The Public Domain

What does "Public Domain" mean?

Copyright gives an individual or corporation exclusive rights to a text for a limited period of time. This means that nobody else can reproduce the text or make derivative works (such as audio recordings) while the copyright is in force.  Eventually, though, a copyright will expire and the text will enter the "public domain," meaning anyone can use that text however they wish.  The legal side of this is complicated; however, in the United States, anything published before 1923 is in the public domain.  It may not be in the public domain in other countries.  Similarly, it may be in the public domain in another country depending on their laws while not being in the public domain in the United States.  To be sure, check the country in question's laws regarding public domain.

In the United States, LibriVox offers thousands of free audio recordings of public domain texts.  Project Gutenberg offers thousands of e-text books available for free download.  Many of these texts can be uploaded to your computer, iPod, or e-readers such as Kindles.  Take advantage! 

(Information from: http://librivox.org/public-domain/)