Why I Post Poems from the Public Domain at www.thepoetmiranda.com

We must preserve to persevere

Note: the following is crossposted at thepoetmiranda

Hi! I’m Miranda. I’m Wendy the Druid’s editor-in-chief here at Thistle and Moss. I’m also a poet. On my poetry blog, I do two main things: 1. I share my own poems. 2. I share poems that are in the public domain.

That second part has confused some people, but it’s an important part of the overall project, and here’s why:

What is the Public Domain?

The public domain consists of creative works not protected by intellectual property rights (i.e. copyright). Most works in the public domain are those with expired copyright protections, which in the context of poetry I use for this site are all works published prior to January 1, 1930 (according to U.S. laws, copyright laws vary by country).

Once a work enters the public domain, anyone can reprint, republish, reference, or otherwise use that work without permission.

I share works that are in the public domain because I want to lift unheard voices, keep the book burners at bay, and learn from our…