How to Determine if the Work is in the Public Domain
Often, people who wish to use public domain work to create new products make the mistake of assuming that work is in the public domain simply because it is old. This is a mistake that is easily avoided simply by doing a small bit of research.
When you find work that you wish to use to create your own product, you need to pay close attention to the copyright date. This will tell you whether a work is possibly in the public domain, but not necessarily that it is actually in the public domain. Copyrights can be renewed – and if you are looking at the copyright date of an original publication, the new copyright may not be reflected.
After you determine that a work is eligible to be in the public domain, due to it’s copyright being dated the required elapsed time, you still need to contact the copyright office in that country to certify that the work is in fact in the public domain before you use it.
Most copyright offices will require a research fee. You can avoid this fee by going to the copyright office and doing your own research. You can search some databases online, without paying a fee. For instance, if you want to look for work that was copyrighted in the United States, you can go to the Copy Right Office website at http://www.copyright.gov and do a search in their online database.
Also, make sure that you compare the copyright date of the work that you are inquiring about with the copyright laws in the country where the copyright was obtained – not in the country where you reside. The copyright laws of each country affect everybody, including people who do not live in that country.
Remember that you should never assume anything. Always get certification that a work is in the public domain before you use it. You will save yourself a lot of time, not to mention a great deal of money and embarrassment!