What is a public-domain work?
A public-domain work is a creative work that has no copyright protection in the United States, and is free for all to use and modify. In other words, a public-domain work is no longer protected by intellectual property law. In Pennsylvania, works that are in the public domain include government documents, publications, and records, as well as works for which copyright protection has expired. Works such as these are free for anyone to use without permission or compensation, or to alter and create derivative works. This is in contrast to works that are still under copyright protection, for which permission and/or compensation must be obtained before they can be used or modified. Examples of works that are in the public domain in Pennsylvania includes works published before 1923, works by authors who died before 1950, and works that have had their copyright protection waived.
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