Commons:Licensing - Wikimedia Commons

Commons:Licensing

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This page gives non-lawyers an overview of complicated copyright laws through an example-based tutorial. It aims to help uploaders decide whether an image or other media file is acceptable on Wikimedia Commons.

Wikimedia Commons accepts only free content, that is, images and other media files that can be used by anyone, for any purpose.[1] The details are explained below.

Wikimedia Commons accepts only media

  • that are explicitly freely licensed, or
  • that are in the public domain in at least the United States and in the source country of the work.

Wikimedia Commons does not accept fair use justifications; see below for the reasons. Media licensed under non-commercial only licenses also are not accepted.

The license that applies to an image or media file must be indicated clearly on the image description page using a copyright tag. All information required by that license must be provided on the description page. The information given on the description page should be sufficient to allow others to verify the license status. It would be best to do this immediately in the summary field on the upload form.

If you request permission from a copyright holder, please use the email template to do so.

Contents


Acceptable licenses

A copyright license is a formal permission stating who may use a copyrighted work and how they may use it. A license can only be granted by the copyright holder, which is usually the author (photographer, painter or similar).

This cartoon comics to explain why Commons does not accept "non-commercial" licences. Click to view the full-size image.

All copyrighted material on Commons must be licensed under a free license that allows anyone to use the material for any purpose. In particular, the license must meet the following conditions:

  • Republication and distribution must be allowed.
  • Publication of derivative work must be allowed.
  • Commercial use of the work must be allowed.
  • Acknowledgment of all authors/contributors of a work may be required.
  • Publication of derivative work under the same license may be required.
  • For digital distribution, use of open file formats free of digital restrictions management may be required.

The following restrictions must not apply to the image or other media file:

  • Use by Wikimedia only (the only non-free-licensed exceptions hosted here are Wikimedia logos and other designs which are copyrighted by the Wikimedia Foundation).
  • Noncommercial/Educational use only.
  • Use under fair use only.
  • Notification of the creator required, rather than requested, for all or for some uses.

For example, the following are generally not allowed:

  • Screenshots of software that is itself not under a free license. Screenshots of software under the GPL or a similar free software license are generally considered to be OK. See Commons:Screenshots.
  • TV/DVD/Videogame screenshots. See Commons:Screenshots.
  • Scans or reproductive photographs of copyrighted artwork, especially book covers, album/CD covers, etc. See Commons:Derivative works.
  • Copyrighted symbols, logos, etc. (Not to be confused with trademarks.)
  • Models, masks, toys, and other objects which represent a copyrighted work, such as a cartoon or movie character (rather than just a particular actor, regardless of a specific role). See Commons:Derivative works.

Commons also allows works that are not protected by copyright (i.e. works in the public domain). Please read the section about public domain below.

Multi-licensing

This cartoon demonstrates the utility of multi-licensing one's own work. Click to view the full-size image.
Example of a free "own image" of a public place. Dual licensed by its author under GFDL and CC-BY-SA (see description page)

You can offer as many licenses for a file as you want as long as at least one of them meets the criteria for free licenses above. For example, files under a "non-commercial" license are OK only if they are at the same time also released under a free license that allows commercial use.

Multi-Licensing with restrictive licenses may be desirable for compatibility with the licensing scheme of other projects; also, multi-licensing allows people who create derivative work to release that work under a restrictive license only, if they wish—that is, it gives creators of derivative works more freedom with regards to which license they may use for their work.

Well-known licenses

The following well-known licenses are preferred for materials on Commons:

Again, works in the public domain are also accepted (see below). See Commons:Copyright tags for more licenses.

Note: The GFDL is not practical for photos and short texts, especially for printed media, because it demands that they be published along with the full text of the license. Thus, it is preferable to publish the work with a dual license, adding to the GFDL a license that permits use of the photo or text easily; a Creative Commons License, for example. Also, do not use the GPL and LGPL licenses as the only license for your own works if it can be avoided, as they are not really suitable for anything but computer programs.

Works which are not available under a license which meets the Definition of Free Cultural Works are explicitly not allowed. See the Wikimedia Foundation board resolution on licensing for more information.

Common examples of licensing statuses commonly found on the Internet, but forbidden on Commons, include:

  • Creative Commons Non-Commercial Only (-NC) licenses
  • Creative Commons No-Derivatives (-ND) licenses
  • Unlicensed material only usable under fair use, fair dealing, or other similar legal exceptions (see below for the reasons)

Non-permitted licenses may only be used on Commons if the work is multi-licensed under at least one permitted license.

License information

Example image with the recommended detailed image description (see image page)

All description pages on Commons must indicate clearly under which license the materials were published, and must contain the information required by the license (author, etc.) and should also contain information sufficient for others to verify the license status (source link) even when not required by the license itself or by copyright laws.

Specifically, the following information must be given on the description page, regardless if the license requires it or not:

  • The License that applies to the material. This should be done using a copyright tag.
  • The Source of the material. If the uploader is the author, this should be stated explicitly. (e.g. "Created by uploader", "Self-made", "Own work", etc.) Otherwise, please include a web link or a citation if possible. Note: Things like "Transfered from Wikipedia" are generally not considered a valid source unless that is where it was originally published. The primary source should be provided.
  • The Author/Creator of the image or media file. For media that are considered to be in the public domain because the copyright has expired, the date of death of the author may also be crucial (see the section about public domain material below). A generic license template which implies that the uploader is the copyright holder (e.g. {{PD-self}}) is no substitution for this requirement. The only exceptions to this is if the author wishes to remain anonymous or in certain cases where the author is unknown but enough information exists to show the work is truly in the public domain (such as the date of creation/publication).

