Wikipedia:Public domain resources

There are many resources on the World Wide Web that are in the public domain (see Wikipedia:Public domain), and therefore are freely usable on Wikipedia and its sister projects without legal restrictions. Note, however, that wherever public domain resources are used on Wikipedia they should be properly attributed, just like any other source (see Wikipedia:Citing sources and Wikipedia:Plagiarism).

This page is intended as a helpful guide to public-domain resources.

Caveats and notes

• The Wikimedia Foundation is based in the United States and accordingly governed by United States copyright law, which tends to be broad. Still, Wikipedia contributors should respect the copyright law of other nations. (See Wikipedia:Copyrights, Wikipedia:Non-US copyrights, and Wikipedia:Copyright situations by country).
• Most works prepared by an officer or employee of the US government as part of that person's official duties (see Copyright status of works by the federal government of the United States) are public domain, but that is not true of most works prepared by state government officers or employees, or to foreign governments. For example, in many countries that are part of the Commonwealth of Nations, Crown copyright is standard.
• The United States intellectual property law firm of Bromberg & Sunstein LLP (now Sunstein Kann Murphy & Timbers LLP) created a flow chart in 2002 which is helpful in determining whether a given work is in the public domain in the United States. The flowchart is from 2002 and so reflects the state of the law in that year.
• Please don't data dump! The resources below are valuable, but many are also old (with antiquated style and sometimes factual errors), dependent on context, sometimes written from biased points of view, and otherwise are not in themselves good encyclopedia articles. If you copy material from these sources, please do not simply dump it verbatim – instead, take the time to verify the accuracy of the information (by checking more recent scholarly work); properly attribute the material; format and wikify the material (see Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Layout).
• The minimum that an editor must do is to tag any public domain sources dumped into the wiki with an attribution template. For example, if you include {{CIA World Factbook}}, it expands into:

 This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook (2025 ed.). CIA.

See Wikipedia:Template messages/Sources of articles (note that this lists templates for both public domain and non-public domain sources) and attribution templates. Attribution templates are extremely helpful to other editors; it allows them to easily locate articles that use a particular public domain source, by using the "What links here" feature on the template page.

Dictionaries

• Searchable Web version of now out-of-copyright Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913, 1828), provided by the The ARTFL Project of the Department of Romance Languages and Literature, University of Chicago

Mathematics

• Biographies of mathematicians – from a 1908 history of mathematics. See the discussion at Wikipedia:Rouse History of Mathematics
• 10 British Mathematicans in PDF ^{[dead link]}
• 10 British Mathematicans in TeX Ten British Mathematicians of the Nineteenth Century, by Alexander Macfarlane, published 1916. (Alexander Macfarlane died in 1913.) ^{[dead link]}

Biography

• (US Federal Government) Biographical Directory of the United States Congress 1774 to present ({{bioguide}})

Note: the images on bioguide may or may not be PD. Their copyright notice is at .

Historical

• Perry–Castañeda Library Map Collection at the University of Texas (check Usage statement and verify public domain status)
• America As It Was – a huge resource for vintage postcards in the US, organized by state. Any postcard first published in the US before 1978 without an explicit copyright notice is PD. Lots of photos, aerial views, and maps of many US locations. ^{[dead link]}
• Historical Maps from the Perry–Castañeda Library Map Collection at the University of Texas at Austin. As a courtesy, wherever these maps are used on the project they should be attributed to the University of Texas Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin." While the historical maps are public domain, not all records held by the Library are public domain.
• Lectures in Medieval History – Lecture notes on medieval Europe by Dr. Lynn H. Nelson, Professor Emeritus of Medieval History at the University of Kansas: "I might add that I assert no proprietary interest in these materials but offer them freely for public use. You may copy them, reproduce them, or do whatever you wish with them non-commercially." The proper template is Template:PD-Nelson.

