Public Domain Free Online Resources.
If a collection of material is (legally) designated as "public domain," it generally means the material is deemed "public property." In other words, there is no active copyright, and anyone can rightfully come along and copy, distribute and adapt these materials for any purpose, including economic gain.
The public domain includes various types of abstract material such as: texts ( books, manuals, reports, and transcripts); film and video, music (sound clips, songs, and sheet music); and images (photos, drawings, and posters).
Below are some of the best free public domain resources online- perfect for boostrapping business owners in need of content or information. I made an effort to pick out the legitimate sites that provide material without any restrictions on use. Nevertheless, I suggest that you consult each site's terms of use before downloading or using anything:
General Public Domain Online Resources.
The Internet Archive. A general repository of public domain material
US Government Public Domain Information and Resources Online
- USA Government Main Portal Includes a simple to use text and image search of multiple government agencies.
- Gov Engine. Another powerful government-based search engine.
- NASA Image Exchange. Searchable and browseable database of many digital photographs.
- Animal Photo Galleries from the Smithsonian National Zoological Park
- The US Copyright Office
Public Domain Images Online
- Morgue File
- Wikimedia Commons
- Public Domain Clip Art
- Antique Clip Art
- Art History Resources on the Web
- Artchive
- Stock Photos
- Gimp Photo Archive Photos from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) as well as links to other photo resources.
- Oldbookart
- Openclipart
- Public domain photos
- Public domain image
- Picfinder
Public Domain Audio Files Online
- Wikimedia Commons Sound
- Musopen Classic music
- Sound Clips
- Librivox Audio recordings of public domain books
Public Domain Sheet Music Online
- The Free Sheet Music Guide A directory of free sheet music on the Internet broken down by musical genre.
- Mutopia Project. Sheet music editions of classical music.
- Choral Public Domain Library
Public Domain Online Video and Movies
- OpenFlix
- Public Domain Movie Database
- Wikimedia Commons Video
- Public Domain Flicks
- Public Domain Movies
Public Domain Online Texts
- Internet Public Library. Many public domain texts
- Bibliomania. Fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.
- Project Gutenberg. A huge selection of books and texts.
- Bartleby.com. Public domain texts online
- Librivox Audio recordings of public domain books
- The On-Line Books Page. Texts are listed by author, title and LC classification.
- Books on the Internet. Classics, English literature, foreign language
- Concordances of Great Books. An online searchable index of authors and texts
- The Great Books. A compilation of numerous authors and texts
- Complete Works of Shakespeare
Other Useful Public Domain Resources Online
- Google Patent Search
- Foreign Language courses