It's about equally unlikely that you'll end up in prison or sued for downloading copyrighted content in the United States, especially if it is PD elsewhere. In fact, if it is PD elsewhere, the chances of your being prosecuted for downloading it approach zero.
Works passing into the public domain have very little to do with people actually getting practically slapped around for downloading them. But they have EVERYTHING to do with creating derivative works. If you create a film based on a book that is PD-US but still copyrighted in the EU, you can expect to get sued.
PD terms also affect legal libraries and archive significantly.
Works passing into the public domain have very little to do with people actually getting practically slapped around for downloading them. But they have EVERYTHING to do with creating derivative works. If you create a film based on a book that is PD-US but still copyrighted in the EU, you can expect to get sued.
PD terms also affect legal libraries and archive significantly.