Less clear is the HTML code (whether adding HTML code to a public domain text results in a copyrightable work). According the site FAQ, the texts “were typed from scratch, repaginated and reformatted hence these works are an original edition and should be cited as copyright Ltd 2000.” That’s incorrect, however - retyping and repaginating a public domain work doesn’t result in a new copyright, at least under US law. Note, though, that copyright is claimed in the HTML versions created for the site. Using what you find: Most texts on this site are in the public domain. The site is not currently being actively maintained. Also offers a collection of study guides to some classic works. What’s there: (Warning: the home page has a blindingly bright red background.) Classic works by authors such as Dickens and Joyce, Sherlock Holmes mysteries, all Shakespeare’s plays, and short stories by writers such as Mark Twain, Anton Chekov and Edgar Allan Poe. So if you want to use any of the public domain works you find here, just use the original text. However, ’s User Agreement (a browsewrap) warns you not to “modify, publish, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, reproduce, create new works from, distribute, perform, display, or in any way exploit” any of its content. The words in the original text (and any illustrations that were published with it) are in the public domain, and nothing says can change that. Here’s an example citation: Grant, Ulysses S. Not just its HTML markup/code, but everything. Why? Because claims copyright in all of its content. But be careful if you use these materials for more than research or personal (noncommercial) use. Using what you find: Many (if not most) of the works on this site have been digitized from editions originally published before 1923 (that is, works in the public domain). Also Gray’s Anatomy, Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, and The Harvard Classics. Chesterton, Virginia Woolf, Gertrude Stein, T.S. Scott Fitzgerald, Homer, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Agatha Christie, G.K. A small sample of the authors you’ll find here: Marcus Aurelius, F. provides the best works of fiction from a wide range of classic authors.
What’s there: A wide selection of classic fiction and nonfiction works, plus a large collection of poetry. Using what you find: The books featured on this site, as well as illustrations within the book pages, are in the public domain. (See what you can do with public domain books? This is a lovely site.) You’ll find works by Oscar Wilde, Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, Marcel Proust, Franz Kafka, Rudyard Kipling. They are web page versions of Project Gutenberg “Plain Vanilla ASCII” eTexts. What’s there: Classic public domain books in XHTML format. For each resource, I give you an idea of what sort of books you’ll find there and whether there are any “gotchas” when it comes to using them. Here’s a list of resources to help you find public domain books online.
Most books you’ll discover through Google Book Search include a link to “find this book in a library” - all you do is enter some location information (e.g., a zip code) and you get a list of libraries near you.The Library of Congress offers a Gateway to Library Catalogs, organized alphabetically.The Yahoo directory has a list of specialty libraries (special collections) organized by subject.Here are three helpful resources for finding libraries: And since that’s where we are, let’s go with that.
Dorian Gray (The Picture of Dorian Gray)ĭid you recognize at least half of them? A lot of them have been made into many different adaptations such as comic books, animated and live action films, animated and live action tv series and more over media.You can also do research online, of course.Quasimodo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame).A lot of these characters have been rebooted many times and may have pop up in your favourite shows and movies when you are not even paying attention.
Having full use of existing characters is a potential goldmine for writers. What does Public Domain characters mean? These characters are publically not privately owned/used and anyone has the rights to use these characters in any way possible. But I also believe in fair use, public domain, and especially transformation.” – David Shields “I believe in copyright, within limited precincts.