Of less importance, but should always be provided if possible:

  • The Description of the image or media file. What is it of? How was it created?
  • The Date and place of creation. For media that are considered to be in the public domain because the copyright has expired, the date of creation may be crucial (see the section about public domain material below).

These points of the description can be done at best using the Information template. For usage of this template see Commons:First steps/Quality and description.

Scope of licensing

In some cases, a document (media file) may have multiple aspects that can and have to be licensed: Every person that contributed a critical part of the work has rights to the results, and all have to make their contribution available under a free license - see derivative work. However, the distinctions are unclear and may differ from country to country. Here are a few examples to clarify:

  • For a music recording, the following aspects must be taken into account, and each must be under a free license (or in the public domain):
    • The score of the music (rights by the composer)
    • The lyrics of the song (rights by the writer)
    • The performance (rights by the performers)
    • The recording (rights by the technical personnel / recording company)
  • For a picture of artwork (also book covers and the like), it is similar:
    • The creator of the original artwork has rights to any reproductions and derivative work.
    • The photographer has rights to the image, if it is not a plain reproduction of the original.
  • For a picture of a building, note that the architect may hold some rights if distinct architectural features are shown, but see also Commons:Freedom of panorama.

This is often problematic, if the artwork is not the primary content of the image or is not clearly recognizable: in that case, usually only the creator of the resulting picture (recording, etc.) holds a copyright. For instance, when taking a photograph of a group of people in a museum, the photo may also show some painting on the walls. In that case the copyright of those painting does not have to be taken into account. The distinction however is not very clear.

Note that the license for all aspects has to be determined and mentioned explicitly.

Also note that reproductions usually may not be copyrighted; the creator of an image of a picture owns no copyright to the resulting digital image. The only relevant copyright is that of the original picture. This also applies to Screenshots.

Material in the public domain

Commons accept material that is in the public domain, that is, documents that are not eligible to copyright or for which the copyright has expired. But the "public domain" is complicated; copyright laws vary between countries, and thus a work may be in the public domain in one country, but still be copyrighted in another country. There are international treaties such as the Berne Convention that set some minimum standards, but individual countries are free to go beyond these minimums. A general rule of thumb is that if the creator of a work has been dead for more than 70 years, his works are in the public domain in the country the creator was a citizen of and in the country where the work was first published. If the work is anonymous or a collaborative work (e.g. an encyclopedia), it is typically in the public domain 70 years after the date of the first publication.

Many countries use such a copyright term of 70 years. A notable exception is the U.S. Due to historical circumstances, the U.S. has more complex rules. In the United States, copyright generally lasts:

  • for works first published before 1978: until 95 years after the first publication, and
  • for works first published 1978 or later: until 70 years after the author's death, or for anonymous works or work made for hire, until the shorter of 95 years since the first publication or 120 years since the creation of the work.

For works created before 1978 but only published 1978 or later, there are some special rules. These terms apply in the U.S. also for foreign works.

However, the year and location of publication is essential. In several countries, material published before a certain year is in the public domain. In the U.S. this date is January 1, 1923. Furthermore, in some countries all material published by the government is public domain, while others claim some copyrights, yet others are very restrictive (see country specific details below).

Regarding the United States and non-U.S. works, one should bear in mind that the U.S. passed a law (the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, URAA) that restored copyrights in the U.S. on foreign works if that work was still copyrighted in the foreign source country on the URAA date. This URAA date was January 1, 1996 for most countries. This means that foreign works became copyrighted in the U.S. even if they had been in the public domain in the U.S. before the URAA date. See also Wikipedia:Non-U.S. copyrights.

In some jurisdictions (like the United States), one can also explicitly donate work one has created oneself to the public domain. In other places (like the European Union) this is technically not possible, but one can grant the right to use the picture freely with, for example, a Creative Commons license.

Interaction of United States copyright law and foreign copyright law

Every faithful reproduction of Mona Lisa is considered by Commons to be public domain. See "Exception" in text for details.

Commons is an international project, but its servers are located in the U.S., and its content should be maximally reusable. Uploads of non-U.S. works are normally allowed only if the work is covered by a free license valid in both the U.S. and the country of origin of the work, or if it is in the public domain in both countries. The "country of origin" of a work is generally the country where the work was first published.

When uploading material from a country outside the U.S., the copyright laws of that country and the U.S. normally apply. If material that has been saved from a third-party website is uploaded to Commons, the copyright laws of the U.S., the country of residence of the uploader, and the country of location of the web servers of the website apply. Thus, any licence to use the material should apply in all relevant jurisdictions; if the material is in the public domain, it must normally be in the public domain in all these jurisdictions (plus in the country of origin of the work) for it to be allowable on Commons.

For example, if a person in the UK uploads a picture that has been saved off a French website to the Commons server, the upload must be covered by UK, French and US copyright law. For a photograph to be acceptable for upload to Commons, it must be public domain in France, the UK and the US, or there must be an acceptable copyright licence for the photograph that covers the UK, US and France.

Exception: Faithful reproductions of 2D works of art that are in the public domain are an exception to this rule following a WMF position statement in July 2008 to the effect that such photographs are themselves considered to be in the public domain. For details, see Commons:When to use the PD-Art tag.

Material under the fair use clause is not allowed on Commons

Wikimedia Commons does not accept fair use content, because fair use laws vary from country to country—thus, content deemed acceptable under, for instance, US fair use concepts (which are very broad) is not usable in the majority of other countries.

