• A work with a known author for which the author died more than 50 years ago.
• A work of joint authorship for which the longest-lived of the joint authors died more than 50 years ago.
• An anonymous work that was first published more than 50 years ago, or an anonymous work that was not published and which was created more than 50 years ago.
• A collective work or a computer program that was first published more than 50 years ago.
• A collective work or a computer program that was not published and which was created more than 50 years ago.
• A photograph that was first published or publicly displayed more than 50 years ago.
• A photograph that was not published or publicly displayed and which was created more than 50 years ago.
• An audiovisual work that was first published or presented more than 70 years ago.
• An audiovisual work that was not published or presented and which was created more than 70 years ago.
• A phonogram (sound recording) that was created more than 50 years ago.

Important note: Works of foreign (non-U.S.) origin must be out of copyright or freely licensed in both their home country and the United States in order to be accepted on Commons. Works of Dominican origin that have entered the public domain in the U.S. due to certain circumstances (such as publication in noncompliance with U.S. copyright formalities) and which were under copyright in the Dominican Republic on January 1, 1996 may have had their U.S. copyright restored under the URAA.[1]

Bạn cũng cần phải kèm theo một thẻ phạm vi công cộng tại Hoa Kỳ để ghi rõ tại sao tác phẩm này lại thuộc về phạm vi công cộng tại Hoa Kỳ. Lưu ý rằng tác phẩm này có thể không thuộc về phạm vi công cộng tại các quốc gia không công nhận quy tắc thời hạn ngắn hơn và có thời hạn bản quyền dài hơn cuộc đời tác giả cộng thêm 50 năm. Cụ thể, Mexico là 100 năm, Jamaica là 95 năm, Colombia là 80 năm, Guatemala và Samoa là 75 years, Thụy Sỹ và Hoa Kỳ là 70 năm, và Venezuela là 60 năm.