information provided on this site should not be considered legal counsel or legal advice.
Resources within the public domain are usable by everyone, for any purpose, because nobody can claim copyright on them. Traditionally, works were in the public domain due to the copyright expiring. As a general rule, any works published before 1923 is in the public domain. However, works might be in the public domain for other reasons. For example, Creative Commons licenses allow authors the option to put new works into the public domain immediately.
The following site contains more information about what the public domain is.
These websites are known to list content within the Public Domain and often lead to other sites with Public Domain content. However, some may have content not in the Public Domain as well, so please evaluate each resource you find carefully.
