Re: Public Domain? Definition please

On Sep 20, 5:37 pm, johannes <j...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Karen McDonald wrote:

I'm writing a book about the 1960s and want to use some amateur
photographs I have found on various Google image searches.

Are these pictures in 'the public domain' and therefore free to use
without reference to the owners?

If not, when exactly are photographs deemed to be 'in the public
domain' and thus 'free' to use without fear of litigation?

TIA

Public domain really has two different meanings. (1) You can say
that something is in the public domain by virtue of being published.
Hence, a photo can be in the public domain as it can be seen by
everybody, but still be copyrighted by the originator.

I different meaning (2) is when e.g. software is released as public
domain e.g. Linux. Then it can be used by everybody, but nobody can
claim it as their own.

Linux isn't a good example. Any Free Software zealot will lecture you
about how it's copyrighted software, distributed under licence that
obliges you to also allow other people to modify.

Generally it means a copyright work has fallen out of or been released
from copyright. Books such as Gulliver's Travels and Frankenstein, or
Shakespeare's plays are public domain because the author died so long
ago that they can no longer claim copyright. You can print a copy of
either of these books and charge what you want for them (but can't
stop other people from doing the same). However, if you make changes
to them, or include them in a larger work then you can copyright
that.

.

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