Public Domain

What is the Public Domain?

The term “public domain,” describes the status of an invention, commercial symbol, or any other creative work that is not protected by a form of intellectual property.  If a work is in the “public domain” that means that another can freely copy a work without permission or attribution to the original creator(s) or inventor(s).    A creator or inventor may choose to dedicate the work to the public domain, or it may “fall” into the public domain if the owner of the work does not maintain statutory protection for the work under the applicable federal law: patent, copyright or trademark.

Who owns works in the public domain?

No one owns a work in the public domain.  If a work is truly in the public domain, there are no ownership rights.  An example of this within UCAR is MM5.

MM5 Notice

How is a work put in the public domain?

If a creator or inventor wants to dedicate something to the public domain, several steps need to be followed.  See the chart Intellectual Property Protection for a decision tree that sets forth these steps.  Here’s an example that involves software. A software engineer at UCAR creates a new tool that enhances some existing software.  The software engineer wants to put this software tool in the public domain.  The software engineer must first make sure that she has not incorporated any third party software, or would infringe or violate third party rights by putting the software in the public domain.  Next, the software engineer must work with management to make sure that no sponsorship or funding restrictions exist with regard to the dissemination or protection of the software.  Finally, institutional guidelines and technology transfer issues should be considered prior to the software being put in the public domain.  Once a work is put in the public domain, no one can limit its use by copyright, patent, or any other statutory protection.

What is the difference between open source software and software that is in the public domain?

When software is in the public domain, users have unrestricted use of the software. While the phrase  “open source code” denotes that the creator is making the source code available to all requestors but under a license that sets forth the parameters of its use.  Therefore, “open source” software is still licensed to a user under the terms and conditions of the specific open source license arrangement.  UCAR supports several open source licenses, from its own on-line point and click license to the GPL and LGPL open source licenses.  Ownership of the source code is still asserted under an open source license.  Some organizations charge a fee for open source licenses.

If I do not see a copyright or proprietary notice, can I assume that something is in the public domain and can be freely taken?

The short answer is no, although it depends.  Here’s why.   Because a copyright notice is no longer required for the creator of an image, text, software code, or anything else to be protected under the copyright statute, no one can assume that a work without notice is freely available or in the public domain.  There are certain works that are automatically in the public domain such as U.S. government works, judicial opinions, legislative enactments and other official documents and forms.  The person who enhanced the public domain work, however, owns the enhancement.   For example, someone may take the freely available government tax forms and provide advice or instructions on completing these forms and sell such advice or instructions.  This is an enhancement to the public domain government forms.

How can I control my work if I put it in the public domain?

You cannot control your work once it is in the public domain.  Your work can be changed, exploited and someone else can even take credit for it.  If you put a work in the public domain you give up all ownership rights and the right to control the work. If you are interested in making your work “freely” available, yet maintain quality control over it, you should “license” the work for use by others.  This means you can control its use, all enhancements or modifications, and receive professional credit for the work, yet still make the work widely available to all users.