Also, fair use depends on the context the image (or other media) is used in. That is, something that can be used on one page as fair use would be a copyright violation on another page. Especially, fair use does not allow collecting and distributing the images in a media database such as Commons. This means that fair use simply does not apply to Commons.

Both issues are against the Commons policy to provide images that can be used by anyone anywhere for any purpose.

You are, however, welcome to submit such images to your local Wiki, if it allows fair use.

Derivative works

This montage is an example of a derivative work. It combines various preexisting images that were released under the GFDL and other compatible free content licenses.

You want a picture of Mickey Mouse, but of course you can't just scan it in. Why not take a picture of a little action figure and then upload it? Don't. The reason why you can't upload photographs of such figures is that they are considered as derivative works. Such works can't be published without permission of the original creator.

The US Copyright Act of 1976, Section 101, says: "A derivative work is a work based upon one or more preexisting works, such as a translation, musical arrangement, dramatization, fictionalization, motion picture version, sound recording, art reproduction, abridgment, condensation, or any other form in which a work may be recast, transformed, or adapted. A work consisting of editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications which, as a whole, represent an original work of authorship, is a “derivative work”." A photograph of a copyrighted item is considered a derivative work in US jurisdiction. US Copyright Act of 1976, Section 106: "(...) The owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following: (...) (2) to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work;"

Therefore, "unauthorized" derivative works like pictures of action figures, toys etc. must be deleted.

For more information, see Commons:Derivative works.

Simple design

Logo of Microsoft

Most commercial items and products are protected by intellectual property laws in one way or another, but copyright is only one such protection. It is important to make the distinction between copyright, trademarks, and patents. Wikimedia Commons generally only enforces copyright restrictions, for these reasons:

  1. Almost anything can be trademarked, and it wouldn't make sense to forbid everything.
  2. Trademarks and industrial designs restrictions are pertinent to industrial reproduction, but photographs of such items can otherwise be freely reproduced.

Commons accepts images of text in a general typeface and of simple geometric shapes, even if it happens to be a trademarked logo.[2] Such images should be tagged with {{PD-textlogo}}. Any design which is an artistic work may be copyrighted, however.

It is often very difficult to determine whether a design is protected by copyright or not, and images of these sorts are frequently nominated for deletion, with various results.

Fonts

The design of a font (or typeface) is not subject to copyright in the U.S. It may be copyrighted in other countries (see Fonts on English Wikipedia).

Checklist

Let's assume you took a picture with your camera, or you've scanned it from somewhere, or you've downloaded it off a web server - and want to upload it to Wikimedia Commons. How do you know what's OK and what's not? Here's a simple chart that helps you decide. In cases of doubt, read the further advice for your country first. If you still don't know for sure, ask on Commons:Help desk or Commons:Village pump in your local language.

See Commons:Image casebook for a more complete list.

OK

Own photos of:

  • Nature (forest, sky, etc.)
  • Animals (cats, dogs, etc.)
  • Insects (ants, beetles, etc.)
  • Produce (apples, tomatoes, etc.)
  • People who have given their consent for their image to be published
  • Yourself (as long as you don't use this as your private webspace)
  • Objects that are PD by age both in the United States and your jurisdiction:
    • Buildings built by an architect who died 70+ (preferably 100+) years ago
    • Works of art created by an artist who died 70+ (preferably 100+) years ago
    • Books by authors who died 70+ (preferably 100+) years ago
    • Newspapers and Magazines published by an author who died 70+ (preferably 100+) years ago

Own scans of:

  • Material where copyright has expired in both your jurisdiction and the United States.
  • Pictures created entirely by you (based either on no earlier source or on a source which is in the public domain)

Material from web servers:

  • Material where copyright has expired in your jurisdiction, the United States and the jurisdiction of the web server.

Questionable, may or may not be OK

All kinds of copyrighted material, when uploader does not own the copyright:

Photographs, drawings, scans and other reproductions of:

  • Cars
  • Products of daily use (simple designs are OK)
  • Book covers (only very simple designs are OK)
  • Currency (depends on country law; please see Commons:Currency)
  • Buildings built by an architect who died less than 70 years ago (or is still alive) (see Freedom of panorama)
  • Permanently installed works of art in a public place, created by an artist who died less than 70 years ago (or is still alive) (see Freedom of panorama)
  • Interiors of private houses, homes, museums
  • Celebrities (see Personality rights)
  • Normal people who have not given their consent (see Personality rights)

not OK

  • Fair use images
  • Fan art that closely resembles copyrighted material
  • Photographs, drawings, scans and other reproductions of objects that are copyrighted by someone other than yourself like the following:
    • Works that are not permanently installed, created by an artist who died less than 70 years ago (or is still alive)
    • Action figures, statuettes, costumes and other copyrighted material (see Derivative Works)
    • Album, videogame, movie and other commercial products covers, posters, newspapers and magazines of less than 70 years (covers and interiors).
  • Sounds of things that are copyrighted by someone other than yourself like the following:
    • Copyrighted radio stations (programs and commercials)
    • Lyric songs created by an author who died less than 70 years ago (or is still alive)

International law

Berne Convention

Almost all countries in the world are party to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (see here for the text). Following this convention, countries enforce copyrights from other countries, according to certain rules. One consequence of these rules is that we should always care about the laws of the country of origin of the work.

Most important is article 7, which sets the term of duration of the protections granted by the Convention. The Convention sets a minimal term of 50 years after the life of the authors (subject to some exceptions). However, each country is free to set longer terms.

