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In mainstream and academic publishing, Public Domain refers to materials for which the copyright term has expired. Works are in the public domain if:
- they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all;
- the intellectual property rights have expired; and/or
- if the intellectual property rights are forfeited.
In Canada the copyright term is "the life of the author" plus 50 years (Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42) - Term of Copyright).
Any electronic resources, listed in the StMU E-Resource Directories, which have the public domain  logo provide access to content that that is in the Public Domain. Such works can be copied freely and reproduced without permission from a copyright holder. As well, they can also be freely used for derivative works without permission, or even reproduced photographically or artistically or used as the basis of new, interpretive works.
Just because access to an article or online resource has entered the Public Domain does not mean that it is open to plagiarism:
- All creators (authors, artists, song writers, etc) retain the moral copyright to their creations. That is, they retain the right in perpetuity to be acknowledged for any use of or derivative works based on their work, even after that work has entered the Public Domain.
- It is your responsibility to properly cite any and all works that you use by acknowledging the author and source of the materials.
The Library has posted more information on Copyright and Fair Dealing on its policy section, which is accessible from the front page of the Library website.
The Library also has specific FAQs on different aspects of Intellectual Property rights in an academic context:
Acknowledgements & Other Information
For more information on the Library's copyright policy, library users should consult the Library's Copyright Policy page. For information of copyright policies with respect to faculty and administrative services, StMU Faculty and Administrative staff should consult the Library's Intellectual Property resources.
The Creative Commons logo above was originally designed by the Creative Commons a non-profit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. It is licensed under the Creative Commons' Attribution 3.0 License. You are free to share and make derivative works of the file under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it only under a license identical to the official license.
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| St. Mary's University College Library :: 14590 Bannister Road SE, Calgary, Alberta, T2X 1Z4 :: Phone: 403.254.3761 :: Fax: 403.254.3755 :: Updated: Tuesday, 31-Mar-2009 |
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