• History of Canada
  • Early Images of Canada: Illustrations from Rare Books – "hosts 550 searchable images (mostly engravings) from Library and Archives Canada's Rare Book Collection. All of the images are taken from books, often exploration or missionary narratives, published before the year 1800."
  • Canadian Illustrated News: Images in the news: 1869–1883 – "selection of almost 4000 images of people, places and events across Canada and around the world" from the Canadian Illustrated News, a newspaper published from 1869 to 1883 in Montreal and significant for its use of halftone photographs.
  • Digital Archive, Toronto Public Library – "The Digital Archive includes rare historical pictures, maps, manuscripts, ephemera and digitized books from our Special Collections".

Ancient History

• Internet History Sourcebooks
• Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities 1875 edition; completely public domain, except for the occasional note by the Web transcriber, identified as "Thayer's Note(s)".

Language and linguistics

• A Bibliography of Literary Theory, Criticism, and Philology (José Ángel García Landa, University of Zaragoza, Spain. Includes several hundred bibliographical lists on linguistics). ^{[dead link]}
• Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech by Edward Sapir is a classic introduction to Linguistics. Originally published in 1921.

Political science

• (US Federal Govt.) Library of Congress Country Studies An online version of the Library of Congress Country Studies with information on 101 countries, including detailed histories.

Psychology

• Classics in the History of Psychology is a collection of classic public domain works in psychology collected by Christopher D. Green: see here for a note about the copyright status of the individual documents in the collection

Architecture

National Park Service's Heritage Documentation Programs {{PD-USGov-Interior-NPS}}

Library of Congress

• American Memory Home ^{[dead link]}
  • Built in America HABS/HAER Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record, 1933–Present ^{[dead link]}
  • Architecture and Interior Design for both very late 19th and 20th Centuries America Photographs in Gottscho-Schleisner Collection on Library of Congress' website (Collection sorting defaults to mostly works released in later years still copyrighted, sorting by Date (Oldest first) will make beginning listing the works released in years 1896-1930 that're now in the US Public Domain in 2026.)

• Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC) (Not all images displayed in this catalog are Public Domain.)
  • Searching HABS/HAER/HALS
  • Prints & Photographs Online Catalog Home Page – Search and Collections List

Business and industry

• (US Federal Govt.) US Energy Information Agency – statistics and info on energy industry (mostly US but some stuff for the world) – they appreciate but do not require acknowledgement (copyright info here)

Communication

• (US Federal Govt.) Federal Standard 1037C, a telecommunications glossary, appears to be mostly in the public domain based on these principles, and is a source of a large number of bits of useful material. A few items are derived from copyrighted sources: where this is the case, there is an attribution to the source. Note: most non-trivial 1037C articles are now incorporated into Wikipedia – please also note that only those articles that have substantial content and are from 100% public domain sources are suitable for inclusion in the Wikipedia
• (US Federal Govt.) DISA site about commercial telecommunications standards From the site: "This site is maintained by the Commercial Standards Division of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) to provide information about the current status of commercial telecommunications standards."

Computer science

• (US Federal Govt.) NIST Dictionary of Algorithms, Data Structures, and Problems: Huge, high-quality resource. All entries are in the public domain except for a few that carry an explicit copyright notice
• Public domain lecture notes: "Introduction to Computer Science", "Data Structures" and "Analysis of Algorithms" ^{[dead link]}
• The Jargon File Eric S. Raymond's definitive work on geek-speak

US federal government

Title 17 USC §105, Subject matter of copyright: United States Government works, provides that "Copyright protection is not available for any work of the United States Government," defined in Title 17 USC §101, as "a work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person's official duties." Therefore, only those works solely authored by US Federal Government employees are not protected by copyright in the United States.

Works produced by contractors and grantees for the federal government are generally protected by copyright. In such cases, the Government is granted a nonexclusive, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free license in the work to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute copies to the public, and perform publicly and display publicly, and to allow others to do so, for US Government purposes. The Government's license does not place these works in the public domain. Additionally, a copyrighted work for which the copyright has been transferred to the Government by assignment or bequest is not in the public domain.