In any case, the term shall be governed by the legislation of the country where protection is claimed; however, unless the legislation of that country otherwise provides, the term shall not exceed the term fixed in the country of origin of the work.

Even though many countries have accepted the rule of the shorter term based on Article 7 of the Convention, please note that the United States Copyright Act has not honored such a rule. For example, 17 U.S.C. 104A(a)(1)(B) may restore copyright on a work published outside the USA for the remaining American copyright term even if its copyright may expire sooner in its source country. This may affect works that were still copyrighted on 1 January 1996 in their source countries. This mean that a work now in the public domain in a Commons user's home country might still be legally copyrighted in the USA. For further details, please visit w:en:Wikipedia:Non-US_copyrights#Dates_of_restoration_and_terms_of_protection for a list of American copyright restoration dates.

European copyright law

The European Union has issued directives harmonizing copyright rules in the European Union (see Copyright law of the European Union). Note, however, that directives, unlike European regulations, do not apply uniformly. They have to be transposed into national law by each country's legislature, and they often offer significant leeway in doing so. This is, for instance, the case for the legal exemptions of copyright (equivalent of "fair use"), which are allowed to differ within certain limits.

The most important, for our purposes, is the Directive on harmonizing the term of copyright protection (text). This directive sets the duration of copyright to 70 years following the death of the author (for multiple authors, of the last author; for collective, pseudonymous or anonymous works, following the date of publication).

However, this directive does not shorten already running extended copyright terms in countries that apply them.

The 2001 EUCD, article, 5 specifies exceptions to copyright. However, only one of these exceptions is mandatory (it concerns caching). The others are optional, meaning that for each exception, each country is free to choose whether it adopts it and how it restricts it. Thus, one should not assume that one exception true in one EU country applies in another. Notably, each country is free to chose how to copyright objects permanently located in public places and "simple" photographs.

Finally, there is considerable amounts of case law or jurisprudence on these issues. In some cases, they may create rights or restrictions that do not appear in the text of the law. Thus, one should always be wary in how the law is interpreted in the country of interest, as opposed to merely reading the legal texts.

Country-specific laws

Laws about copyright differ from country to country. Images uploaded to Commons, unless uploaded from the United States, involve the interaction of two or more copyright jurisdictions. Generally, the policy applied on Commons is to only allow images that can be used in all (or at least most) countries. The laws of individual countries differ especially in the following points:

  • The time for which a copyright applies. In most countries, copyright expires no later than 70 years after the death of the author.
  • Status of works of the government. In many (but not all) countries, documents published by the government for official use are in the public domain.
  • Material applicable for copyright. In some jurisdictions, pictures of artistic work like architecture, sculptures, clothing etc. can not be used freely without the consent of the creator of the original artwork.

The safest way to apply international copyright law is to consider the laws of all the relevant jurisdictions and then use the most restrictive combination of laws to determine whether something is copyrighted or not. The jurisdictions that might need to be considered are:

  • The place where the work was created;
  • The place where the work is being uploaded from;
  • The place that any web server the work has been downloaded from physically is;
  • The United States.

A work is only allowed on Commons if it is either public domain in all relevant jurisdictions or if there is a free licence which applies to the work in all relevant jurisdictions.

In the case of a painting published in France please do apply US-American copyright laws as those copyright laws apply to the servers of Commons. Also apply the copyright laws of the country you are in and the copyright laws of any web server you got the work off. In the case of a French painting uploaded to Commons from a French web server by someone living in the UK three copyright jurisdictions would apply: France, UK and US. US law would mean that if the painting had not been published before 1923 it would be in copyright. British law would mean that if the painting was by an artist who had been dead for less than 70 years it would be in copyright. French law would mean that if the painting was by an artist who died for France it would be in copyright for even longer than under British law. In this case the most restrictive combination of jurisdictions would be French and US. Only if the painting was legally in the public domain in both France and the United States could it be uploaded from a French web server to Commons.

UNESCO has a collection of national copyright laws that should be referred to when creating country-specific tags such as those below.

Relevant country-specific differences in the duration of copyright (from 70 years pma) and exceptions of the application of copyright are discussed below (countries are listed in alphabetical order):

Afghanistan

It appears that Afghanistan has no copyright laws at all. See this information from WIPO, and also w:Afghanistan and copyright issues.

Albania

According to Copyright law of Albania the duration of copyright is 70 years post mortem auctoris. Copyright terminates 70 years after publication for pseudonymous or anonymous work. The following are not copyrightable and thus in public domain:

  • the ideas, theories, concepts, discoveries and inventions in a creative work, apart from the way of acquiring, explanation or expression;
  • the official texts of a legal, administrative, legislative, political nature and their respective official translations;
  • the official symbols of the state, symbols of other public organizations and public authorities, such as: Coat of arms, seals, flags, emblems, medallions, medals;
  • Means of payment;
  • news and press information;
  • simple data and facts.
  • Folk expressions.

Algeria

Algerian law states that photos and films are protected for 50 years starting from the end of the publication year, after which they are in the public domain.

Andorra

The copyright law of Andorra states that the copyright term lasts for life extended for 70 years as from the first of January of the year following the death of the author. In a work of joint authorship, the term of 70 years shall be calculated from the death of the last surviving joint author. In a work of an author/s not identified individually (collective, anonymous or pseudonymous), the term is 70 years from the first time at the public disposal.

This is not applicable to any official text of legislative, administrative or judicial nature. However, the works of architecture are protected.

