Every year, new content—including everything from photographs to illustrations to books to movies—is released into the public domain. That means that anyone, including you, is able to use it and sell it, as long as it’s been modified to make it unique. In other words, no selling as is!
One of my favorite uses of artificial intelligence (AI) is to modify public domain content. With one or two simple prompts, you can create images that nobody else can make and sell them in your online shop. In this article, I’ll give you 6 ways to use AI to create products using only public domain content and your imagination.
What is Public Domain Content and Where Can You Find It?
Public domain content is content with an expired copyright. When a copyright has ended, the content is free for anyone to use. Here’s a brief overview of copyright law in the United States.
What is Public Domain Content?
In the US, copyright ends 95 years after creation or 70 years after the creator’s death, whichever comes first. Every January 1st, new content is released into the public domain. For example, January 1, 2025, marked the release of content created in 1929. Here are a few examples:
- Popeye the Sailor Man (original cartoon)
- The Maltese Falcon (novel)
- A Farewell to Arms (novel)
- Rhapsody in Blue (musical composition)
- The Accommodations of Desire (painting)
It’s important to keep in mind that The Maltese Falcon novel by Dashiell Hammett is now in the public domain but the film starring Humphrey Bogart is not.
Where to Find Public Domain Content
There are many places online where you can find lists of public domain content by year. It’s your responsibility to confirm a work’s public domain status before you use it. Remember that countries other than the US have different laws.
Here are some of the places where you can find public domain content to repurpose.
Searching for public domain content by year on Wikipedia is one of the best ways to learn which content is available for use.
6 Ways that Public Domain and AI Can Be Used to Create Products
Now, let’s dig into some ways to marry public domain content and AI to make new products to sell.
#1: Use AI to Tweak the Plot of a PD Story or Novel
As noted above, you can’t sell public domain works exactly as they are. You’ll need to find ways to make them unique. Lewis Carroll wrote Alice in Wonderland in 1865, so it’s been in the public domain for a while.
You could ask ChatGPT to imagine a plot where Alice is a modern day girl. The rabbit hole she falls into could be TikTok, and… you get the idea. This method allows you to put a unique and modern spin on a timeless classic.
#2: Update and Reimagine Images
What if you’ve found a public domain illustration, photograph, or painting? You could use AI, including tools like Gemini or Canva, to do any of the following things.
- Add color to a black and white photograph
- Turn a pen and ink illustration into a cartoon
- Reimagine artwork by one artist as painted by another (the Mona Lisa if it were painted by Picasso is one example)
Once you’ve updated an image and used AI to make it your own, you can use it in wall art, on a t-shirt, or a water bottle. The sky’s the limit!
#3: Add Annotations to an Existing Work
Public domain novels can be updated in several ways, and one is to use AI to add annotations to help readers understand the novel in question.
As a student, you undoubtedly read books that had footnotes and annotations. AI tools can make the process of annotating something quick and easy. You can also use AI to generate a unique book cover for your product.
#4: Create Educational Printables
A lot of works that are in the public domain may be used for educational purposes. For example, famous paintings could be transformed into an art history study guide or something of that nature.
You could use AI to help you create worksheets, study guides, flashcards, and quizzes using content that’s in the public domain.
Your audience might include both parents and educators.
#5: Turn Public Domain Images into Puzzles
Puzzles are always popular, so why not take an image (a photo, painting, or even an original illustration) and turn it into a jigsaw puzzle? One of the things we like about this idea is that you can even create puzzles for different age groups. (20 pieces for young kids up to 1,000 pieces for adults.)
We’d suggest manipulating the image first using AI. For example, if you wanted to focus on impressionist art, you could ask AI to create an image of Monet’s Waterlilies as painted by Paul Gauguin. Then make the resulting image into a puzzle!
#6: Create Historical Content
Historical content is all the rage in 2025. It’s easy to take historical public domain content, including photos, news accounts, and illustrations, and turn them into products your audience will love.
For example, you could create a Civil War book for kids using historical photos and drawings as illustrations. If you use an AI tool to generate the text, too, you can create a complete book in under an hour. You can also use AI to brainstorm titles, come up with a cover image, and write a book description for your Amazon product listing.
I hope you can see the possibilities. You don’t need to have experience as a graphic designer, artist, or writer. Once you figure out how to write prompts that get the results you want, you can transform public domain content in just a few minutes—and turn it into products you can sell many times. In other words, it’s an ideal passive income stream!
Do you need some help transforming PD content with AI? Check out AI PD Publishing Bonanza, which comes with my Public Domain Publishing Helper Bot.