Look for copyright and permissions notices on US Federal Government publications and websites. However be cautioned that government agencies often advise that in the absence of a copyright notice, users may assume their information is not copyrighted. This contradicts the copyright law as amended in 1989, when the United States joined the Berne Convention for the purpose of harmonizing domestic copyright law with international copyright standards. While use of a copyright notice and registration was once required as a condition of copyright protection in the United States, it is now optional, and a work is not necessarily in the public domain simply because it does not have a copyright notice.

For further discussion, see: Don't keep the public guessing: best practices in notice of copyright and term & conditions of use for government web site content (2004) by the CENDI Copyright & Intellectual Property Working Group.

Works of the United States federal government:

• • United States Census Bureau – United States Bureau of the Census has an enormous range of facts and figures of Census data, often useful when fleshing out articles about cities and states
    • International Data Base (IDB) – The Census Bureau's collection of international/world data.
  • CIA World Factbook – The World Factbook from the Central Intelligence Agency contains basic facts on all the countries of the world; however, the most recent data for some statistics may be up to several decades out of date.
  • Background Notes from the United States Department of State include "facts about the land, people, history, government, political conditions, economy, and foreign relations of independent states, some dependencies, and areas of special sovereignty." State.gov copyright statement: "Unless a copyright is indicated, information on State Department websites is in the public domain and may be copied and distributed without permission. Citation of the U.S. State Department as source of the information is appreciated."
  • Library of Congress Country Studies – Web version of the Library of Congress Country Studies, a series of works published from 1988 to 1998 by the Library of Congress's Federal Research Division. The Country Studies/Area Handbook Program was sponsored by the Department of the Army and at present includes 101 countries and regions. The copyright statement: "Information contained in the online Country Studies is not copyrighted and thus is available for free and unrestricted use by researchers. As a courtesy, however, appropriate credit should be given to the series."
  • CIA World DataBank II – global outline map data (coastlines, rivers, national boundaries) in vector format, hosted by Dave Pape at the UIC Electronic Visualization Laboratory (but note that this dates back to 1972, so many national boundaries are out of date) Now (mostly?, entirely?) obsoleted by VMAP0, see below.
  • VMAP0, a vector map of the world, an updated version of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency's (NIMA) Digital Chart of the World. See also the article VMAP0. [Note: the original NIMA data package distributes the public domain dataset with a small amount of copyrighted information provided as overlays: these should be filtered out if you are going to use this as a public domain resource]
  • ETOPO2 – a whole-planet digital elevation model dataset with sample points a 2 arc minute intervals
  • GTOPO30 – a whole-planet digital elevation model dataset with sample points at 30 arc second intervals – the data files can be found at https://web.archive.org/web/20111017031724/http://edcftp.cr.usgs.gov/pub/data/gtopo30/global/
  • Blue Marble, a set of high-resolution cylindrical-projection raster images of the Earth derived from satellite data
  • GEOnet Names Server – GEOnet Names Server (GNS) provides access to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) database of geographic feature names and locations for locations outside the United States. The database is the official repository of foreign place-name decisions approved by the BGN.
  • DEMIS World Map Server generates maps using public domain data with no usage restrictions
  • The National Map – The National Map (TNP), managed by the United States Geological Survey's National Geospatial Program (NGP).
  • United States Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System claims to have almost 2 million physical and cultural geographic features within the United States
• National Archives and Records Administration – The official archive site of the federal government of the United States. This is a work of the US government.
  • Online Veterans and Military Documents from NARA – deals with military history of the United States
  • List of presidential libraries and links to their websites. Each president since Herbert Hoover has a library, which is a depository for records and documents (much of it public-domain material) relating to each president and his presidency. Each is affiliated with NARA.
• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress – The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress includes biographical information every individual who ever served in the Continental Congress or United States Congress. This is a work of the US government. The proper template is Template:Bioguide.
• Occupational Outlook Handbook – The Occupational Outlook Handbook, published by the United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, contains descriptions of a great many occupations

