Copyrighting stuff in the public domain

[MIB]

Here's a Wikipedia list of music, books and other stuff in the public domain because the copyrights have expired.

How easy will it be to take those works and apply for a copyright so you can market it in some way to make some extra money? I supposed the original creator(s) can sue, however they let the copyright expire, it will probably be difficult (or maybe easy) for them to reclaim their property.

Would it be worth it to snatch some films, music etc. for financial gain?

MIB

[rbcp]

Can you copyright something that's in the public domain?  I wouldn't think it was possible, otherwise everything worth taking would have already been taken.  There would be no list.

I have noticed that people will take old books that are in the public domain and republish them under their own publishing company name.  The company I use for the PLA books has a policy about not being allowed to republish books that already exist, but I think a lot of people do it anyway.