Four Things You Must Know About Public Domain
By Steve Flashman
If you are looking for a lucrative home business that you can easily run from any home computer, look no further! There are tens of thousands of scams out there from so called “internet gurus” trying to get you into their next big “get rich quick” scheme. But if you have been around the internet for long, you will probably have learned the hard way that these schemes don”t work.
It’’s no secret that Home Publishing is the most successful home business on the internet today with information products being top of the list of items people buy. So if you have insider knowledge on just about any subject, you can make money.
This is where public domain steps onto the world stage! You can get masses of material that is copyright free on the internet that you can use to produce your information products. Of course there are do’’s and don”t in terms of how to use this material, and that subject is for another article. Right now it’’s important for you to know that you can make money from the public domain by repackaging books, videos, music, images, pictures, and more. With millions and millions of items free for the taking, it is no wonder that the public domain is such a hot topic for Internet marketers.
There are four things you need to know when using public domain as you build your home publishing business.
1. Repackage Your Material And Make It Your Own
Unless you”re fortunate enough to find something as rich as Napoleon Hill’’s “Think and Grow Rich,” you probably don”t want your public domain products to scream “public domain.” In most cases, you will want your customers to view them as hot, new and fresh products. No one needs to know you got a good portion of them for free! So once you have settled on your niche subject, the thing you want to write about and have found public domain material you can use to create your product, make sure you repackage the material to make it your own.
2. Be Aware of Gender Biases
Since most products that are now in the public domain were created before 1923, they were created at a time when women held a much different role in society. For example, most women during that time did not work outside the home as they do today. By the same token, most men didn”t change diapers, cry, or help out around the house, let alone would you hear of a stay at home father. You may not run across any gender biases at all in your public domain materials. It will depend largely on the subject but if you do, be sure and rephrase the material to reflect today’’s society. Unless of course, you are writing about Gender Biases, or picking out useful tips in an historical context and making comparisons with todays culture. Could be an interesting topic for an information product!
3. The Internet has no Country
Laws governing the public domain are country specific and each country’’s laws are not necessarily the same. This means that if you live in the United States and you procure an item from the public domain over the Internet, you need to check the laws about public domain to make sure you are staying within the law. And be sure to check not only the laws of your country of residence regarding public domain, you will also need to check the laws of the country where the work was published.
4. Government Works are in the Public Domain
Although it is true that works that the government produces are indeed part of the public domain, there are many, many individuals and companies that contract with the government to do work for them and in this case, the work may not be in the public domain at all. This can and often is confusing. Say the government publishes a pamphlet. According to the law, one would assume that this work is automatically in the public domain. But a closer check reveals that the government contracted with an individual to produce the pamphlet. In this case, the work would be copyrighted and afforded protection under the law. Therefore, it is always best to check and make sure the work in question is really a part of the public domain rather than assume so.
About The Author
Steve Flashman is a published author and has experience as a radio presenter, broadcaster and recording artist.
My Publishing World
