User:Aarchiba/Brookhaven permission

I emailed the webmistress for Brookhaven to clarify their permission statements; this is the reply: From: "Koropsak, Jane"  To: "'Andrew Archibald'" <*******> Subject: RE: Image copyrights Date: Mon, 3 May 2004 09:36:05 -0400 X-BNL-MailScanner-Information: Please contact the ISP for more information X-BNL-MailScanner: Found to be clean X-MailScanner-From: jkoropsak@bnl.gov

Dear Andrew- We are happy to grant you permission to use the photos you describe. While they are considered public domain, we need to be sure that the images are not used for proprietary purposes, hence the permission statement. Below is the information you need to use the photos for your book. Feel free to contact me if you need further assistance. -Jane

Jane Koropsak Public Affairs Representative Community, Education, Government & Public Affairs Tel: (631) 344-4909 email: jane@bnl.gov

This permission is applicable only for the single use that you requested. Without limitation, images shall not be utilized to endorse, or imply endorsement of any product or service.

Images shall not be modified or digitally manipulated in any way other than to adjust size, crop, or color attributes in order to optimize it for print production.

The credit line "Courtesy of Brookhaven National Laboratory" shall be included in the photo caption or as a separate photo credit adjacent to the printed image.

Usage of the image(s) constitutes your agreement to the terms of Brookhaven National Laboratory's image licensing policy, which can be found at http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/images_legal.html.

Thank you for your interest in Brookhaven National Laboratory.

-Original Message- From: Andrew Archibald [mailto:*******] Sent: Sunday, May 02, 2004 8:47 PM To: jane@bnl.gov Subject: Image copyrights

Hi,

I'm working on an online encyclopedia, http://wikipedia.org/. A few entries would be improved by using some excellent pictures from the Brookhaven web site. I initially assumed that the pictures were produced by employees of the federal government for work purposes and were therefore in the public domain. However, there is a notice at http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/images.html which appears to forbid commercial use for certain images.

Could you clarify the copyright situation on these images for me?

If it helps, the particular images I'm interested in are:

http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/history/charmed.asp The picture of bubble-chamber tracks.

http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/history/7_foot.asp The schematic of a huge bubble chamber.

http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/history/higinbotham.asp The drawing of the visual display of the first video game.

My questions are:

Are these images in the public domain?

If not, can we use them in Wikipedia?

Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org) is a free encyclopedia that is collaboratively edited by volunteers from around the world. Our goal is to create a comprehensive knowledge base that is not only available at no charge, but is also freely distributed.

We can only use your materials if you are willing to grant permission for it to be used under terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. This means that although you retain the copyright and authorship of your own work, you are granting permission for all others (not just Wikipedia) to use, copy, and share your materials freely -- and even potentially use them commercially -- so long as they do not try to claim the copyright themselves, or try to prevent others from using or copying them freely.

You can read this license in full at: http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_GFDL (note: To keep things simple, we don't use Invariant Sections, Front-Cover Texts, or Back-Cover Texts)

This license also expressly protects creators "from being considered responsible for modifications made by others" while ensuring that creators get credit for their work. There is more information on our copyright policy at: http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Copyrights

We chose the GNU FDL license because it is the best available tool for ensuring that our encyclopedia is and can remain free for all to use, and for providing credit to everyone that donates text and images. It may or may not be compatible with your goals in creating the materials available on your website -- that's for you to choose. Please be assured that if permission is not granted, your copyrighted materials will *not* be used at Wikipedia -- we have a very strict policy against copyright violations.

If you agree, we will credit you for your work in the image's permanent Description Page, noting that it is your work and is used with your permission, and we will provide a link back to your website.

Thank you, Andrew Archibald