Commons:Village pump/Copyright

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Licensing of photographs from Poland taken before and during WWII[edit]

I've just created an article on Bela Hazan, who acted as a courier for the Jewish resistance during WWII. There are some images that I would like to be able to use in the article. They can all be seen here, the group of three couriers, Bela Hazan's mugshot from Auschwitz and the family photograph. Looking at another example, File:Frumka-Plotnicka.jpg, it uses two license templates "PD-Polish" and "PD-anon-70-EU". Would these be appropriate for the three images that I'm interested in uploading? Thanks, Mikenorton (talk) 15:08, 15 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

To clarify I should note that all the photos were taken in Poland as it was then but the first was taken in Grodno (now part of Belarus), the second at Auschwitz (still Poland) with the other almost certainly taken in Rozhyshche (now part of Ukraine). Mikenorton (talk) 15:33, 15 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Change of question as it seems that all three are already on Commons - see File:שלוש הקשריות.jpg, File:Ktystyna Kossowska 24453 - high resolution.jpg and File:משפחת חזן.jpg but the licensing used doesn't seem to match what I know of their origin. So the question now is, should I update the licensing using the templates that I suggested above? Mikenorton (talk) 18:32, 16 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

If we know they were published in Poland, {{PD-Poland}} is probably what you want. I thought Poland restored photographs to EU norms, but I'm not entirely sure. But Poland's general term for anonymous works was 50 years until 1994, so pre-WWII stuff is usually fine. Carl Lindberg (talk) 23:29, 16 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, although I'm not sure what published means for instance for a photograph taken by a Gestapo officer, presumably the date it was first printed? Anyway I'll make the changes. Mikenorton (talk) 08:01, 17 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The term "published" can indeed be quite tortured, and differ by country. For PD-Poland I think it only matters for the U.S. definition at the time, which is itself difficult to define and can be based on judicial circuit, but if copies were given out beyond immediate family (and copies given to a family by a professional photographer may well count), it likely was. Carl Lindberg (talk) 12:24, 17 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, that's mostly reassuring, which is the best I can hope for I reckon. Mikenorton (talk) 16:52, 17 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Crosswiki transfer license check[edit]

It looks like File:Apidej Sit Hirun.JPG was transferred to Commons from Thai Wikipedia in 2014 but the th:File:Apidet 01.JPG no longer exists and there no other information provided to verify that this has been released as licensed. Since en:Apidej Sit-Hirun died in 2013, this photo couldn't have been taken on 6 September 2014, and this blog shows a similar photo probably taken roughly around the same time. It's possible this could be PD per COM:Thailand, but I'm not sure. Any opinions on whether there's a way to keep this or does it need to go to COM:DR per COM:PCP. FWIW, the uploader hasn't edited on Commons since mid-December 2023, but does appear to be active on French Wikipedia. -- Marchjuly (talk) 07:01, 16 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe one could ask at the Thai Wikipedia embassy for an administrator to access the deleted revision and see whether it contained any valuable information on the license? It may well just have been deleted because there was a Commons duplicate, thereby accidentally cutting off the information trail.
{{PD-Thailand}} could be tight anyway, as it would require pre-1972 publication, and it would in all likelihood be protected in the US by URAA restorations for many years to come regardless of its current status in Thailand. Felix QW (talk) 13:05, 16 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

License template for PD-1996-95 y.o. non-US publications[edit]

How can I describe works published in other countries between 1929 and 1977 with copyright restored in US by URAA, but wich are now in Public domain in US because this works are 95+ years old? For example this work, published in 1920 in Lithuania, author died in 1952, so it was not PD in 1996, but it is both PD for Lithuania (70 years after author's death) and US (95+ years old publication). Plaga med (talk) 20:43, 16 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, {{PD-old-70-expired}} is the right license for this case. Yann (talk) 20:46, 16 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
{{PD-old-auto-expired|1952}} would be even better. --Rosenzweig τ 20:54, 16 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
So I don't need to show explicitly why it is PD in US after 1996? Plaga med (talk) 09:08, 17 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
You do, but that is precisely what the "expired" part of the tag does. Felix QW (talk) 09:24, 17 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Now I understand, thank you all! Plaga med (talk) 09:49, 17 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Phố đi bộ Nguyễn Huệ trong sự kiện HIFF 2024[edit]