Andorra is party to the Berne Convention since Juny 2, 2004.

Arab States

Laws are found in both Arab Committee for Protecting Intellectual Property and Arab Law Group Organization

Armenia

According to the Copyright law of 1999 the duration of copyright is 50 years after the death of the author and 50 years after publication for anonymous work. Moral rights are perpetual.

The copyright in a work created on an employment assignment shall belong to the author of the work.

Armenia has freedom of panorama limited to de minimis use and non-commercial purposes.

Please check article 6. in Armenian; it is very unclear in English.

Argentina

See templates for details.

Australia

Government-produced works

According to [1], copyright of works with commonwealth, state, or territory-owned copyright expires 50 years from the date of creation (rounded up to the nearest year). Following that logic, all government-created works created before 1 January 1958 should be in the public domain.

Non-government works

Presently, the Australian Copyright Act 1968[2] should be consulted to determine whether the copyright of a work produced or published in Australia has expired. The Australian Copyright act 1968 was amended as of the 1st January 2005 and further amended February 2008, prior to this the time limit was 50 years the amendment was not retrospective, copyrights that expired prior to this date were not revived [3]

  • Australian copyright is applied to works published first in Australia or whose original author is/was an Australian citizen, Australian resident or person under protection of the Australian government.[4]
  • For published works, the copyright expires 70 years after the death of the author.[5]
  • For previously unpublished works, the copyright cannot expire less than 70 years after the first publication of the work. [6]
  • For anonymous/pseudonymous works, the copyright expires 70 years after the first publication of the work.[7]

Following this logic:

  • All published works whose author deceased before 1 January 1938 are in the public domain.
  • What is more, since works that went out of copyright before the change of the law in 2005 did not regain copyright, all published works whose author died before 1 January 1954 are public domain, as they went out of copyright before the new law came into effect. Copyright is lost at the start of the next year, so works of authors who died in 1954 will not be out of copyright until 2025.
  • All anonymous/pseudonymous works published before 1 January 1938 are in the public domain.
  • Unpublished works are not in the public domain.

Note:

  • Photographs taken prior to midnight on the 31st December 1954 are in the public domain[8], photographs taken on/after 1st January 1955 are not PD unless prescribed by the copyright owner.

Austria

Freedom of panorama

Objects permanently located in public that can be photographed from public (accessible) grounds, without devices such as a ladder, can be used by its photographer for any purpose, regardless of whether they display an artwork/building or not. This right is called Panoramafreiheit (freedom of panorama). However in some circumstances certain modifications (but not usage) of the image can be prohibited by the copyright owner of the object (artist or architect) if the copyright of that object has not expired. Generally an image taken in public space might not be used to produce an object similar to the original. (§54. (1) [9])

§54. (1) 5. : Werke der Baukunst nach einem ausgeführten Bau oder andere Werke der bildenden Künste nach Werkstücken, die dazu angefertigt wurden, sich bleibend an einem öffentlichen Ort zu befinden, zu vervielfältigen, zu verbreiten, durch optische Einrichtungen öffentlich vorzuführen und durch Rundfunk zu senden und der Öffentlichkeit zur Verfügung zu stellen; ausgenommen sind das Nachbauen von Werken der Baukunst, die Vervielfältigung eines Werkes der Malkunst oder der graphischen Künste zur bleibenden Anbringung an einem Orte der genannten Art sowie die Vervielfältigung von Werken der Plastik durch die Plastik.

Official works

By Austrian law, documents are in the public domain (gemeinfrei) if they have been published as part of a law or official decree or edict, or if they have been released as an official announcement or for public information. The relevant law is paragraph 7 of the UrhG.

Azerbaijan

According to the Copyright law of 1996 the duration of copyright is 50 years post mortem auctoris. The duration of copyright for anonymous work is 50 years after publication unless the author is identified. Post-humously work is protected 50 years after death if the work is published within 30 years after death.

According to article 8 copyright registration or explicit mention of copyright may be necessary. The English translation is not clear on this point.

The following are not subjects of copyright:

  • official documents (laws, court decisions, other texts of legislative, administrative or judicial character) and their official translations;
  • State emblems and official signs (flags, armorial bearings, decorations, monetary signs and other State symbols and official signs);
  • works of folklore;
  • communications concerning events and facts that have informational character.

The reproduction, broadcasting or communication to the public by cable of architectural works, photographic works and works of fine art permanently located in a public place shall be permissible without the author's consent and without payment of remuneration, except where the presentation of the work constitutes the main feature of the said reproduction, broadcast or communication to the public by cable, if it is used for commercial purposes.

Belarus

The copyright law of Belarus states that the copyright term lasts for life, then extended for the next 50 years after the death of the author. In the case of more than one author, it will be 50 years p.m.a. after the death of the last author.

Belgium

According to the Copyright law of 1994 the duration of copyright is 70 years post mortem auctoris. For anonymous work the duration of copyright is 70 years after publication if the author is not identified.

Brazil

According to Brazilian Copyright law of 1998 (in Portuguese) translation:

Chapter III -The Economic Rights of the Authors and Term Thereof

  • Art. 28. The author has the exclusive right to use his literary, artistic or scientific work, to derive benefit from it and to dispose of it.
  • Art. 41. The author's economic rights shall be protected for a period of 70 years as from the first of January of the year following his death, subject to observance of the order of succession under civil law.
  • Art. 42. Where a literary, artistic or scientific work of joint authorship is indivisible, the term of protection provided for in the foregoing Article shall be calculated from the death of the last surviving joint author.
  • Art. 43. The term of protection of economic rights in anonymous or pseudonymous works shall be 70 years counted from the first of January of the year following that of the first publication.

