What is meant by the public domain? How do I know if something is public domain?
The term “public domain” refers to works in which copyright has expired or where the copyright owner has made a clear declaration that they will not assert copyright in the work. In Canada, the public domain comprises all works whose authors have been dead for more than 50 years. You need to be careful about new versions of public domain works. If a public domain work has been altered or new material has been added, there may be a new copyright in the additions or variations. For example, although the copyright in Shakespeare’s plays expired long ago, many of the published editions of his plays contain added original materials (such as footnotes, prefaces etc.) which are copyright protected. However, the underlying text of the original work will remain in the public domain and is free to use. You should also note that just because something is on the internet and publicly available, doesn’t mean it is public domain. Most of the material you find online is protected by copyright. Howeve