• Uniformed services
  • Multimedia from the United States Department of Defense, including thousands of news photos, photo essays, video clips, and other multimedia
  • Army Media – United States Army images, audio, video and written content
  • Photo collection from the United States Navy
  • Video collection from the United States Navy
  • AFLink Art Archive from the United States Air Force, including a searchable database of items such as Air Force posters, emblems and shields, historical records, cartoons and weapons]
  • Photos from the United States Air Force
  • Searchable photo bank from the United States Marine Corps
  • Visual Information Gallery from the United States Coast Guard, including photos, graphics, video, audio, art, and leadership portraits
• FEMA Multimedia Photos, videos and audio from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) official website
• EPA Newsroom records – Includes documents and multimedia
• Voice of America – All text, audio and video material produced exclusively by the Voice of America is public domain. However, some images and graphics are licensed for use and covered by all applicable copyright laws.
• Speeches and testimony of National Transportation Safety Board board members and staff
• Publications of the Headquarters, United States Army Corps of Engineers – Included are United States Army Corps of Engineers records such as engineering manuals, pamphlets, design guides, and standards.
• Publications Index of the Bureau of Reclamation, including Hydraulic Laboratory Reports, research reports, and engineering manuals and monographs
• Image search on search.usa.gov
• Federal Information Processing Standards home page
• Department of Defense Single Stock Point for Military Specifications, Standards and Related Publications (DODSSP) – see also United States Military Standard
• NIST Data Gateway – Access to National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) scientific and technical data.
• Catalog of US Government Publications – From the US Government Printing Office
• Sound from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service ^{[dead link]}; copyright statement: "The following sound clips are public domain and may be used without prior permission. If possible, please credit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service."

Non-US federal government

• Philipine Government (Republic of the Philippines)

Solar energy

• Library of public domain images of operational Solar Power projects ^{[dead link]}

From the World-wide Information System for Renewable Energy (WIRE), which is a service provided by the International Solar Energy Society (ISES – http://www.ises.org/ ).

Law

• Black's Law Dictionary, 2^nd Edition (1910) – Public domain.
• Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6^th Edition (1856) – Out-of-copyright edition of Bouvier's Law Dictionary

Science, medicine, and technology

Classics

• Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898) can be found via http://www.art.man.ac.uk/clah/links/searchency.htm

Culture

• UNESCO Public Domain Resources and Virtual Library ^{[dead link]}
• Public Domain Comedy Heaven A growing collection of free to download public domain video comedy. Including Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton. ^{[dead link]}

Miscellaneous

• "Ethical treatment for all youth" a website that documents therapy and detention of children and juveniles for consensual sexual activity. Author wrote to me in a personal email: "Certainly, I intend everything at my site to be in the public domain, to be used freely by anyone else. Of course, I would appreciate it if people who use it would link to my site, since I can use all the exposure I can get."
• Public domain vectors: Vector graphics in public domain.

References

See also

• GNU Free Documentation License
• Wikipedia:Licensing update
• Creative Commons
• Creative Commons licenses
• Wikipedia:Template messages/Sources of articles
• Wikipedia:Public domain image resources
• Category:Articles which could have free content incorporated from elsewhere

The Wikipedia Library (talk | edit) Get free access to research! Research tools and services Resource Exchange Reference Desk Discover open access Free Resource Guides Book Sources Journal Sources Bibliographies Free newspaper sources Online archives Find Your Local Library tips Find Your Source tips How to find sources Citation tools guide Outreach The Wikipedia Library Bookshelf (meta) Universities and Libraries Archivists Publishers Wikipedia Loves Libraries Wikidata source metadata Get involved Get free access to sources Read the Books & Bytes newsletter Help disambiguate authors of scholarly papers Teach Library Interns Become a Coordinator Learn about TWL Support Open Access...