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Research Guides

Open Resources: How to find a public domain text

Resources for finding open images, videos, music, text and more

Public Domain

When a work is not covered by copyright (because the copyright term has expired, the creator has released the work, or the work was never copyrighted) it is in the public domain. The public then holds the rights to the work. You can also look at this comprehensive chart with variables that affect copyright duration in the US.

Public Domain Text