A Crash Course In Plundering The Public Domain…
February 11, 2008 by Logan
Hello!
Welcome to the Pirates of the Public Domain Official Blog. If you are new to the concept of Public Domain, you’re in the right place! Don’t worry, this is just a short trip down memory lane, we’ll just cover what the public domain is and what the obvious advantages are of using public domain works within your online business (and yes, there are a few definitions as well).
Exploring the Public Domain
Now before I get into the whole ‘definition’ phase, let me tell you straight off what you should know before anything else.
The Public Domain is a GOLD MINE.
It is a wonderful resource for instant content - Whether you are looking to add to your regular online business or want to start a new one, you can use public domain works to generate whatever content you need.
• Imagine saving the time required to write your own e-book or 100 articles!
• Imagine saving the money you pay to ghostwriters!
Interested?
Here’s what the Public Domain is:
The Public Domain refers to that huge treasure chest of published or unpublished ‘works’ that are not protected by U.S. or International copyright law. Since the copyright law forbids legal commercial use, the public domain (which contains everything that is not governed by copyright laws) is free for you to use in any commercial setting, without fear of lawsuits or the need for giving credit or reference.
So basically you are free to use this work for your own benefit!
There are two main aspects of the public domain:
• What forms the public domain?
• How can we profit from the public domain?
Let’s look at them one by one.
What forms the public domain?
– All generic information such as facts, figures, scientific knowledge (but not inventions), mathematical formulas, ideas, etc.
– All publications by the U.S. government and its agents.
– Previously copyrighted works that have passed into the public domain due to expired copyright or other reasons (the biggest goldmine in my opinion).
– Work that is placed into the public domain by its owners.
Most of the public domain that we will be looking at is the second and third categories (government publications and previously-copyrighted works) because you can use this works directly – no need to create your own products or content!
How can we profit from the public domain?
This is where it gets interesting. Usually, if you get an idea from a product, or like a book and think about writing something similar, you know that you can’t just copy the product or book directly. That would get you a serious lawsuit for copyright violation.
On the other hand, public domain works are FREE for your use. You can republish them as is, although you might want to make a few changes like adding in your own information, editing layout and packaging, etc. Or if you want, you can use the public domain work to create your own derivative work.
Examples of Public Domain Works
All copyrighted works that were published before 1923.
That may seem unimportant, until you realize that while today there is a staggering amount of books and other works published and copyrighted each year, when we talk about the public domain we are literally talking about centuries of published work! And most of this is extremely relevant to today’s world.
For example, there are strong niche followings for these areas:
– Self-improvement
– Making more money
– Art
– Classical movies
– Fiction
– All sorts of hobbies
– History
And much more!
For any one of these niches you can find at least a dozen, profitable business ideas. And with the public domain, it becomes a snap to take the information you require, re-package it, edit it if necessary and voila – you have built the backbone of your online business (content) in no time at all.
Thoughts
A business is either a service or a product. And as such, there is a certain level of quality that you must adhere to in order to be successful. It is also important to build a degree of trust, and in the long run that only comes with your customers believing that you can over-deliver.
Pirates of the Public Domain is all about helping you over-deliver in your business. By teaching you how to use public domain works to provide essential content for your business (whether you sell it as a product or use it to support any services you provide), it will lead you to consistently jump-start your business ideas by giving them shape through the power of the public domain.
In my next post, I’ll talk about how you can create instant profits out of the public domain.
Take care,
Logan Andrew
Co-Editor & Contributor, PiratesofthePublicDomain.com
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FACT: Of The Millions Of Books Published In The U.S. Between 1923 And 1963, the U.S. Copyright Office Estimates That Only Roughly 15% Had Their Copyright Protection Renewed. This Means That Around 85% Of All Books Published In The U.S. Between 1923 And 1963 Are Up For Grabs! That’s Billions of Pages of Material That You Can Use To Create Your Own Outrageously Profitable Multi-Media Information Publishing Empire…Faster Than You Ever Dreamed Possible…. |
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Hi there,
Great website!
I’m busy working on an audio CD for South African children. I plan to use a collection of my own songs as well as some traditional nursery rhymes that I would record myself. These nursery rhymes would be mostly from America or the UK.
I’m a little worried about where I stand with copyright law. Do you think if these nursery rhymes date back before 1923 I would be safe? Would it make a difference if the nursery rhyme was published in the UK? Would it make a difference that I would be releasing my audio CD in South Africa?
Thanks a lot,
Graeme
[Reply]
Hi Graeme,
Thanks for asking such a great question!
I want to answer your question in 2 parts:
1) First of all - Congratulations on taking action! I’m excited for you. You are doing what 99.9% of people do not - simply taking action. It sounds like you have a plan and are making things happen. I just wanted to express to you how truly wonderful that is - go for it!
2) As far as where you stand with copyright law - as long as the nursery ryhmes you intend on using in your product were published before 1923 (and there are tons of them!) you are SAFE. It doesn’t matter where the nursery ryhme was first published or where you plan on releasing the CD. Anything published before 1923 is now in the public domain and free to use in any fashion you wish anywhere in the world.
Hope that helps…
Thanks Graeme!
Logan
[Reply]
Great find humor is corny but good vs corny but bad!!!
pub. domain possibilities seem endless for possible profit
loved perils of pauline ! ! ! ! ! 1
[Reply]
Oh, definitely! The humor is in these movies is very corny but for this particular method to work it should be corny - the cornier the better! That’s what makes this method work.
These kind of movies aren’t for everyone but there is a LARGE crowd of people that love these things. Those people are your market. It’s these people that you cater to.
Like I said in the magazine a person will only have either one of two responses to a movie like this - they’ll either love it or hate it!
Cater to the people that love it and they’ll keep coming back for more!
[Reply]