Sole Paragraph. The provisions of Articles 41 and its sole paragraph shall be applicable where the author makes his identity known before the expiry of the period referred to in the introduction to this Article.

  • Art. 44. The economic rights in audiovisual and photographic works shall be protected for a period of 70 years from the first of January of the year following that of their disclosure.
  • Art. 45. In addition to the works in respect of which the protection of the economic rights has expired, the following shall pass into the public domain:
    • I. the works of authors deceased without heir;
    • II. the works of unknown authors, subject to the legal protection of ethnic and traditional lore.

Chapter V - Term of Protection for Neighboring Rights

  • Art. 96. The term of protection of neighboring rights shall be 70 years from the first of January of the year following fixation for phonograms, transmission for the broadcasts of broadcasting organization, and public performance in other cases.

Freedom of panorama

  • Art. 48. Works permanently located in public places may be freely represented by painting, drawing, photography and audiovisual processes.

Canada

All photographs taken before 1 January, 1949 are in the public domain.

For works from after that time, or non-photographs, the Copyright Act states a copyright subsists for the life of the author plus 50 years following the end of the calendar year of death (section 6). If the work is anonymous or pseudonymous then the copyright lasts either 50 years following publication or 75 years after the making of the work, whichever is earlier (section 6.1), provided the authorship does not become known in that timeframe.

See the Canadian Public Domain Flowchart to determine if a work is in the public domain.

China

People's Republic of China

According to the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China [10] in effect in Mainland China:

  • Article 5: The law does not apply to those specified in Template:PD-PRC-exempt.
  • Article 20: The rights of authorship, alteration and integrity of an author shall be unlimited in time. These are moral rights.
  • Article 21:
    • A copyright subsists for the life of the author plus 50 years following the end of the calendar year of death.
    • A legal entity or other organization or in respect of a work created in the course of employment enjoys the copyright for 50 years since the first publication.
    • A cinematographic work, a work created by virtue of an analogous method of film production or a photographic work is copyrighted for 50 years since the first publication.
    • All of the preceding terms expire on December 31 of the last year.
  • Article 59 has restored copyright. The same thing has also been written in Article 55 of the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China dated 1990 (zh:中华人民共和国著作权法/1990年).[11] One should not simply assume that works made in China before the 1990 laws are in the public domain.

According to the Chinese Civil Law Article 100 photos of regular people may not be published without their consent， if the person can be identified. The use of the image for profit (commercially) without his consent shall be prohibited.

Hong Kong

According to Chapter 528 Copyright Ordinance, in Section 17 Duration of copyright in literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works, in the law of Hong Kong, a work's copyright expires 50 years after the last death of known authors, or the work's first publication for unknown authorship, or the year it made when the work is never made public and with unknown authorship. The above-mentioned ordinance does not apply to the work of Hong Kong Government, Legislative Council and certain international organizations. Their copyrights are under separate ordinances. [12]

Macau

According to the Copyright Law (Decree-Law n.o 43/99/M):

  • Article 6: Official works are not protected. See also Template:PD-MacaoGov.
  • Article 21: Generally, copyright shall lapse 50 years after the death of the creator of the work, even in the case of works disclosed or published posthumously, to expire at the end of the last year.
  • Article 51: Non-Macanese works are copyrightable in Macau for the Macanese copyright duration or the home country or area, whichever is less, i.e. the rule of the shorter term applies in Macau.
  • Article 106: The copyright in an audiovisual work shall lapse 50 years after its disclosure.
  • Article 148: The copyright in works of applied art shall lapse 25 years after the completion of the work.
  • Article 155: The copyright in photographic works shall lapse 25 years after their completion, even if they have never been disclosed or published.
  • Article 182: The rights of performers shall lapse 50 years after the performance.
  • Article 188: The rights of producers of phonograms and videograms shall lapse 50 years after fixation.
  • Article 192: The rights of broadcasting organizations shall lapse 20 years after the broadcast.

Republic of China

According to the Copyright Act of the Republic of China in effect in Taiwan Area:

  • Article 9: Works specified in Template:PD-ROC-exempt shall not be the subject matter of copyright.
  • Article 30:
    • Generally, economic rights endure for the life of the author and 50 years after the author's death.
    • Where a work is first publicly released between the 40th and 50th years after the author's death, the economic rights shall endure for a term of 10 years beginning from the time of the first public release.
  • Article 31: Economic rights in a joint work subsist for 50 years after the death of the last surviving author.
  • Article 32
    • Economic rights in a pseudonymous work or an anonymous work endure for 50 years from the time of public release; provided, the economic rights shall be extinguished where it can be proven that the author has been deceased for over 50 years.
    • The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall not apply when the pseudonym of the author is well known to the public.
  • Article 33: Economic rights in works authored by a juristic person endure for 50 years after the public release of the work; provided, if the work is not publicly released within 50 years from the completion of the creation, the economic rights shall subsist for 50 years after completion of the creation.
  • Article 34:
    • Economic rights for photographic works, audiovisual works, sound recordings, and performances endure for 50 years after the public release of the work.
    • The proviso of the preceding article shall apply mutatis mutandis to the preceding paragraph.
  • Article 35: All terms of duration specified in Articles 30 through 34 terminate as of the last day of the last year of the term.

