The term “public domain” is a little misleading; it makes it sound like a finite collection or place you can visit. In fact, the public domain is more of a conceptual category that encompasses material not protected by intellectual property laws like copyright. That makes “exploring the public domain” a little tricky. Proving that something is in it requires proving a negative; a lack of copyright protection.

Fortunately, copyright laws in the U.S. dictate that all books, movies, and music compositions published before 1929 are fair game and in the public domain. The best way to find out when something was published is to go straight to the US Copyright Office’s Catalog of Copyright Entries.

Even more fortunately, a lot of clever people have gotten a head start on this search and created helpful resources for public domain explorers to find qualifying material and better understand how it all works. Check those out below as a starting place for your submission:

Duke University’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain celebrates “Public Domain Day” on January 1 of every year, as a new group of works see their copyrights expire. See what works they’ve highlighted over the last several years:

-Public Domain Day 2025 (work from 1929) 

-Public Domain Day 2024 (work from 1928)

- Public Domain Day 2023 (work from 1927)

- Public Domain Day 2022 (work from 1926)

- Public Domain Day 2021 (work from 1925)

- Public Domain Day 2020 (work from 1924)

- Public Domain Day 2019 (work from 1923)

Our pals at the Internet Archive have also put together some helpful lists. Check out the latest here:

-Internet Archive: Welcome to the Public Domain in 2025 

Our friends at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts put together a round-up of sheet music that entered the public domain last year, which you can find here.

The Brooklyn Public Library also has thousands of pieces of sheet music available to check out, as well as a vinyl collection full of inspiration. The BPL has also put together a short list of public domain works that are available to check out, for some inspiration: https://www.instagram.com/p/DHEA6gxNs12/?igsh=MWR6YnllaDUzdTNrbw==

Public domain sound recordings, which you can freely sample in your songs, are made available by the Library of Congress as part of their National Jukebox collection.

More resources:

- The Public Domain Review’s Guide to Finding Public Domain Works Online

- Discography of American Historical Recordings

- New York Public Library’s Public Domain Collections

- SecondHandSongs

NEW YORK: If you're looking for a state-of-the-art place to record your song for free, check out The New York Public Library. The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library in Midtown has recording studios for teens and adults, and there are also dedicated studios for adults and teens at select branches. Visit nypl.org to learn more and find a location near you!

BROOKLYN: The Brooklyn Public Library offers a free musical instrument lending library and recording studios at their Central and Sunset Park Libraries. Visit bklynlibrary.org to learn more.

CONNECTICUT: For listeners in and around Connecticut, visit our friends at The Westport Library for another state-of-the-art facility to edit, mix, and master your song for free. Their facility, Verso Studios, has a post-production suite open to teens and adults with three stations that feature Pro Tools, Logic, Abelton, Garage Band, and more. To learn more, go to: https://westportlibrary.org/services/verso-studios

NEW JERSEY: The East Brunswick Public Library offers a recording studio with equipment and audio editing software for visitors familiar with these tools. Appointments can be made by either emailing ebcreate@ebpl.org or calling 732-390-6767. Go to ilove.ebpl.org to find out more. The new Makerspace at the Hunterdon County Library Headquarters in Flemington, NJ can be reserved by anyone with a Hunterdon County Library card. And Newark residents can check out the Newark Public Library and their Makerspace studio, featuring an audio booth with ProTools, Audacity, and other audio editing software. For more info, go to made.npl.com.

Listen to our 2024 Public Song Project: The People’s Concert at Lincoln Center, from July last year, featuring winner’s and special guests… and start to imagine what you’d perform on that stage!

Listen to conversations with friends of WNYC who contributed to the 2024 Public Song Project about why they did it and how they approached their recordings, along with some historical context for the tunes:

Arturo O’Farrill & Jazz

Low Cut Connie & Blues

American Patchwork Quartet

Valerie June & Recording Technology

Coco, Tin Pan Alley & Broadway

Listen to the playlists generated by our talented, creative listeners from the last two years of the project.

Public Songbook 2023

Public Songbook 2024

ELIGIBILITY:

  Anyone 18 years of age or older and in the United States can enter the Contest except employees of New York Public Radio (“NYPR”) and its related organizations, their immediate family or persons living in the same household. Void where prohibited by law.

  As of January 8, 2025, and through April 28, 2025, no entrant may have a current recording contract, or otherwise be bound by any obligations to any third party, that would limit the right or ability of the entrant to participate in this contest, or conflict with the rights or interfere with NYPR’s exercise of the rights granted herein in accordance with these Official Rules.

  Your entry constitutes your certification that you meet the eligibility requirements set forth in these Official Rules. NYPR reserves the right to verify and confirm each entrant’s age and compliance with other eligibility requirements. An entrant may be required to submit further information to assist in NYPR’s verification of eligibility. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein.

