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

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

From Salon • Mar. 29, 2026

She said that information in one of the articles was either already in the public domain or "almost certainly came from a freelance contact" who she identified as Sharon Feinstein.

From BBC • Mar. 3, 2026

Netflix calls Seedance “a high-speed privacy engine” and says that they “will not stand by and watch ByteDance treat our valued IP as free, public domain clip art,” as stated in the letter.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2026

The council told the complainants that nothing would be gained from further action because the incident was already in the public domain.

From BBC • Jan. 16, 2026

Congress effectively outlawed their communal property, passing vast acreages into the public domain, tracts which then suddenly wound up in the hands of large American ranching enterprises like the Devine Company.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols