1. International Law and Public Domain Works
When it comes to determining whether a work is in the public domain or not, you need
to pay attention to the country that the original copyright, if any, was acquired in. Each country has different copyright laws that determine when a work becomes public domain material.
International law is just what it says – International. In other words, the copyright laws
of Japan apply to people in other countries who want to use work that was copyrighted in
Japan. If the work is still covered by Japan copyright law, but would no longer be covered
under United States copyright laws, the work is not in the public domain – in any country.
You must adhere to the copyright laws of the country where the work was copyrighted in
the first place. This is true for all works copyrighted in all countries, no matter what
country you may reside or use the work in.
The copyright laws are not the same in every country. It is important that you find out
what the copyright laws are before you assume that a work is in the public domain, for
the country where that work was copyrighted. Too often, people assume that copyright
laws are the same internationally, and this is just not true.
If you do not take the time to determine that a work is indeed in the public domain,
you may be infringing on someone else’s copyright. This can lead to large fines, lawsuits,
and possibly imprisonment in some countries. If nothing else, it will most certainly damage
your reputation!
Do not assume that nothing can happen to you legally if you use work that is copyrighted
in a country that you do not reside in. People in other countries can instigate lawsuits in
the country where you reside just as easily as they can sue in their own country.
2. Public Domain Works - How Does It Benefit Me?
Because works that are in the public domain are free for the public to use, however they
see fit, those works can be used to create new products – or even sold as they are for
profit.
As an entrepreneur, you can use public domain works to add to an existing product line,
or to create one if you don’t already have any products of your own. If you do not change
the work in anyway, the author of the work remains the same. In other words, you can
sell it, but you can’t put your name on it.
If you edit the work, however, or include bits and pieces of public domain work to create a
new product, your name goes on it, and you can copyright it. This is one of the absolute
fastest ways, next to purchasing resell rights, to create a product of your very own.
While purchasing resell rights to a product may be faster, works that are in the public
domain and used to create new products may prove to be more valuable – meaning you
can charge more.
Using public domain works not only saves the time that may be involved in product creation,
but it will also save you money when it comes to product creation or development. The
work has been done already. Furthermore, if you know where to look, there are millions of public domain works that can be obtained freely.
When it comes to information, there is one solid fact that will never change. Information is
information. It rarely changes. It may become outdated, and no longer useful – but it
doesn’t usually change. Furthermore, outdated information can be ‘freshened up’ easily
enough, and information that is no longer useful may also be made useful once again.
Remember, also, that public domain works does not just pertain to written materials.
Millions of Films, music, photos, and even inventions are in the public domain – just
waiting for some enterprising individual to come along, dust them off, and make them
useful once again!
3. The Legal Aspects of Using Public Domain Works
There are many unanswered, hard to find answers pertaining to the legal aspects of
using work in the public domain. However, the rules are really quite simple. If the work
is in the public domain, you can use it however you wish to use it. The real trouble
comes in determining if a work is in fact in the public domain.
However, you may use work that is in the public domain, without gaining permission from
the author. If you change the work, you can become the author of it, and copyright it.
If you do not change the work, you may sell it as is, but it is a good idea not to put
yourself as the author of the work in this case.
That’s pretty much it. Other than this, you are free to do as you will with public domain
works. You can use part or all of a work, you can convert printed work to digital work,
you can use bits and pieces of public domain music or films, you can use public domain
photos however you like.
When you change a public domain work, however, and make it your own, you do need to copyright
it. For instance, if you use a bunch of old photographs to create a collection of
photographs that collection is copyrightable material, even though each individual picture
is in the public domain. Someone can still use an individual photograph from your
collection – but they cannot use the entire collection.
Again, the most important thing to understand and know is how to determine that a work
is in fact in the public domain. That will be covered in a future article, but for now, if you
are in doubt, take the time to verify that a work is in the public domain before you use it,
and also make sure you understand the difference between public domain and fair use.
4. Turning Public Domain Works Into Digital Products
We’ve become a digital world. Since the advent of the Internet, the cost of computers has
steadily dropped, enabling the majority of homes in the world to own personal computers.
For this reason, it is always a good idea to have your physical products in digital format
as well.
Often, you will find public domain works in the offline world, and need to convert them to
digital products. If you want to convert film, music, or sound bites to digital format,
this is easily done with the right equipment, and pictures can easily be scanned. However,
converting written work to digital format takes a bit more work. It has to be re-typed!
Since typing hundreds of pages can take a great deal of time, you may want to hire a
typist to convert the work to digital format for you. Typists usually charge by the page or by the
word, but the prices are usually quite reasonable and affordable.
There are also services that will convert film, music, and sound bites to digital format if
you do not have the necessary equipment. Costs for this type of work vary depending
on the media that is being converted, and how much of it there is to convert.
If you do not intend to use an entire work for your product, you can also choose to just
have particular parts of the written work converted to digital format. This will save both
time and money. Any pictures from the work that should be included can easily be
scanned to your computer.
Once non-digitized work is converted to digital work, it can be edited and manipulated
however you see fit. You can use word processors, graphics programs, and sound programs
to make the changes that you desire, but if you don’t have such software, or you don’t
know how to use it, you can also hire freelancing professionals to make changes for you
as well.
5. Turning Public Domain Works Into Physical Products
While we have become a digitized world, people still like physical products – including
products that they can use on their computers, such as CD’s and DVD’s. Marketers also
know that physical products typically bring more profits than digital products as well,
because they are conceived to be more valuable.
For editorial reasons, you will still need to convert non-digitized public domain works to
digital work. Once the product is created and perfected, you will then need to convert it
back to a physical product. You have many different choices in this area.
The work can be made into a physical book or manual. This is easier to do than one might
imagine. You simply send the work to a printing company who will print out the work and
assemble it for you as you specify. The work can then be sent directly to your fulfillment
company for filling orders.
The work can be put on CD or DVD. If the work is in presentation format, a DVD will work
well. However, if the work will be turned into software, a CD will be more appropriate.
While you can usually make the master copy yourself on your own machine, you should
definitely send the master to a replication company to have multiple copies made.
Often, you can find a company that does it all – printing, replication, and fulfillment.
Usually, this will be the best value, since you can get all the work done in one place
and then sent directly from there to your customers.
Having a digital and physical form of the same product is always a good idea. You can
offer the digital product at a lower cost. Some will prefer the digital product since
it can be accessed or downloaded right away, while others will prefer to wait for a
physical product.
Final Thoughts:
When It Comes To Success, It Is All About The Proper Mindset!
The simplest way to building a profitable public domain business is to learn and follow
the proven, successful strategies someone else has put them in place. In this regards,
I’d strongly recommend:
Russell Brunson’s Public Domain and Private Label Home Study Course.
Not only will you get the mechanics down after you study this course, you’ll also have
the mindset down as well.
One of the factors in becoming a successful internet marketer is to constantly dreaming
up ways and approaches of working your niche!
You see, If you do not use your mind, you are seriously limiting yourself.
Because that’s where the real value is…the ability to expand your horizons and look
for lucrative niches with deep pockets.
That’s why I recommend this course - It goes beyond ebooks…you will learn how to think
like a marketer and attack your niche from multiple angles.
Find out:
How To Start A Profitable Public Domain Business in Six Weeks
Tags: public+domain public+domain+business
public+domain+home+study+course Russell+Brunsell
