Is public domain the same as copyright free?

No, public domain is not the same as copyright free. Public domain refers to works that are not protected by copyright law, meaning the work is not owned by anybody and anybody is allowed to use it without getting permission or paying a fee. Copyright free, on the other hand, means that an author or artist has given up their copyright, so the work can be used free of charge. In California, any work published before 1923 automatically falls into the public domain. However, works created after 1923 are usually copyrighted. This means that the author has a right to control the use of their work by restricting how it is used, reproduced, shared, or distributed. In most cases, copyright rights last 70 years after the author’s death. After this, the work falls into the public domain and is available for anyone to use without the need to obtain permission or pay a fee. In summary, public domain and copyright free are not the same. While a work in public domain does not require permission to be used, a copyright free work does not automatically fall into the public domain. Permission must be obtained from the author or artist in order to use the work.

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