Copyright and Intellectual Property

Checking Public Domain

There are a few different ways that you can check to see if something is in the public domain. 

• Start with the US Copyright office database: Copyright Public Records Portal. This homepage offers multiple databases to search from. 
• You can use sites like HathiTrust. - an organization that collects works in the public domain and allows users to download full copies of a work for free. This site is particularly good when looking for books. 
• Check the work itself for copyright marks - while it is not legally required for a creator to mark their work, you may still find that checking the work itself will tell you. Look for the "circled c", the year, and the author's name. 
• For Images that are not watermarked or labeled within the metadata - try doing a reverse Google search.