Public domain resources

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The sites listed below are intended as an alternative source for materials for use in personal websites or any other use. Materials or works in the public domain are not subject to copyright law. As such, no permission is needed before downloading. Hopefully, this one-stop-shopping list of compiled public domain sources will assist people seeking content from the Internet so they may be less likely to download materials from other sources in violation of copyright laws.

To understand what materials are in the public domain, take a look at this chart of the term of copyright for various types of works .

The following are sites purporting to contain databases of text, images, graphics, fonts, photos, sheet music, and videos that are in the public domain. Although the materials at these sites are believed to be in the public domain, it is not possible to make that determination for all materials at the sites. Therefore they are provided with the following disclaimers:

There are no warranties, implied or otherwise, regarding:

  1. The fitness for a particular purpose of any materials or works in the respective collections of the sites (“materials or works”);
  2. The originality or accuracy of the materials or works, nor freedom from corruption either intentional or accidental; and
  3. Compliance of copyright or other intellectual property laws by the materials or works. By accessing the sites compiled here, you agree to use the materials or works at these sites at your sole risk.

Text Content

  1. Books that can be read online
  2. Archive of text to classical art songs
  3. Christian classics
  4. Complete works of Shakespeare
  5. Historical documents (Western Europe)
  6. Lutheran Church works (“Project Wittenberg”)
  7. Latin Vulgate Bible
  8. G.K. Chesterton works and biography
  9. A beginner’s guide to effective email

Photos or Images

  1. “Inexpensive” and free samples of photos
  2. Government photos (animals, scenery, miscellaneous nature): NOAA Photo Library and USFWS National Digital Library
  3. Tornado images
  4. Maps1
  5. Free clipart and animations
  6. Free Christmas art
  7. Archive of art3
  8. Pictures catalogue—National Library of Australia4
  9. Christian clipart

Music or Song Content

  1. Public Domain Information Project (CDs for sale)
  2. Free choral sheet music
  3. Free sheet music

Software Content

News, reviews, and reference information for users of Oracle’s Sun hardware and software

Video Content

Public domain films

1 Subject to conditions at the University of Texas Libraries
2 Subject to the condition that copies not be used commercially.
3 Use caution. Some of the art is still copyrighted. Copy only ancient art.
4 Copies limited to research or education. Permission required for publication or uploading.