Customer Rating: Summary: Great for Internet Entrepreneurs Comment: As a budding internet entrepreneur, it's always a struggle to know what I can safely use in my information products, blog, or websites. The copyright law seems so complicated and difficult, and I haven't found any easy-to-understand internet resources for figuring out what I can legally use and what's off-limits.
Enter this book - the crisp, clean design is easy to read and navigate, the organization is great for finding out info in a hurry, and the advice is clear and just what I need. Because it's a Nolo book, I have faith that the info is accurate and complete, and this book has helped me find and use a lot of fantastic free info and music that is out there for the taking.
If it saves you even an hour of time of research on copyright, which it will, this book is well worth the cover price. It also gives fantastic advice on how to preserve the copyright on your own work, which is helpful for writers and bloggers. Highly recommended. Customer Rating: Summary: A very comprehensive review of the public domain Comment: If you are a creative artist who would like to make use of others' prior works, or if you are looking to add content to your website, or throw a big public event, this is a book for you. Especially if you don't have the money or are otherwise loath to spend it on royalties. There is a lot of talk about public domain, especially in the age of internet when online "piracy" seems to be on the rise, and publishers, recording labels and movie studios are making the news every day with a new lawsuit against one company or another concerning the unlawful use of intellectual property. Even if you are not directly affected by this and would just like to know more what constitutes public domain, I would not be able to think of a better place to start than this book. It is extremely well written, researched and documented. Every possible scenario of what would someone want to do with public property is carefully outlined and explained. Most of the explanations are well backed with the real-life court cases. This is a great book for anyone who is even remotely interested in what constitute the public domain. Customer Rating: Summary: An Excellent Reference Book! Comment: Reading about The Public Domain and copyright law sounds as interesting as watching paint dry, but this incredibly well-written reference book is readable and comprehendible to individuals without any legal background; it is also complete enough for the more experienced researcher. I freelance in both the music and the fine arts fields and run my own website, so I found a wealth of useful information in this book. There is a whole treasure trove of material in the public domain that is available for use for free by anyone - a lot more than I ever would have imagined. The book opens up this world while advising what you can and cannot do with public domain material and how to tell if a work is in the public domain. The chapters are well-organized and very concise, making finding help on the fly easy. I read the first six chapters (about a third of the book) like a novel and then skipped around; it was consistently fascinating. Citing actual legal cases and giving clear examples and tips, this is likely the most comprehensive book on the subject available. The art forms that are covered are writing, music, art, photography, movies and television, computer software, architecture, maps, choreography, databases and collections, and titles. Obviously some of the information overlaps with each art form, but that means that you can go to your specific field of interest and still have the complete information you seek without having to keep flipping to other chapters. The last several chapters cover restored copyrights, the public domain outside the US, the internet and the public domain, aspects of copyright protection, traps, and research tips. Anyone working in any of the arts should have a copy of this remarkable book for reference. It could save us all a lot of time and money! Customer Rating: Summary: A definitive work on copyright Comment: Copyright law can be a quagmire of endless questions and concerns regarding what materials are permissible for use and what are not. Nolo Press's fourth edition of "The Public Domain" represents (from a layman's point of view) a definitive tome that should be on the shelves of anyone who needs to deal with copyright issues. The book covers a vast amount of informative material regarding such diverse topics as .mp3's to choreography.
Each topic is explained fully and the implications for use and failure to abide by copyright is very thorough. This book will assist just about anyone who writes or uses materials, has created a web site, uses materials in classes, needs to use copyrighted materials in public settings of just about any kind.
I would highly recommend this book to essentially everyone who needs to use or create materials that are shared with others.
Customer Rating: Summary: An Excellent Resource That Can Save You Money Comment: As an attorney, I've often been critical of books that presume to provide legal advice on complex subjects. They are often poorly written and dangerous to use. This book is different in that it actually provides useful advice that a lay person cam implement without using an attorney at every juncture. The chapter explaining when copyrights expire and fall into the public domain is worth the price of the book in itself. While there will certainly be times when hiring an attorney is necessary, this book explains how to identify those times and will make you a better prepared client. In addition, the writing style is fluid and interesting while the layout is logical and comprehensive. Everything is covered from music and movies to books and art work. An excellent investment.
Even though grade-school teachers have told us otherwise for years, you can copy other people's creative work and get away with it. How? By dipping into the public domain, where everything is free for the taking.
The first book of its kind, The Public Domain is the definitive guide to the creative works that are not protected by copyright and can be copied freely or otherwise used without paying permission fees.
The book explains step-by-step how to recognize when a work is in the public domain. Chapters cover: * writings * music * art * architecture * maps * choreography * photography * film and video * computer software and databases
The book also lists hundreds of resources, such as websites, libraries and archives, useful for locating public domain works.
Destined to become a classic reference guide, The Public Domain is indispensable for anyone who deals with creative works, including publishers, web developers, writers, musicians and composers, artists, librarians, photographers and filmmakers.