File:Phố đi bộ Nguyễn Huệ trong sự kiện HIFF 2024.jpg

Is this fall under COM:FOP Vietnam? Phương Linh (talk) 14:25, 16 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Upload free icons to Commons[edit]

Hi, I checked this URL [1] and found they are free to download, so is it possible to upload them to Commons? PS: some icons are really helpful for demonstrating content in Wikibooks or Wikiversity.  A l p h a m a  Talk 03:38, 19 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Whats their license ? Free as in costs or free as in restrictions? —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 06:43, 19 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
https://home.streamlinehq.com/license-free
some are ccby4. dont know which sets are such. RZuo (talk) 08:59, 19 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Now I can see their CC BY 4.0 license in some sets. For example, Freebies-freemojis is a free set and we only see the license when viewing the page source (A cute vector emoji set that you can use in your applications, websites or publications. Licensed under the Creative Commons - CC BY 4.0.).  A l p h a m a  Talk 11:49, 19 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

PD-Venezuela and older works[edit]

Hello there. I've been asked to give a statement regarding the PD status of a 1950s official portrait of a Venezuelan president. I am not really sure if the final law cited in the PD-VenezuelaGov template applies retroactively. It says: "Ley Orgánica del Trabajo, los Trabajadores y las Trabajadoras (Labor Law), on May 7, 2012, Article 325. Intellectual products generated under an employment relationship in the public sector—or financed through public funds—that generates intellectual property rights, will be considered to be in the public domain, while maintaining the authors' rights to public recogniti"o Since this is a labor law, not a copyright or intellectual property law per se, I am not certain this applies retroactively. In the particular case, the pertinent template is PD-Venezuela as it only protects works for 60 years and it is in the public domain, safely, in Venezuela. However, for later works I'm not sure PD-VenezuelaGov could apply. Bedivere (talk) 16:07, 19 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

[edit]

I work in the marketing department for a community college and I have been put in charge of making sure all of our public information is correct. I noticed that there are some needed changes to some of the data on the college's page, en:Doña Ana Community College, as well as the logo. That logo was never accurate. We have never used that color blue, and there have been some additional changes to the specifics of the logo itself, and I would like to upload a current, accurate version of the logo. However, the Wiki image process indicates that we cannot upload logos. How do I rectify this problem? Also, it has been many a year since I edited a Wiki page, under a different user account (I created this one for the college so others in my department could take over the role as needed), but I have read through the How-To section so I feel confident I can manage just fine. I just really want to get that logo updated, and I would also like to add a banner-type image of one of our campuses with mountains in the background. This image was taken by one of us in this department, using college equipment, so it automatically belongs to the school. How would I get around copyright infringement in this instance? Dona Ana CC (talk) 22:11, 19 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The simplest way is to post any images you want to upload on the college's official website with a clear indication that those images are available under a free licence compatible with COM:L. You can then upload your images here and provide a link to your website when the upload form asks for the source of the image.
If the college is not the copyright owner, or you don't want to place the images on your website, you can use the COM:VRT process, which lets you submit permission to release under a suitable licence and proof of copyright ownership via email. From Hill To Shore (talk) 22:36, 19 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Dona Ana CC: do also make sure you read en:WP:COI before editing the English-language Wikipedia (which I presume is the one you mean by "the college's page"). As a person editing about your own employer, you need to make a disclosure before editing en-wiki, and there are certain limitations on what you can do there. (Not an issue for Commons, but just giving you a heads-up). - Jmabel ! talk 04:21, 20 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Dona Ana CC: You make a request at en:Wikipedia:Files for upload and ask someone to upload the correct logo for the college as non-free content locally to English Wikipedia. In you're request, you should provide a link a website showing the correct logo and also a link to the article where you'd like the file to be used. If the logo isn't something completely different, it might even be possible for someone to simply update the currently used file (en:File:Dona Ana Community College logo - 2014.png) with a more accurate version of the logo. You will only be able to upload the file to Commons if you can get the copyright holder (assuming that's the college) to agree to release it under a license acceptable for Commons as explained in COM:L or the logo is considered to simple to eligible for copyright protection under US copyright law per en:threshold of originality. If you're unable to clearly demonstrate either of these two things, the logo should be uploaded locally to English Wikipedia as non-free. Finally, you posted I created this one for the college so others in my department could take over the role as needed above, but that's not something allowed per English Wikipedia policy as explained here. English Wikipedia accounts aren't allowed to be shared or passed on to others and you should be the only one using your account now and forever. If there comes a time, for whatever reason, that someone else replaces you in your position at the college, that person should create a new account for English Wikipedia and edit using it. Just for reference, you can use this account to also edit on English Wikipedia or any other Wikimedia Foundation project page if you want; you don't need to create a new account for each project, but only you should be using this account. However, your current username is a violation of English Wikipedia's username policy regarding promotional and implied shared use usernames; so, you will need to modify your username if you want to use this account to edit English Wikipedia. -- Marchjuly (talk) 08:16, 20 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Is this Driver's License Photo PD?[edit]

