Public Domain Profits - What Exactly Is Public Domain?
Public domain actually refers to anything that the public is free to use. This can include areas like community parks, wildlife reserves, or common areas such as shopping malls or downtown squares. As long as any one can visit a place without the potential of being accused of trespassing, then that place is considered public domain.
In addition to places, public domain also refers to creative works. That's where our interests lie. A creative work can also be described as intellectual property, or anything that results from the creative mind of man or woman. These include books, manuscripts, movies, artwork, music, images, photographs, trademarks, and so on.
In recent times, these creative works are automatically protected by copyright laws based on the author's lifespan. This wasn't always the case. Works now in the public domain might never have been registered or protected and even modern works have time restrictions on their copyrights. This is precisely why you may hear others refer to copyright protection as a 'limited monopoly'.
To sum up: Creative works that are not covered by (as a result of ineligibility or expiration) copyright laws belong in the public domain and are open and accessible to anyone who desires to use them.
Public Domain Millionaires
There are a number of methods and strategies you can employ to turn public domain works into a money making business. Some strategies require a lot of involvement from you personally, while others are more lenient on your time and energy.
The choice is completely up to you. As a general rule of thumb, effort begets profit. The more effort you put into something, the more profit you will likely receive.
I'm sure that you've read countless claims that public domain works can be wildly lucrative, but who is to say which of those claims are true?
In later chapters I have provided examples of how I and a few of my friends have profited from public domain works, but let's also look at the bigger picture – because in all honesty, I hope your business grows on to become much larger than mine. (A writer's income can never match that of a savvy entrepreneur!)
Here are a few big name examples of people who made millions thanks to public domain works and a little thing called 'imagination':
Walt Disney built a multi-million dollar business on the backs of timeless stories that the world has loved. His entire empire is based on the characters within these stories that have been modeled in movies, television shows, songs, books, comic books, theme parks, clothing, jewelry and so much more.
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It's been recorded that many of Walt Disney's story lines and inspiration for the plots and characters originated from the Grimm Brother’s Collection of Fairy Tales – a public domain series of works. Walt Disney took those timeless stories, tweaked the characters into something that children of all ages would love, then added upbeat music and a happy ending. A whole new world of magic and a multi-million dollar corporation to profit from was born.
Ted Turner is another multi-millionaire who continues to profit from public domain works. Ted owns Turner Classic Movies (TCM), a television cable network. Most of the movies broadcast on TCM are classic films that have long since entered the public domain.
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Ted Turner only pays a very minimal cost to show those movies to his rabid audience. As an opportunist and entrepreneur, Ted Turner easily recognized the opportunity that public domain works offered.
There are countless more stories of rags-to-riches as a result of public domain works usage. I can't possibly verify which may be true or not, but in following chapters I will share with you some ways and income claims from trustworthy entrepreneurs in my immediate circle.
Are Public Domain Works an American Phenomenon?
As we've discovered then, public domain refers to anything not protected by copyright laws that may therefore be used without permission of, or payments of royalties to, the original author or copyright holder.
Although creative works in the public domain are available to all people to use as they please, the legalities of these vary from country to country. And, there are also a few special cases.
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“It's a Wonderful Life” (1946) by Frank Capra was once in the public domain (1974-1990) when someone dropped the ball and forgot to file a copyright renewal on time. It took nearly over 15 years for Republic Pictures to enforce it's claim (based on the 1990 United States Supreme Court ruling of Stewart vs. Abend). To this day, only NBC is licensed to show the film on U.S. Networks.
Similar extremes exist on the copyright of the play “Peter Pan” by J. M. Barrie. While the copyright expired in 1987 (UK), the creative work was granted special treatment under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988. The copyright states that royalties must be paid for all performances within the UK to Great Ormond Street Hospital.
We'll only be covering the rules and restrictions regarding works originating in the United States of America. To be clear it does not matter which country you live in, only the place of origin of the public domain content you desire to use.
If you have found content that you believe to be in the public domain from another country that you simply must have, you are well advised to spend an hour or so with a Copyright Search firm or Intellectual Property Attorney. (see References on page 48 for country specific resources and information).
In most cases if you are at all uncertain whether a specific work is in public domain, it is advisable to obtain the services of specialists. This manual will take most of the harried guesswork out of the process for you by providing precise instructions and online resources for copyright and renewal searches.
