59 Free Works and Resources in the Public Domain and CC0
The term “public domain” refers to creative materials that are not protected by intellectual property laws such as copyright, trademark, or patent laws. The public owns these works, not an individual author or artist. Anyone can use a public domain work without obtaining permission, but no one can ever own it. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable.
CC0 enables scientists, educators, artists and other creators and owners of copyright – or database-protected content to waive those interests in their works and thereby place them as completely as possible in the public domain, so that others may freely build upon, enhance and reuse the works for any purposes without restriction under copyright or database law.
Below, you’ll find a list of free works and resources in the public domain and CC0, ranging from ebooks, audiobooks, comics, essays, blogs with uncopyrighted content, art, images, cliparts, fonts and other related items. We hope you’ll find some use for these items in any projects you’re currently in or planning to do in the near future.
Books, Audiobooks, Comics
- Comicbookplus – Read old PD comics online.
- Cost of Freedom – On the dream for a free culture.
- LibriVox – Audiobooks read by volunteers.
- Project Gutenberg – Thousands of ebooks mostly in the public domain, in a variety of formats.
- Standard Ebooks – Hundreds of classics, beautifully formatted and typeset.
- The Pig and the Box – Children book about the dangers of DRM.
- Wikisource: PD search – Thousands of PD books and texts.
Essays
- Abandoning Copyright: A Blessing for Artists, Art, and Society – Discussion of how concentration of power is undesirable in every industry but particularly detrimental in the cultural field.
- The Surprising History of Copyright and The Promise of a Post-Copyright World – There is one group of people not shocked by the record industry’s policy of suing randomly chosen file sharers: historians of copyright.
- Who’s Afraid of the Public Domain? – Breaking down five common assumptions about creative individuals.
Blogs / Articles
- Awesci – Entertaining articles mixed with scientific information.
- Eclipsophile – All about solar eclipses.
- ExpandBeyondYourself – How to transform your life via personal growth and progress.
- FibroHaven – Creating a community of compassion, understanding, and healing for those with chronic illness.
- gr0wing.com – Personal and global change.
- HoboDrifter – Posts from a former world traveler.
- How To Be Kind – Kind words for a kinder world.
- mnmlist – Less is the answer.
- Public Domain Review – Professional quality reviews of works in the public domain.
- Ryan Boren – Lead developer of WordPress at Automattic.
- Serendipity Journal – Journal of experiences with growth and faith from a Christian perspective.
- Simple Tech Tutorials – Computer tutorials with a focus on simplicity.
- Steve Pavlina – How we can deliberately invite, process, and integrate new experiences.
- Zen Habits – Finding simplicity and mindfulness in the daily chaos of our lives.
Art
- 3DModelsCC0 – Library of public domain 3D models.
- BlendSwap: CC0 search – Quality CC0 3D models (not only) for Blender.
- DesignerCandies – High quality graphic design resources for use in design projects.
- dotcolon – CC0 fonts.
- FreeMusicArchive: CC0 search – Many CC0 songs.
- Freesound: CC0 search – Thousands of CC0 sound effects and recordings.
- Gwenn Seemel – French-American artist, painter, portraitist.
- HDRI Haven – High-resolution HDR panoramas under CC0.
- Kenney – High-quality game art under CC0.
- Martin Vorel – Photographer releasing his very high quality photos under CC0.
- Newpalmyra – Reconstruction of the ancient Palmyra city in virtual space.
- Opengameart: CC0 search – Huge number of CC0 game art.
- PublicDomainFlix – Watch public domain movies online.
- RKHive – CC0 sound fonts for music synthesis and MIDI playback.
Images / Stock Photography
- CopyrightFreePhotos.com – Galleries of photos, each with their own theme.
- Internet Archive: PD search – A huge amount of PD works.
- LibreStock – Search all public domain stock photo websites at once.
- MyStockPhotos – A collection of images dedicated to the public domain through CC0.
- NegativeSpace – A repository of CC0 images.
- Openclipart – High quality, easy to use clip art.
- Public Icons – Collection of free icons.
- PxHere – To find and upload CC0 images.
- Skitterphoto – A place to upload and find CC0 images.
- StockSnap – Stock photography without any copyright restrictions.
- Wikimedia Commons: PD search – Millions of PD media (images, videos, sounds, etc).
Organizations
- IndieWeb – People-focused alternative to the “corporate web”, movement that provides advocacy and education to domain owners.
- QuestionCopyright.org – Nonprofit organization that provides advocacy and education to help cultural producers embrace open distribution.
- Communia – Nonprofit organization that advocates for policies that expand the public domain and increase access to and re-use of culture and knowledge.
Related
- Creative Commons – Organization devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share.
- Open Knowledge International – Organization whose mission is for everyone to have access to key information and the ability to use it freely.
Other
- Anti-Copyright Resources – Large list of essays against copyright.
- Lively Days – Vegan recipes.
- The Safe Zone Project – Online resource for creating powerful, effective LGBTQ awareness and ally training workshops.
- Uncopyright: All Rights Released – Hub for the uncopyright movement, with lists of works, questions, answers, and other information.
- WikiData – Huge amount of data about the world, released under CC0.
Bookworm Videos
Watch videos about books, reading and writing. Expect weird, amazing, never known before facts and many more.
INTERNET / DIGITAL MARKETING HUB
Download free Internet Marketing Ebooks, comprehensive tips & tricks and informative infographics.
