e, for example, someone gives you a master copy of their book or product with rights to reproduce that item does not mean their copyright is defunct or never existed. Reproduction and manufacturing rights are a concession, usually passed by the product owner, allowing others to reproduce his work, but rarely does copyright also pass to the recipient. Public domain rights last indefinitely; reproduction rights can be time limited or otherwise withdrawn or restrictedThere's a little known world of free-to-claim products with unlimited profit potential, an Aladdin’s Cave of ready-made products for you to locate in minutes, re-package in hours, and sell as your own. It’s called ‘The Public Domain’ and it means you can legally copy and sell other people’s books, maps, films, and more, with no ongoing fees or royalties of any kind to pay … EVER! Here are ten more things you may not know about the public domain …..

* The public domain describes books and other creative works, such as photographs and maps, whose copyrights have expired, perhaps never existed at all, and no one has a better claim on those products than you. There are millions of public domain works that anyone can copy and sell, add their own name as author, and even copyright and stop others from selling similar items.

* Changes made to a public domain product, sufficient to make it a copyrightable product, describes it as a ‘Derivative’ work. Let's say you buy an old book about witchcraft, published in the USA before 1923, so definitely in the public domain. If you publish it 'as is' it's still in the public domain, although arguably a few minor changes to font or pagination, length of paragraphs will render it copyright protected. But tiny changes are insufficient to guarantee your new book is copyright protected. But change the title, add a few paragraphs of your own, include pictures of places witches were thought to exist, update spellings, remove dated terminology, and the book is now copyright protected and termed a 'derivative' work.

* A foreign translation of a public domain work is a derivative work and carries sufficient creativity to allow it full protection of copyright law.

* The public domain is not to be confused with reproduction or manufacturing rights. Reproduction and manufacturing rights, where, for example, someone gives you a master copy of their book or product with rights to reproduce that item does not mean their copyright is defunct or never existed. Reproduction and manufacturing rights are a concession, usually passed by the product owner, allowing others to reproduce his work, but rarely does copyright also pass to the recipient. Public domain rights last indefinitely; reproduction rights can be time limited or otherwise withdrawn or restricted.

blic domain describes books and other creative works, such as photographs and maps, whose copyrights have expired, perhaps never existed at all, and no one has a better claim on those products than you. There are millions of public domain works that anyone can copy and sell, add their own name as author, and even copyright and stop others from selling similar items.

* Changes made to a public domain product, sufficient to make it a copyrightable product, describes it as a ‘Derivative’ work. Let's say you buy an old book about witchcraft, published in the USA before 1923, so definitely in the public domain. If you publish it 'as is' it's still in the public domain, although arguably a few minor changes to font or pagination, length of paragraphs will render it copyright protected. But tiny changes are insufficient to guarantee your new book is copyright protected. But change the title, add a few paragraphs of your own, include pictures of places witches were thought to exist, update spellings, remove dated terminology, and the book is now copyright protected and termed a 'derivative' work.

* A foreign translation of a public domain work is a derivative work and carries sufficient creativity to allow it full protection of copyright law.

* The public domain is not to be confused with reproduction or manufacturing rights. Reproduction and manufacturing rights, where, for example, someone gives you a master copy of their book or product with rights to reproduce that item does not mean their copyright is defunct or never existed. Reproduction and manufacturing rights are a concession, usually passed by the product owner, allowing others to reproduce his work, but rarely does copyright also pass to the recipient. Public domain rights last indefinitely; reproduction rights can be time limited or otherwise withdrawn or restricted

cribes it as a ‘Derivative’ work. Let's say you buy an old book about witchcraft, published in the USA before 1923, so definitely in the public domain. If you publish it 'as is' it's still in the public domain, although arguably a few minor changes to font or pagination, length of paragraphs will render it copyright protected. But tiny changes are insufficient to guarantee your new book is copyright protected. But change the title, add a few paragraphs of your own, include pictures of places witches were thought to exist, update spellings, remove dated terminology, and the book is now copyright protected and termed a 'derivative' work.

* A foreign translation of a public domain work is a derivative work and carries sufficient creativity to allow it full protection of copyright law.

* The public domain is not to be confused with reproduction or manufacturing rights. Reproduction and manufacturing rights, where, for example, someone gives you a master copy of their book or product with rights to reproduce that item does not mean their copyright is defunct or never existed. Reproduction and manufacturing rights are a concession, usually passed by the product owner, allowing others to reproduce his work, but rarely does copyright also pass to the recipient. Public domain rights last indefinitely; reproduction rights can be time limited or otherwise withdrawn or restricted

wn, include pictures of places witches were thought to exist, update spellings, remove dated terminology, and the book is now copyright protected and termed a 'derivative' work.

* A foreign translation of a public domain work is a derivative work and carries sufficient creativity to allow it full protection of copyright law.

* The public domain is not to be confused with reproduction or manufacturing rights. Reproduction and manufacturing rights, where, for example, someone gives you a master copy of their book or product with rights to reproduce that item does not mean their copyright is defunct or never existed. Reproduction and manufacturing rights are a concession, usually passed by the product owner, allowing others to reproduce his work, but rarely does copyright also pass to the recipient. Public domain rights last indefinitely; reproduction rights can be time limited or otherwise withdrawn or restricted

e, for example, someone gives you a master copy of their book or product with rights to reproduce that item does not mean their copyright is defunct or never existed. Reproduction and manufacturing rights are a concession, usually passed by the product owner, allowing others to reproduce his work, but rarely does copyright also pass to the recipient. Public domain rights last indefinitely; reproduction rights can be time limited or otherwise withdrawn or restricted.

* Public domain items can typically be amended by anyone, changed, reshaped at will, and copyright belongs to no one. Not so reproduction and marketing rights where the original creator invariably retains copyright and rarely allows others to alter his work.

* Just because you own the original work, such as a painting or original final draft of a book or piece of music, does not necessarily mean you also own copyright in the item. Nor does it always mean you can make and sell copies of your original product. Recently, on television, an artist explained that he had sold an original painting from which he earned large sums from limited edition signed prints. Asked why he sold the painting and, by implication the reprint rights, he insisted he had only sold the painting, not his intellectual copyright in the item. Someone else has the painting, he has the copyright and subsequent reprint copy marketing rights. His claims were verified by the programme’s legal team.

* Public domain is not the same thing as out of print. Out of print simply means the publisher has ceased creating new copies of a book or other item even though the item may still be fully protected by copyright law.

* Some sites hosting public domain products allow their materials to be downloaded and read, but ban subsequent printing or copying. Play safe, don’t assume no one will know if you copy their content. Many public domain works are edited or revised prior to upload and can easily be identified in later editions. Some sites insist you pay a royalty on money you make on items they have sourced from the public domain. Read the rules very carefully and do nothing until you are certain of your legal standing. The best way to stay safe is to download from sites without copying restrictions or obtain and copy a physical version of a product you’r