User:Physchim62/copyright

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Image guidelines
Images and photographs, like written works, are subject to copyright. Someone owns them unless they have been explicitly placed in the public domain. Images on the internet need to be licensed directly from the copyright holder or someone able to license on their behalf. In a few cases, fair use policy may allow a photograph to be used.

Image description pages must be tagged with a special tag to indicate the legal status of the images, as described at Image copyright tags. Untagged or incorrectly-tagged images will be deleted.

Public domain images
Apart from images which have been specifically released into the public domain, the following images are public domain in the United States.

Images first published in the United States
This does not include images created by government contractors, images created by state or local governments (unless state law provides otherwise, as is the case with California) or images created by government employees in the course of their private life. (definition of a "work of the United States Government" at 17 U.S.C. §101) Be careful, however: not all images on .mil and .gov websites are in the public domain! The U.S. government uses commercial images under licence just as most publishers do, and an image does not fall into the public domain simply because the U.S. government has used it. Wikipedia assumes that copyright was renewed unless there is proof (from the U.S. Copyright Office) that this is not the case.
 * Images first published before January 1st, 1923.
 * Images created by officers or employees of the U.S. federal government as part of their official work. (17 U.S.C. §105)
 * Images first published between January 1st, 1923 and December 31st, 1963 whose copyright was not renewed. However,

Images first published outside the United States
copyrights were restored on that date by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act of 1994: these copyrights continue for the normal U.S. term of copyright (17 U.S.C. §301(e)), that is 95 years after publication for images published before January 1st, 1977 (17 U.S.C. §304) and 70 years after the death of the creator for images first published after that date (17 U.S.C. §302). However, U.S. copyright was not restored if the work was in the public domain in its country of origin. This applies to all countries which are either members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) or signatories of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (Berne Convention), and also to Vietnam (by Presidential proclamation). in the United States: however Wikipedia respects these copyrights as a matter of policy, for ethical reasons and because these copyrights may become enforceable in the future. The countries concerned, as of January 1st, 2003, are: Afghanistan, Bhutan, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq and San Marino. Similar considerations apply to copyrights arising in Eritrea, Kiribati, North Korea, Nauru, Palau, Sao Tomé and Principe, Seychelles, Somalia, Syria, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Yemen, whose copyright relations with the United States are "unclear" as of January 1st, 2003. Most of these countries are observers at the WTO, and are so required to start membership negotiations if they have not already done so. The countries concerned, as of January 1st, 2003, are: Andorra, Laos, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. These countries are all signatories of the Universal Copyright Convention (Geneva Act, 1952). Note that images produced by non-U.S. governments are covered by U.S. copyright to the same extent as works produced by private citizens, ie they are protected unless they fall into one of the categories above. Some governments allow the use of their images on terms which are equivalent to a free-use licence: see Image copyright tags for more details. Photographs taken during World War II are protected by the copyright agreements between the United States and the post-war countries concerned: the vast majority of such photographs (except official photographs taken by the U.S. and UK governments) are still under copyright.
 * Images which were in the public domain in their country of origin on January 1st, 1996. A large number of foreign
 * Images which were first published in a country with which the United States has no copyright relations, if these images are in the public domain in their country of origin. Copyrights arising in a small number of countries cannot be enforced
 * Images which were first published in a country which is not a member of the WTO nor a signatory of the Berne Convention but which has other copyright relations  with the United States, if these images are in the public domain in their country of origin.
 * Images first published before January 1st, 1923, if these images are in the public domain in their country of origin.

Images which are not elegible for copyright
Some images are inherently ineligible for copyright protection because they are based exclusively on common knowledge with no element of creativity: an example would be Image:F Major key signature.png. However, there is no reason to use such images from a third-party source, as they are so simple that a Wikipedian could create a version which we know who the author is (and may well be of a higher quality than the image found elsewhere). Such images are marked with the tag PD-ineligible. "If in doubt, ask!"

Artwork and architecture
If the image represents a two-dimensional work of art, such as a painting, there is no new copyright created in the image over and above the original copyright in the work of art. In other words, contributors need to check the copyright status of of the original painting etc&mdash;it follows the same rules given above for other images&mdash;before uploading. Some museums and galleries claim copyright in images of works of art which are out of copyright: such claims appear to be unenforceable in the United States.

The above ruling only applies to two-dimensional works of art, not sculptures. If a photographer owns a copyright in a photograph of a sculpture, but not in a photograph of a painting. If the sculpture itself is still protected by copyright, the photographer will not be able to publish the photograph without the permission of the owners of the copyright in the sculpture. See also sculpture.

Buildings may also be covered by copyright, which is owned in the first instance by the architect. However, under United States law (17 U.S.C. §120), the copyright holder has no claim over images ("pictorial representations", including photographs) of a building which is visible from a public place. The photographer owns the sole copyright in such a photograph.

Celebrity photographs
This is based on the image guidelines at IMDB, so it especially applies to celebrity photographs, but also can apply to other pictures. Legitimate photographs generally come from three different places with permission.
 * 1) The studios, producers, magazine publisher, or media outlet that originally shot the photograph.
 * 2) Agencies that represent the photographers who shot the photos or the photographer themself (the latter especially for amateur photographs)
 * 3) Submissions from the celebrity himself or herself or a legal representative of the celebrity.

Fair use
Wikipedia accepts the use of images under the United States doctrine of "fair use" (17 U.S.C. §107 and case law) if they comply with Wikipedia fair use policy and if no free use alternatives are available. Contributors must justify why they feel that the use of a copyrighted image in a given article qualifies as "fair use" under U.S. law. See Fair use for more details.

= Dodgy tags =

Public domain
 This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years or less. Subject to disclaimers.

Foreign private copyrights


Foreign government copyrights


''This work is in the public domain worldwide. This is because either:'' See Copyright, Crown copyright artistic works and HMSO Email Reply.
 * 1) It is a photograph created by the United Kingdom Government more than 50 years ago; or
 * 2) It is an engraving created by the United Kingdom Government and commercially published more than 50 years ago; or
 * 3) It is an artistic work other than a photograph or engraving which was created by the United Kingdom Government more than 50 years ago.




 * [[Image:red_copyright.svg|40px]]
 * align="center" | This image is protected by British Crown copyright. Limitations on its distribution are defined at the original site of publication, and are not altered by its reproduction here. Those terms may include, but may not be limited to its reproduction being accurate, free of charge in any format or medium, and not used in a misleading context. The source of the material must be identified and the copyright status acknowledged. HMSO has explicitly stated in official correspondence that material under Crown Copyright may not be relicensed under the GFDL.

For the purposes of Wikipedia, this is a non-free license, since modification is not permitted.
 * [[Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg|64px|]]
 * }