Czech Republic

According to the Czech Copyright Law [13], §3 a) there is no copyright on official works, such as legal acts, public documents including those in preparation, documents published by the House of Representatives and Senate, state symbols (flags, coats of arms, anthems) of countries and administrative subdivisions, municipal chronicles and any other works whose exclusion from copyright protection is in public interest.

Freedom of panorama: Works permanently displayed in public area (square, street, park, public road or another public space) can be freely recorded through drawing, painting, photograph or movie, but not through three-dimensional models. Author of the derivative work should only mention the author and name of the original work, if possible (§33).

In line with EU Copyright Directive, authors are entitled to royalties for usage of their works during their lifetime and 70 years after their death (§27). Performing artists (e.g. actors, musicians, dancers) are entitled to royalties for 50 years after publishing of their performance (§73). (All terms are computed from January 1 of the year following the respective event.)

Denmark

According to Danish law, Consolidated Act on Copyright 2003, the copyright on "photographic images" expire 50 years after the image's creation. However, for "photographic works" the copyright expires 70 years after the death of the author. The definition of a photographic work, as opposed to image is not precisely defined. In general a work is considered to have to display some form of originality or other special artistic properties. Simple snap-shots do not qualify as works. Interpretation is highly subjective. There is some debate as to whether all works by a professional photographer constitute works as opposed to simple images.

Egypt

Egyptian Law states that photos paintings and drawing are protected for 25 years starting from the publication date, after which they are in public domain.

Per Article 167, Audio recordings are in copyright for 50 years after publication.

Estonia

According to the Republic of Estonia Copyright law Public sources: Copyright does not apply to works of folklore, legislation and administrative documents, court decisions and official translations thereof; official symbols of the state and insignia of organisations. Copyright does not apply to reproduction of work by libraries, archives or museums.

It is permitted, without the authorization of the author and without payment of remuneration, to reproduce works of architecture, works of visual art, works of applied art or photographic works which are permanently located in places open to the public by any means except for mechanical contact copying, and to communicate such reproductions of works to the public except if the work is the main subject of the reproduction and it is intended to be used for direct commercial purposes. If the work specified carries the name of its author, it shall be indicated in communicating the reproduction to the public.

Finland

According to Finnish Copyright law of 2005 copyright expires for photographs not considered to be "works of art" fifty years after the photograph was taken. Photographs considered to be "works of art" are protected normally for 70 years after the death of the works creator. The difference between a photograph and photographic work of art is not precisely defined. As an example, the (legally not binding) opinion of the Finnish Copyright Council [14] is that this photograph of Paavo Nurmi "-- is despite its historical importance a regular photo of current events. The photograph does not demonstrate original and personal contribution from the photographer and so it can't be considered to be -- a photographic work."

The copyright law of 1991 extended the copyright time from 25 years (according to the 1961 copyright law) to 50 years. However, material already released to public domain according to the 1961 law remain in public domain and therefore all photographs (but not photographic works of art) released before 1966 are in the public domain.

The textual representations of Finnish coat of arms of municipalities, regions and provinces are considered to be governmental decisions and therefore they are not protected by copyright. According to the opinions of the Finnish Copyright Council 1997:11 and 1998:5 also the graphical representation is thought not to meet the requirements for a original work of art and therefore is not protected by copyright. This is also thought to be true for the coat of arms of historical provinces and other historical coats of arms.

Photos of works of art exhibited in public spaces can only be used for non-commercial purposes, unless it is clear that the work is not the main subject in the photo (freedom of panorama). There are no restrictions on photos of general buildings but a single home or yard may not be photographed.

People

[15]

Photos of people who are of public interest (famous politician, artist, sportsman) and who are carrying out their public duties or work may be published without consent.

Photos of regular people in public places[16] may not be published without their consent unless the person is clearly not the main subject of the image and the picture does not cause damage, suffering or despisal to the person in the picture.

However, if the person can be identified, the image may never be used in advertisement (commercially) without consent.

France

The relevant laws are in the first book of the Code of Intellectual Property, or CPI (English version). The code includes dispositions transposed from the 1993 European directive on Copyright. France also enforces the Berne Convention.

The normal duration of copyright is 70 years following the end of the year of death of the author (or the death of the last author for multiple authors); if the work is anonymous, pseudonymous or collective, it is 70 years following the end of the year of publication of the work (unless the authors named themselves). See below for important extensions to copyright.

Images from public sites

Note that French government services often use professional photographers who are not government employees to make official photographs. These photographers then typically sell an usage right to the government. In such circumstances, the government does not own the copyright to the photograph, and thus could not give us a license to use it even if it wanted to.

The rules for protection of works by the government are somewhat fuzzy, and one should assume by default that anything from a government entity is copyrighted. One should refer to:

Laws, decrees, court decisions and other similar government texts (but not the translations or commentaries thereof), possibly found on Légifrance, are in the public domain. This seems acknowledged by Légifrance's copyright terms.

Unless you really know what you're doing, please abstain from copying photos from French government sites to Commons. Thanks.

Wartime copyright extensions

French law grants extensions to copyright because of the World Wars (see CPI L123-8 and following). The extensions are:

  • 6 years and 152 days for World War I
  • 8 years and 120 days for World War II
  • 30 years for people who died for France ; this includes, for instance, Alain-Fournier (1 January 1915 +50+30+6+8 years +152+120 days = 30 september 2009), Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Jehan Alain.

Several extensions can be added together.

The European directive on copyright does not necessarily suppress these extensions:

Article 10 - Where a term of protection, which is longer than the corresponding term provided for by this Directive, is already running in a Member State on the date referred to in Article 13 (1), this Directive shall not have the effect of shortening that term of protection in that Member State.

