Copyright corner: importance of the public domain

摘要

What is the public domain and why is it important in copyright law? Nearly everyone has heard the term and has at least a vague notion of why it is important, but a deeper understanding of the value of the public domain is important for librarians, especially as copyright holders try to expand their rights. A shorthand definition of a "public domain" work is that the work is the opposite of a copyrighted work. Works that are copyrighted have a bundle of rights associated with them. The owner of thecopyright has the exclusive right to reproduce and distribute the work, adapt it, publicly perform and display it and, if the work is a sound recording, to publicly perform it by digital means. If the work is within the public domain, there are no ownership rights associated with the work. It may be said that everyone and no one owns the work. Therefore, anyone may re produce the work, distribute it, adapt it, etc.