When the term 'public domain' is mentioned, most folks immediately think of books, artwork or other printed items such as magazines and old sheet music. However, you might be surprised to learn that there are many cartoons, Hollywood movies, educational documentaries and television shows in the public domain as well. And one of the best websites that offer public domain movies is Buyout Footage (http://www.buyoutfootage.com/pages/pd.html). Other fantastic resources you can check out include The Library Of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/rr/mopic/) and Archive.Org (http://www.archive.org/details/prelinger).

Now if you happen to be a fan of music and are interested in finding footage of live music shows, simply head over to the Live Music Archive located at http://www.archive.org/details/etree, and spend some time browsing through the material - who knows, you might stumble upon some real gems! Plenty of free footage is also available at the UCLA Film And Television Archive (http://cinema.library.ucla.edu/).

If you plan on utilizing public domain film for your projects, keep in mind that you've got to purchase the work in question from all of the above-mentioned sources, with the exception of the material stored at Archive.org, which you can go ahead and use free of charge. That said, the small one-time fee you'll have to pay to access high quality PD footage might be well worth it, especially if you intend using the footage for commercial purposes.

Once you've gained access to public domain videos and movies, how can you use them to your advantage?

Below are 6 simple ideas that you can easily implement:

* For starters, if you love flexing your creative muscles, try creating a fascinating documentary by putting together several film clips or movies. If you've got a decent script, voice talent and some skill in video editing, your documentary may turn out to be a huge success.

* You could also set up a niche website detailing life in the 1940s. Your site could feature old public domain footage on life in the US during the 1940's era. Many history buffs will be eager to view these clips because significant events such as World War 2 took place during this time period. You can monetize the content on your site by inserting relevant Google Adsense ads or by selling advertising space to memorabilia companies.

* Another idea would be to gather a collection of public domain films and separate them into small clips. These clips could then be sold online as royalty free film to interested buyers for use in their productions.

* How about making a campy parody of an original movie? For example, you can download a 50s B-grade science fiction film, and with a dash of creativity and a splash of imagination, turn it into a hilarious comedy show complete with cheesy special effects that will leave your audience in stitches.

* Here's yet another idea that you may want to implement - download a bunch of public domain feature films, burn them to DVD and then sell them offline. You could place an ad in the papers and ship the DVDs to customers that place an order. You can even try contacting local film clubs and university film and theater groups and offer them the DVDs at a discount. However, if you don't fancy running a mail order operation, you could put up a website and offer the films as digital downloads - folks will either have to pay per download or join as a member and pay a membership fee each and every month.

* You may also gather thousands of vintage newsreels and create a blog that focuses on momentous events that occurred in the 20th century. Every other day or so, you could update your blog by featuring new video footage.

These strategies are merely the tip of the iceberg; you see, when it comes to re-packaging and re-purposing PD films, the sky is the limit. And with that, we conclude this article on how to find and use public domain videos and movies!

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