Are public domain citations considered as fair use citations?

Public domain citations are not considered fair use because they do not fall under the provisions outlined by copyright law that govern fair use. Fair use is a legal doctrine that allows limited use of copyright-protected material without needing permission from the rights holders, primarily intended for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research.

On the other hand, public domain works are those whose intellectual property rights have expired, been forfeited, or are inapplicable. This means they can be freely used by anyone without the need to qualify under fair use provisions. Since public domain works are not protected by copyright in the first place, the concept of fair use does not apply to them. This status allows anyone to use, modify, or distribute these works without restrictions, thereby negating the need for fair use considerations.

The other options suggest various scenarios under which public domain citations might be viewed as fair use, but these do not accurately reflect the nature of public domain works.