Apprentice to a trade, I am unclear of the ground rules.

What, for instance, is in the public domain? (Or, rather, who?)

Of the broom, I feel certain. But I hesitate to intrude upon the sweeper, and so I can barely bring myself to shoot from the hip.

What I wanted, of course, was the old-world tool. But how do you separate the sweeper from the swept?

Two answers to the rhetorical question present themselves. Which do I use?