From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpublic domainˌpublic doˈmain noun [singular] law PUBLIC/NOT PRIVATEsomething that is in the public domain is available for anyone to have or use The information is not currently in the public domain. Public domain software is sometimes called shareware.
Examples from the Corpus
public domain• Border Patrol spokeswoman Andrea Privette says the federal agents can work anywhere in public domain.• Women are entitled to space both in the domestic context and in the public domain.• But only one record of last year's storms - the worst for years - is in the public domain.• A company can protect information of this kind only so long as it is confidential to the business and not in the public domain.• Broadly, the purpose of the City Code is to protect the shareholder in the public domain.• During the four decades following the Civil War, 183 million acres went out of the public domain into railroad ownership.• Entry to the public domain is therefore a difficult undertaking for women.is ... in the public domain• The four-day hearing was in private but the panel's 37-page report is in the public domain.• But only one record of last year's storms - the worst for years - is in the public domain. 