public domain

American  

noun

Law.

1. the status of a literary work or an invention whose copyright or patent has expired or that never had such protection.

2. land owned by the government.

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public domain British  

noun

1. lands owned by a state or by the federal government

2. the status of a published work or invention upon which the copyright or patent has expired or which has not been patented or subject to copyright. It may thus be freely used by the public

3. able to be discussed and examined freely by the general public

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Other Word Forms

• public-domain adjective

Etymology

Origin of public domain

An Americanism dating back to 1825–35

Example Sentences

But she acknowledged "there are, of course, always lessons to be learnt" when it comes to what the police put in the public domain.

From BBC • Apr. 25, 2026

The documents also need to be inspected by the Intelligence and Security Committee of cross-party MPs, which is trying to balance allowing as much information as possible into the public domain without compromising national security.

From BBC • Apr. 19, 2026

Meanwhile, the Bible bursts with globally familiar stories, all of which are in the public domain.

From Salon • Mar. 29, 2026

Lawyer Catrin Evans for the publisher suggested that for some Mail articles mentioned in John and Furnish's case, a "certain amount of the information... had already been put into the public domain".

From Barron's • Feb. 6, 2026

"We're a public domain organization. There's no such thing as secret or secure information here."

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir