Final answer:
Creative works or information not 'owned' by an individual and considered part of the common culture are in the public domain. This includes works for which intellectual property rights have expired or been waived, allowing anyone to use them freely.
Step-by-step explanation:
Creative works or information that are not "owned" by an individual but are considered part of the common culture are referred to as being in the public domain. The public domain consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or are inapplicable. For example, a book or artwork that was published before a certain year (e.g., January 1, 1924, in the United States) may be in the public domain. The universal bank of ideas, images, and concepts that we inherit from our ancestors often end up in the public domain, allowing free use by anyone without the permission of a previous copyright holder.
Intellectual property laws protect the rights of creators by giving them exclusive rights to their works for a certain period. However, once that period has expired as per the country's laws (such as the author's life plus 70 or 100 years), or if the creator releases their work into the public domain, the work then becomes available for public use without restrictions. Different types of licenses, like Creative Commons, also allow creators to specify how their work can be used by others while still retaining some rights.