HOW TO ENTER:

  No purchase or pledge necessary to enter or win. Entries to the Contest may be made by emailing us your submission of under 7 minutes in length, depicting your original performance of a work now in the U.S. public domain and first published before 1929, to the email address below, during an entry period from January 8, 2025 at 12 PM E.T. through April 28, 2025 at 11:59 PM E.T:

  Submissions must:

    - Incorporate a work from the U.S. public domain that was first published in 1929 or earlier;

    - Be your original performance, which was created for the sole purpose of entering this contest; and

    - Be a maximum of 7 minutes in length.

  Submissions must not:

    - Sample from other songs, recordings, movies, or other bodies of work other than either: (i) works owned by the entrant, or (ii) works in the public domain and/or first published in 1929 or earlier;

    - Contain material that violates or infringes another’s rights, including but not limited to, rights of privacy, publicity, or any intellectual property rights;

    - Include third parties who have not expressly authorized you to include their performance, likeness or voice in any submission.

  In your email submission, you must provide: your name; the best way to contact you; the title of the public domain work that your song is based on; any other information about your song and the work you chose that you’d like us to know; a certification that you meet the eligibility and submission requirements and agree to the terms stated in these Official Rules; and a certification that you grant to NYPR a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sub-licensable right and license to use the submission in any media and in any manner, for any purpose, including the right to edit the submission with other submissions or elements, or to make derivative works. No other method of submission will be accepted.

PRIZE:

  Following the close of the entry period, at least 3 entries will be selected to be played on-air and available for streaming on WNYC’s website, and the creators of the winning entries will be interviewed about their creation.

  From time to time, NYPR may choose to promote the Contest by asking the public to vote for their favorite Contest entry from a group of entries selected by NYPR in its sole discretion. This may or may not result in the announcement of a “Fan Favorite” chosen from entrants. In such instances, the vote will be for promotional purposes only, and the entry that receives the most votes from such a promotion will not receive any prize or grant of rights from NYPR.

SELECTION AND NOTIFICATION OF WINNER:

  Entries will be judged by a panel staff members working at NYPR, music experts, and historians. Winners will be selected in the sole discretion of NYPR and submissions will be judged based on the following criteria:

    30% - Originality and creativity of the entry

    30% - How the entry engages with the history and legacy of the source work and/or its personal significance to the creator

    20% - Demonstrated time, effort, and thought put into the recording

    20% - How the entry conveys the public domain’s usefulness for creators

  At least 3 winning entries will be selected based on the above criteria by no later than 6/15/25. Winner(s) will be sent notification by email unless otherwise noted in the submission no later than 6/30/25. If a winner cannot be contacted or the submission is disqualified for any reason, NYPR reserves the right to determine an alternate winner or not to award that winner’s prize, in its sole discretion. A list with the winners’ names will be kept on file at NYPR and will be available by writing WNYC Listener Services, 160 Varick Street, New York, NY 10013.

GENERAL:

  Limit one (1) entry per person; duplicate, corrupt, untimely, unintelligible or incomplete entries and entries that do not otherwise comply with these Official Rules will be disqualified. No automated entry devices and/or programs permitted. NYPR reserves the right, in its sole discretion, which entries have satisfied the entry requirements. NYPR is not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, or invalid entries, or for technical or administrative issues. An entry is deemed “received” when, as applicable, it is recorded by NYPR’s servers. Proof of submission will not be deemed to be proof of receipt by NYPR.

  By participating in the contest, participants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and by the decisions of NYPR and the judges selected by NYPR on all matters relating to the Contest, and that NYPR, its agents and employees will have no liability whatsoever for any injuries, losses, or damages of any kind resulting from the prize or a person’s participation in the Contest. Prize is nontransferable and cannot be exchanged or redeemed for cash. There can be no substitutions for a prize. NYPR may use winners’ names for publicity purposes without further compensation.

RESTRICTIONS:

  Restrictions may apply. Each entrant agrees to be bound by these Official Rules, and by all decisions of NYPR with respect to the administration of the contest and the choice of winners. One entry per person. Multiple entries are not allowed.

USE OF ENTRY:

  By checking this box and submitting your entry through this form (the “Content”), you represent, warrant, and agree to New York Public Radio (“NYPR”) that:

  (i) You are the creator and owner of the Content;

  (ii) You have the permission of any individual(s) other than yourself who are depicted in the Content for their likeness to be used by or on behalf of NYPR as described in this submission page;

  (iii) you are granting to NYPR a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sub-licensable right and license to use, publish, reproduce, display, perform, adapt, modify, distribute, and promote the Content in any form, in all media now known or hereinafter created, anywhere in the world for any purpose.

  (iv) You are over the age of 18 and have the right to make these representations and to grant these rights to NYPR.