Why Public Domain?

Wikipedia, the authority on all things, defines public domain as all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. There are various and multifarious laws that define how, when, and where creative works become public domain. The items I am posting for sale contain images and text that is available in the public domain where I live, the United States, so they are legal for me to sell. This is important, not just because I don't want to go to jail or be sued by the Great Mouse (or anyone else), but also because I don't want to take away the livelihood of an artist. Public domain works have no current copywrite, and usually because it is old enough that the person who created it has died a long while back. After a certain amount of time, a work will become part of popular culture, which may include being studied at schools, performed or shown on screen, or been referenced so many times that it is recognizable by millions. 

Some of these items live on easily, like the gorgeous Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh and Shakespeare's iconic words. Some of these plays and books and poems are performed, sampled, and recorded time and again by new artists. Some fall into disuse, becoming forgotten over time except by a studious few. 

I hope to renew remembrance in some classic literature, paintings, and even sayings. I hope to bring smiles to a few faces, and create a few products that make someone happy. I hope to send someone down a rabbit hole of research, trying to figure out where they know that from, or where they can remember seeing it before. I hope to help someone find something from their own past that they can pass on to a new future. 

Amber