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Please Sir, I Want Some More ... Public Domain Material
by Kristy Taylor
Published on this site: March 29th, 2006 - See
more articles from this month
Charles Dickens is said to be the world's most prolific novelist,
yet most of his works are relatively unknown to the general
public, especially those he wrote under the pen name Boz.
His most popular titles, Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol,
A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, have been retold
countless times in books, scripts, theatre plays and movies,
and are all now in the public domain. These works have been
so popular that they have been re-published by so many different
publishers that they have never been out of print.
As a business owner looking to add new products to your inventory,
whether that be online or offline, you can't go past public
domain material. At a cost of 'nearly free,' you would be
mad to give it a miss.
As with the above example, some stories are timeless classics,
classics that will sell year after year, in many different
formats and versions. This may be exactly the right type of
product for your business. There are so many public domain
works out there that you essentially will never run out of
material to publish. And you will most likely find many manuscripts
that will complement your existing products.
A good rule of thumb to follow is to check that the original
manuscript was published before 1923 in the United States
of America (other countries may have different copyright laws
so you may need to check this with a copyright lawyer). You
should always get a certificate of copyright clearance for
each public domain document you are going to publish. This may save you
many legal hassles later if anyone tries to dispute your right
to re-publish the work.
Public domain books and other materials can be found in many
places, with the most likely being second-hand book stores.
Some people enjoy this process the most; discovering that
hidden gem amongst the thousands of tattered old Mills and
Boon romance novels.
Though, with the advent of the Internet this process is becoming
increasingly more accessible to everyone. There are now many
web sites that publish public domain material that can be
freely accessed, and even some membership sites that actually
find the material for you.
If you make substantial changes to the material, that is,
make enough changes that make the new version unrecognisable
from the original, you may even claim the new copyright with
yourself as the author.
As Dickens made popular the serialised novel, so too can you
be publishing serial after serial of public domain material.
Kristy Taylor is a syndicated freelance journalist
with articles strewn across all forms of media. She has written
and published numerous books, and is the executive editor
of KT Publishing, which encompasses several web sites. Click
here for her public domain story - http://digitaldollars.biz/3fp.html
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