According to the French Ministry of Culture, the legal status of these extensions, adopted when copyright was 50 years after death, was unclear in the context of the new 70-year law; the Ministry called for erring on the side of caution and assuming they are valid. [17]

Note that one should not assume that copyright holders do not try to enforce these extensions. In 2005, right holders demanded payment for a movie where a character whistled The Internationale, whose author died in 1932. (See also Template:PD-Internationale for further information.) On the other hand, the Paris Appeal Court ruled against applying the extensions in 2004 [18], but on 12 October 2005, another section of the same court applied the extension so that the works of the painter Giovanni Boldini who died in 1931 will not enter the public domain before late 2016 [19].

On February 27, 2007, the Court of Cassation, supreme jurisdiction, first civil chamber, ruled in the Hazan case (arrêt n° 280 du 27 février 2007) that articles L123-8 and L123-9, extending the duration of protection to compensate for wartimes, were not applicable to works for which an extended protection period (beyond 70 years) had not started to elapse on July 1, 1995.[20][21]. The judgment regarding Giovanni Boldini's work was broke too, by the same court : [22].

In practice, only subsist extensions for music and authors "Mort pour la France", as the extension of rights on music was enacted in 1985, before the European Union resolution extended the rights for all authors in 1997.


Works of arts, including architecture, exhibited in public spaces

The architect of a notable building owns copyright over the representations of that building, including postcards and photographs. For instance, the architect of the pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre Museum may claim copyright over images of the pyramid. This, for instance, extends to the designer of lighting systems; for instance, the company operating the Eiffel Tower claims copyright of images of the tower when lighted at night.

However, ruling #567 of March 15, 2005 of the Court of Cassation denied the right of producers of works of arts installed in a public plaza over photographs of the whole plaza:

Because the Court has noticed that, as it was shown in the incriminated images, the works of Mr X... and Z... blended into the architectural ensemble of the Terreaux plaza, of which it was a mere element, the appeals court correctly deduced that this presentation of the litigious work was accessory to the topic depicted, which was the representation of the plaza, so that the image did not constitute a communication of the litigious work to the public

The court draws a distinction between depictions of a work of art, and depictions of whole settings of which the work of art is a mere part, and denies the right of the artist over such images.

While architects may have rights to works derived from their work of art, this is not the case of the owners of works of art or buildings, in general. The summary of the conclusions of a May 7, 2004 ruling by the Court of Cassation was:

The owner of a thing does not have an exclusive right over the image of this thing; he or she can however oppose the usage of this image by a third party if this usage results in an abnormal disturbance to him or her."

In this decision, the court excluded that the owner of a hotel, who had made extensive repairs and enhancements to the buildings at high costs, could claim exclusive rights to the image of that hotel: merely demonstrating that the costs supported did not demonstrate that the publishing of images was an abnormal disturbance.

The Court already ruled on June 5, 2003, that the right of property comprised absolutely no right to the image of this property. However, they also upheld the right to privacy of the homeowners: in this case, not only a photograph of a house was published, but also its exact location and the name of the owners. Earlier rulings (May 2, 2001) similarly rejected requests based on ownership without a justification of an abnormal disturbance.

Germany

Freedom of panorama

Objects permanently located in public that can be photographed from public (accessible) grounds, without devices such as a ladder, can be used by its photographer for any purpose, regardless of whether they display an artwork/building or not. This right is called Panoramafreiheit (freedom of panorama). However in some circumstances certain modifications (but not usage) of the image can be prohibited by the copyright owner of the object (artist or architect) if the copyright of that object has not expired. A notable exception from freedom of panorama was the wrapped German Reichstag by the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude since it was from the beginning not a permanent installation.

There are some cases (e.g. images of sculptures by living artists displayed in public) in which there is a discussion on whether they are acceptable on Commons in the future. (See discussion). When in doubt, German Wikipedia might be a better choice for upload.

Official works

By German law, documents are in the public domain (gemeinfrei) if they have been published as part of a law or official decree or edict, or if they have been released as an official announcement or for public information. The relevant law is section 5 of the UrhG. The first and most important sentence states:

Gesetze, Verordnungen, amtliche Erlasse und Bekanntmachungen sowie Entscheidungen und amtlich verfaßte Leitsätze zu Entscheidungen genießen keinen urheberrechtlichen Schutz.

For more information about German copyright laws, see the meta-page Wikipedia:Bildrechte on the German Wikipedia.

Greece

There are a few exemptions from copyright, defined in earler Law 2121/1993. The terms of WIPO copyright treaty have been introduced with Law 3184/2003. See also [23] for the full text.

Duration of copyright protection

  • According to Law 2557/1997, the duration of the copyright is 70 years after the death of the creator, or 70 years after the date of publication for anonymous and pseudonymous works. After the expiry of the period of copyright protection, the State, represented by the Minister of Culture, may exercise the rights relating to the acknowledgment of the author’s paternity and the rights relating to the protection of the integrity of the work deriving from the moral rights. This clause may prevent the creation of many types of derivative work, even after the copyright has expired, as the State has the right to prohibit any distortion, mutilation or other modification of the original work.
  • The economic right on works created by employees under any work relation of the public sector or a legal entity of public law in execution of their duties is transferred to the employer, unless provided otherwise by contract. (Law 2557/1997, article 8.17)

The exceptions which may apply to the content of Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons are:

Exemptions from copyright (§2)

  • Official state, government and judicial texts: Laws, decrees, administrative decisions and circulars, proceedings and decisions of courts of justice etc.