Understanding our nation’s copyright law is important, but also complex. Re:Create’s glossary of key copyright terms is a resource to help promote informed discussions about copyright policy. 

Public Domain: The public domain is the treasure trove of material that is free for all to copy, share, and reuse for any lawful purpose. It includes not only creative works that are not subject to copyright, but also aspects of copyrighted works–such as the facts and ideas they communicate, or elements of style and genre they embody–that are basic building blocks of creativity. Works most often enter the public domain because their copyright has expired, but works of the U.S. government are exempt from copyright immediately, as are facts, ideas, and other basic building blocks contained in creative works. 

Why This Matters: The public domain is a critical source of creativity, inspiration, information, and innovation for creators. Public domain works like Homer’s Odyssey, the Bible, and Shakespeare’s plays are the foundations for much of modern storytelling, and Hollywood has used the public domain to create countless new works. Facts, ideas, elements of style and genre, all are in the public domain and are free building blocks for new creative works and tools. Disney has relied on public domain stories for more than 50 of its films, from Aladdin and Alice in Wonderland, to The Lion King and The Jungle Book. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has inspired everything from 2015 film Ex Machina to Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein to The Munsters to the “Monster Mash” song, along with dozens of books, video games, TV episodes, and comic book characters. Technologies powered by fair use, including search engines, text- and data-mining software, and generative AI, can make public domain facts and ideas contained in copyrighted works more accessible and useful. In 2002, prominent economists including Milton Friedman, Ronald Coase, and Kenneth Arrow found that shrinking the public domain harms the public and is a net loss for creativity.