29
votes
Accepted
Are the Quotations in a Book of Quotations Copyrighted?
The copyright on the book of quotations protects the collection. That is, it protects the author's choice of which quotations to include, and of what order to list them in. It also covers any ...
- 113k
22
votes
Accepted
What is the copyright status of a journal article written more than 70 years ago?
The article is public domain. The pictures aren’t
If this was first published in the British Empire (as it then was), then The UK is the place of first publication. What follows is its status under UK ...
- 198k
22
votes
Accepted
"Public domain": Can I sell prints of the James Webb Space Telescope?
Yes.
I am tempted to leave the above as the entirety of my answer, but to expand:
Yes, you can do that. You won't (as a business matter) be able to charge all that much because many people will ...
21
votes
Accepted
Is the U.S. Code copyrighted by the Government?
US Laws are Free of Copyright
Federal Works
17 USC 105 says:
Copyright protection under this title is not available for any work of the United States Government, but the United States Government ...
- 113k
21
votes
Accepted
Are works created by US government employees in the performance of their duties treated as public domain outside the US?
There are several official and unofficial sources that say that the public domain status of works of the US Federal Government only applies within the US.
Specifically:
"Government Works" on ...
- 113k
14
votes
Who, if anyone, owns the copyright to mugshots in the United States?
The Mugshot was most likely made by a state employee in the course of their work.
Employees don't get a copyright for works from their work but their employers do so generally, as that is work for ...
- 33.4k
14
votes
Accepted
Can patents be featured/explained in a youtube video i.e. are patent descriptions/images in public domain?
The government's position is that material in the patent documents is generally in the public domain
See Public Domain Copyright Trademark & Patent Information Schedule:
As part of the terms of ...
- 43.3k
13
votes
Are designs explained in academic publications considered to be in public domain if there isn't yet a patent application about it?
Designs in publications are prior art
If a party publishes a design in any way to the public, no other party can patent it and the publishing party only has a narrow window to file for a patent if the ...
- 33.4k
11
votes
Accepted
How can NaxosofAmerica claim copyright for classical music in Youtube?
I know that classical music is public domain, so no-one can claim that they own classical music.
That's not quite right, at least not under US law. First off, "classical music" is a style, and music ...
- 23.6k
11
votes
Copyright transcription of public domain music?
I originally wrote
A "transcription" and an "arrangement" are not at all the same thing.
But it seems that this was not quite correct.
Transcription
Merriam-Webste definers the ...
- 113k
10
votes
Accepted
Can I scan in pre-1923 photographs from books and upload them to wikipedia without violating copyright?
Date and Place of Publication Matter
If the photographs were published in the US prior to 1923 (or indeed now prior to 1927) by a US resident, they are now in the public domain (PD) in the US under US ...
- 113k
9
votes
Can a library forbid me to make copies of un-copyrighted material?
More generally, the university gets to set whatever rules it wants, unless there is a law limiting what it can do. For example, in the US a government university (qua arm of government) cannot require ...
- 210k
9
votes
Is the Scarborough Fair Melody Really in the Public Domain?
Yes
Both melody and lyrics source back to the middle ages, as for instance described here. The difficulty could be to make sure you rely your derived work on a variant that is really in the public ...
- 4,815
8
votes
Are "slavish copies" of public domain work in the public domain?
Bridgeman Art is only binding in New York's Southern District, but the reasoning from its line of cases has been adopted by the Seventh Circuit and Tenth Circuit, and by district courts in California ...
- 57.2k
8
votes
Accepted
Does public domain give me the right to take old work out of context, such as claimed in this SMBC comic?
Yes it does.
You can do anything at all with a public domain work, and it is not an infringement of copyright. For the matter of that, one could write a forwards attributes to Justinian or Genghis ...
- 113k
8
votes
Are designs explained in academic publications considered to be in public domain if there isn't yet a patent application about it?
Is an academic journal publication considered a public display of
information or isn't considered so depending on the publication being
an open-access one or not? (Is there any difference whether the
...
- 195k
7
votes
Accepted
Can I release all my copyrighted works into the public domain upon my death?
Under US copyright law, all works are protected by copyright except for US Government works. The concept of "public domain" is not legally well-defined, and is used colloquially to refer to government ...
- 210k
7
votes
Are "slavish copies" of public domain work in the public domain?
German perspective:
In German law, there is the concept of Schöpfungshöhe (threshold of originality), which is required for authorship rights (Urheberrecht) to apply to a work.
Basically, the idea ...
- 7,839
7
votes
Accepted
Licensing an idea to public?
You are correct that it is quite expensive to patent something in U.S. law.
Under U.S. patent law, once an idea is publicly published, if no one else has a patent application for the same idea that ...
- 195k
7
votes
Does copyright apply to Stack Exchange answers and comments?
Stack Exchange questions are not public domain, they are protected by copyright. Authors have granted a license under Subscriber Content, specifically content
is perpetually and irrevocably licensed ...
- 210k
7
votes
I bought a premium domain and now the registrar says that domain wasn't really available for purchase
No
You agreed to this:
If the change of ownership from Seller to Buyer is not able to be completed (i) due to either party’s fraudulent activity or (ii) for any other reason, Buyer and Seller ...
- 198k
6
votes
Are national flags in the public domain?
Prima facie all flags would be artistic works with copyright vesting in their creators; either the designer or the designer's employer. The copyright is probably owned by the government of the ...
- 198k
6
votes
Accepted
Is it safe to use public domain images of Wikipedia for commercial purposes (like printing on a product)?
No, it is certainly not legally safe to sell a shirt with such an image printed on it. There are two compatible facts to consider:
Wikipedia is correct that the image is not covered by copyright in ...
- 3,329
6
votes
Accepted
Is there any way in which a plain electronic copy of a public domain document is copyrightable?
Not in US law, at least. Under the 1999 decision Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp (36 F. Supp. 2d 191) such images are not protected by copyright. As the Wikipedia article says, the court here
...
- 113k
6
votes
Accepted
Could I write a new Frankenstein book since it's public domain?
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is indeed public domain so you are free to use that character.
However, a lot of what we think of as "Frankenstein" is not Mary Shelly, for example, the iconic ...
- 198k
6
votes
If Van Gogh is in Public Domain, why there are restrictions in the Van Gogh museum?
There isn’t a legal restriction
Which is to say they could show replica’s if they wanted to; they just don’t want to. This is fairly typical - art museums display art, not reproductions of art. They ...
- 198k
6
votes
Accepted
Is it possible to enter a work into public domain by transfering copyright to a dead person?
It doesn't work, just like transferring the copyright to a young person to make it last longer doesn't work.
In places where the length of copyright depends on the death of someone, it always ...
- 32.9k
6
votes
What happens if you create something (e.g. a book/game/show) which includes copyrighted content, then release it into the public domain?
Copyrights, in general, relate to the right of copying or reproduction.
Another’s copyright may be substantially violated and causing harm even if one doesn’t monetize on it: A free access to the work ...
- 3,875
6
votes
Accepted
Can we be sued for using a meme for naming our company?
A phrase which is too generic or in too wide currnt use to be a valid trademark, may nevertheless be used as a business name or slogan.
For example "Good Pizza" is so generic that I am ...
- 113k
5
votes
Accepted
Legal distribute a book by Isaac Asimov
As the quote in your question notes (albeit in contrapositive form), Asimov's fiction may be made legally available for free download on the net with the permission of his estate.
It is either that ...
- 3,329
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