Business In The Information Age - Creating eBooks From Public Domain Works

Start A Work From Home Business By Turning Your Ideas Into Dollars With Public Domain Works

CONCLUSION

You have learned what public domain means and places where you can find most of these works. From here, you were able to pick out the public domain work or group of works that you feel passionate about, so much so that you are certain you can generate the same kind of interest in your buyers. You have also made sure, based on what you know about the three rules on copyright that the work is in the public domain. You have, therefore, nothing to worry, particularly about copyright issues.

Taking the example of many greats ahead of your time, you have prepared your product or products, getting them ready for reproduction and sale. Your website serves as your base where you make your product available to the whole world, but you also make use of other powerful marketing sites like eBay to create a portal for more buyers to pour in. You have built a web presence and your ideas have been solidified as you make an effort and invest time on this new venture of yours.

In the words of Lord Acton, one of the most illustrious historians in 19th century England:  “Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It’s not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it’s when you’ve had everything to do, and you’ve done it.”

It has been done. You have done it – turned your ideas into dollars. 

And now you are ready to make some money in the public domain.

Public Domain Works - Using Unpublished Works Created Before 1978 Until recently, unpublished works created before January 1978 (including very old works), were entitled to perpetual copyright protection, provided they remained unpublished and uncopyrighted. These works included unpublished civil war diaries and anonymous works found in attics and trunks. Arguably, works dating back to antiquity were protected under what was known as “common law” copyright. On December 31, 2002, the era of perpetual copyright ended. On that date, all works that were unpublished as of December 31, 2002, were released from their perpetual copyright. Although published before 1978, these works are now treated no differently than post-1978 works. The term of protection for such works is now the life of the author plus 70 years. And, in the case of anonymous and works for hire, the duration of copyright is 120 years from the date of creation. As a result, on January 1, 2003, a torrent of unpublished works by creators who died before 1933 was ejected into the public domain. Because locating a creator’s heirs is extremely difficult, this change in copyright status, was a tremendous gift to scholars and society. As Robert H. Hirst, head of the Mark Twain Project at the University of California in Berkeley, said, “[F]or the first time in history the owner of an unpublished Mark Twain manuscript or letter now also owns the publication rights to it.” Conclusion If you are trolling the public domain for works to adapt, reuse, or republish, be aware that there are many traps for the unwary. If you are unfamiliar with the intricacies of copyright law, you should consider hiring an intellectual property attorney or qualified rights clearance expert. While there are many PD gems out there – including classic films and unheralded works waiting to be discovered -- be aware that all that glitters may not be gold. As suggested by this article, licenses may still be needed from rights holders as well as identifiable persons. © 1999 - 2003 by Lloyd J. Jassin.

If you are interested in starting a home-based business creating ebooks and other information products from public domain works, don't forget to visit our "resources" section, where you can download an inexpensive application called "Public Domain Researcher." Public Domain Researcher is a super little application packed full of Public Domain Resources. This is a desktop based research tool you can use to access over 20 online Public Domain resources at the click of a button. As a bonus, when you purchase "Public Domain Researcher", you'll also get a downloable version of this entire article series.

Alternatively, if you would like to start a home-based business immediately using the information you have learned in this article, click here to access hundreds of public domain ebooks you can resell (and keep 100% of the profits).