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

Once the work is old enough and its creator is long gone, it enters the public domain, where it’s free for anyone to adapt, twist, remix, chop and screw as they wish.

From Salon

It seems Maresca has made an already difficult job even harder by putting his complaints — albeit cryptically — into the public domain.

From BBC

Many of those policies are in the public domain.

From Los Angeles Times

As the nation expanded, settlers, with the backing of the federal government and the military, seized the Indigenous land that would later be called the public domain.

From Salon

The only thing preventing the forecast entering the public domain currently may be a fear of looking like the Grinch that stole Christmas.

From The Wall Street Journal