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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
Examples of public domain in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Currently, Microsoft Teams only supports official Unicode emoji — the standardized array of public domain emoji supported by most smartphones and social media platforms.
—Jess Weatherbed, The Verge, 21 May 2024
Spring is blooming Flowers are blooming just in time for National Walk to Work Day (April 5) (Credit: US Army photo, Rachel Larue, public domain, via Flickr Creative Commons).
—Bob Hirshon, Discover Magazine, 1 Apr. 2024
The previous owner would retain the rights to Life’s photography and content going back to the 1930s, as public domain laws dictate.
—Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 28 Mar. 2024
A lot of public domain data is antiquated—in the US, for example, copyright protection usually lasts over 70 years from the death of the author—so this type of dataset won’t be able to ground an AI model in current affairs or, say, how to spin up a blog post using current slang.
—Kate Knibbs, WIRED, 20 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for public domain
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'public domain.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1819, in the meaning defined at sense 1
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Cite this Entry
“Public domain.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/public%20domain. Accessed 10 Jun. 2024.
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
More from Merriam-Webster on public domain
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about public domain
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