Even though grade-school teachers have told us otherwise for years, writers and artists can copy other people's work and get away with it. How? By dipping into the public domain, where everything is free for the taking. The first book of its kind, "The Public Domain is the definitive guide to the creative works that are not protected by copyright and can be copied freely or otherwise used without paying permission fees. The book explains step-by-step how to recognize when a work is in the public domain. The book also lists hundreds of resources, such as websites, libraries and archives, useful for locating public domain works. Destined to become a classic reference guide, "The Public Domain is indispensable for anyone who deals with creative works, including publishers, web developers, writers, musicians and composers, artists, librarians, photographers and filmmakers.

Fishman, an attorney, offers a guide to creative works which can be copied without permission or fees. He explains how to recognize whether or not a work is in the public domain, and provides directions to sources of different types of material, including writing, music, choreography, art, maps, film and video, and computer software and databases. This second edition includes information about the Supreme Court's decisions in the Eldred and Dastar cases. The book will be useful to anyone who deals with creative works, including publishers, Web designers, and librarians.
Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

The first book of its kind, this is the definitive guide to the creative works that are not protected by copyright and can be copied freely or otherwise used without paying permission fees. Includes hundreds of resources, such as Web sites, libraries and archives, useful for locating public domain works.