At Xataka, at the beginning of each year, we compile the works that have entered the public domain, that is, are open to the public. can be used without permission because no one owns them anymore. This is a mission we are carrying out in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. We still have to wait a little over four months for the next annual article, but on this occasion we wanted to offer you a tool to find such articles content.

August began with the launch of a search engine for public domain content. This is ‘Public Work’, which according to its creators offers access to over 100,000 copyright-free images. The platform draws from sources such as the New York Public Library and the Metropolitan Museum of the same city, and promises to speed up the search for graphic material with a minimalist interface.

How do I download public domain images from Public Work?

To download public domain images from Public Work, simply go to www.public.work and do a search. from the box To call. We can type a search term or select some of the suggested searches. When we find an image that we are interested in, we start the download process to our device by clicking on the download button in the lower right corner.

Public Works also offers us other options. On the left side we have the information button that gives us detailed information about the work, from the date of creation (or estimated time), author or title. We also have the possibility to click on the button View on CosmosCosmos is a platform for creators by creators of Public Work, aiming to compete with Pinterest and other similar offerings.

In the Cosmos window we will find a link to the source of the image. For example, we can determine that the image in the work of the Frenchman Antoine-Louis Barye, ‘The Bear Killing the Bull’, comes from here. Metropolitan Museum of Art in New YorkUnfortunately, Public Works often links to a view that has no details on the source page, so it’s a good idea to manually search for the work to verify copyright freedom.

Other sources for finding public domain images

If you can’t find what you’re looking for on Public Work, which has only been online for a few days and is expected to offer more comprehensive searches over time, you can explore public domain works on many other sites.

• National Library of Spain. In 2020, BNE published the digitization of 25 million works. These can be found in the Hispanic Digital Library and the Digital Newspaper Library by applying the relevant search filters.
• Flickr Public Domain Group. Here we find images that have been allocated to the public domain by their authors.
• Wikimedia Commons. Contains over 6.2 million public domain images.

When does an image become public domain?

There is no agreement in all countries on the number of years that must pass before a work enters the public domain. In general, in Spain, rights remain 70 years after the author’s death. Focusing on the United States, rights remain for works created after January 1, 1978 70 years after the author’s death.

Now, authors can declare a work in the public domain at any time during their life. To do this, they can use the CC0 instrument (also known as CC Zero), as explained by Creative Commons.

Finally, some popular image banks “similar to public property”, mainly from links obtained from web searches. In this case, we are not talking about works in the public domain, but about other types of works that may be subject to more or less restrictive licenses, licenses after all. Therefore, the terms of use must be observed.

Images | Screenshot

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