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Ling asks: Please explain “public domain”, as in: All LibriVox books are in the public domain. My comments: It means those books are free. Here, public domain addresses copyright, implying that those books are no longer (or never) protected by copyright laws and therefore are available to the general public. LibriVox, of course, refers to the huge collection of free audio books read by volunteers. Its goal is “to record every book in the public domain” (Librivox.org). If you have time, therefore, tune in to LibriVox. Take advantage of it, practice especially if you think your listening skills are inadequate. Take advantage, because that’s why LibriVox is there. Anyways, “public domain” means literally public sphere, i.e. things in the public domain don’t belong to any private person or government. Dictionary.com says “public domain” is an Americanism and traces its origin to 1825-35. Wikipedia, on the other hand, agrees that “public domain refers mostly to land or intellectual property”. Regarding land, Wikipedia says: Public domain is a term used to describe lands that were not under private or state ownership during the 18th and 19th centuries in the United States, as the country was expanding. These lands were obtained from the 13 original colonies, from Native American tribes, or from purchase from other countries. The domain was controlled by the federal government and sold to state and private interests through the auspices of the General Land Office. For most of the nation’s early history, the government sought to promote settlement of the expanding frontier by selling off the public domain after it had been acquired. | 
