public domain
noun
1
: land owned directly by the government
2
: the realm embracing property rights that belong to the community at large, are unprotected by copyright or patent, and are subject to appropriation by anyone
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Every company in the U.S. with 100 or more employees must file this annually with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission but there is no requirement to put this report in the public domain. 
Robert G. Eccles, Forbes, 26 Aug. 2022 How many of the classified items in Merrick Garland’s treasure trove of seized documents are already in the public domain? WSJ, 16 Aug. 2022 That same anti-hate group found that a mere 10 publishers produce 69 percent of the climate denial content in the public domain, much of it of course metastasized via Facebook. Marc Peruzzi, Outside Online, 13 May 2022 Clark noted that white hat hackers have evidence (in the public domain) that a Dominion machine accessed the internet through a smart thermostat with a net connection trail leading back to China. Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 18 July 2022 The complaints are in the public domain, in a database on the NHTSA website. Russ Mitchellstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 14 July 2022 Harry is currently writing his memoirs which are expected to be released at the end of this year and could see more personal information put into the public domain. Victoria Murphy, Town & Country, 29 June 2022 Some of that information has already made its way into the public domain. Glenn Thrush, New York Times, 17 May 2022 In 1998, Disney was again able to delay the entry of Mickey Mouse into the public domain with the adoption of the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998. Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 May 2022 See More
Robert G. Eccles, Forbes, 26 Aug. 2022 How many of the classified items in Merrick Garland’s treasure trove of seized documents are already in the public domain? WSJ, 16 Aug. 2022 That same anti-hate group found that a mere 10 publishers produce 69 percent of the climate denial content in the public domain, much of it of course metastasized via Facebook. Marc Peruzzi, Outside Online, 13 May 2022 Clark noted that white hat hackers have evidence (in the public domain) that a Dominion machine accessed the internet through a smart thermostat with a net connection trail leading back to China. Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 18 July 2022 The complaints are in the public domain, in a database on the NHTSA website. Russ Mitchellstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 14 July 2022 Harry is currently writing his memoirs which are expected to be released at the end of this year and could see more personal information put into the public domain. Victoria Murphy, Town & Country, 29 June 2022 Some of that information has already made its way into the public domain. Glenn Thrush, New York Times, 17 May 2022 In 1998, Disney was again able to delay the entry of Mickey Mouse into the public domain with the adoption of the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998. Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 May 2022 See More Word History
First Known Use
1819, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Legal Definition
public domain
noun
public do·main
-dō-ˈmān
1
: land owned directly by the government
2
: the realm or status of property rights that belong to the community at large, are unprotected by copyright or patent, and are subject to appropriation by anyone