When determining whether a document is in the public domain, should you pay for the copyright search or should you do it yourself? This is a good question, and the answer lies, as usual, in the method.
You should find two to three solid business ideas from confirmed public domain works (works published before 1922, or government publications, or works donated to the public domain). You can then use them to start off two or three income streams, and once you have a small but steady income from your fledgling online business empire, expand by picking up more lucrative topics that may require more research and money.
Let's face it: No one is going to help you build a fortune by selling you the content for $27, $47, $97 or even $197 if they could possibly use it themselves in a massive way and generate at least $1000 per month from it. Thus, what you are getting from public domain packages on the Internet is small stuff works that you can use to get started, but definitely not your final destination.
Use these packages if you feel the need (Russell Brunson's The Lost Files and
NichePD.com are two excellent starting points) to get a quick start, but in the end, if you want to build a serious business, there is only one way to do it:
Do it yourself!
The fees charged by the Copyright Office are not too exorbitant ($70/hour for copyright search and an additional $80/hour for search report certification) and subject to change you should contact the Copyright Office to confirm not only the rates, but also how much time they will need for the whole process (just give them the details of the work (title,author, etc) and they will give you an estimate.
Assuming that you have to spend $400 (a fairly high estimate) on copyright research, is it worth it?
If you've followed my advice, you would only go for a business idea (and thus a potential public domain work) if the returns were significant say at least $1000 per month. If yes, then the initial investment might be worth it (you would easily recoup your investment within a month). On the other hand, if this was to be a $200 per month venture and you had to spend $600+ to set everything up, you might want to think twice (although in the long run you might still end up with a profit.
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