So there has been a lot of postings of Nicole Brown Simpson's California Driver's Licence, which Getty Images also attributes it was released by the DMV. While I think that it could be PD-CAGov, I wanna know if The California DMV does claim copyright on old Licenses? I'm also a bit worried that the picture looks more like a digital release of the License instead of how the licenses looked in the early 90's (see here). Hyperba21 (talk) 18:13, 20 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The photo appears to be from the DMV's copy, not the license itself, so that's not a concern. It appears to be PD-CAGov. I note that what is now section 12800.5(a)(2) of the California Vehicle Code (prohibiting distribution of the photo, making it not a public record, and therefore not PD) was passed in 1999 (http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/statute.html, chapter 489), and the photo (and release of the photo) is older than that. —‍Mdaniels5757 (talk • contribs) 23:05, 20 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
If so, should I put another licence tag aside PD-CaGov? Or just a note that pre-1999 Cali Licenses or Pictures are PD? Hyperba21 (talk) 07:54, 21 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Good morning[edit]

I took several pictures and I do not know how to license them. In general, I am the copyright holder. Is it possible after the administration has decided to license these pictures?

Category:Abdel Naser Abdel Fatah

Paula Fenness (talk) 03:07, 21 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Paula Fenness: Please see the information given on your talk page. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 16:06, 22 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Images relating to state legislation, Australia[edit]

I would like to find out about uploading images (for a wikipedia article) relating to state legislation (on a particular topic) in Australia. The images are either individual pages of documents available but obscure, from the internet, or images of pages/maps not available on the internet, such as from the state archives. Reasons I'd like to be able to use them are that they would provide information that is (1) very difficult to find or cross-reference or (2) not available to the public if I were only to reference it. Cheyne (talk) 05:16, 21 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

If the government documents have been published, they are copyrighted for 50 years from the publication in Australia. Unpublished documents are copyrighted in perpeturity. Ruslik (talk) 19:29, 21 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
50 years from creation, actually, so we don't need to know about publication -- just that the Australian government would own the copyright. {{PD-AustraliaGov}}. If it's in government archives but created by non-government authors, that would not necessarily be the case, and copyright would have to expire by other means. There are not enough details given to answer the question though. It tends to matter a lot about who authored a work, and which country it was first published in (so we know which country's copyright laws to look at to see when it would expire). Carl Lindberg (talk) 13:25, 23 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Cheyne: I answered your near-identical query where you first posted it, at Commons:Help desk#Images relating to state legislation, Australia. Please don't ask in multiple venues, as it crates extra work for our volunteers. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 16:01, 22 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Upload a pic from ISUU.com[edit]

I wish to add a pic of Colonel Luigi Evangelisti that in 1870 was the commander of the gendarms of Pope Pio IX. I found it in a old (1920) text that is available here https://issuu.com/rivista.militare1/docs/il_brigantaggio_e2c5671ec6ba98 but I do not know if I am allowed. Thks for any help! PilotaDD (talk) 09:49, 21 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, this is in the public domain. here is a copy which could be uploaded to Commons. I can't find the author's death date, but he could be him. I am nearly certain he is the same person, as per [2] and [3]. Not to be confused with someone of the same name who wrote about agriculture in the 1970s. Yann (talk) 10:23, 21 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Yann: Did you paste the right link there? PilotaDD links to "IL BRIGANTAGGIO E L'OPERA DELL'ESERCITO ITALIANO" (Rome, 1920) while you have linked to "Corpi volontari italiani dal 1848 al 1870" (Rome, 1921). From Hill To Shore (talk) 10:55, 21 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
OOPS, right. But still probably the same person, unless we have a third author with the same name publishing in the same period, i.e. [4] and [5]. Yann (talk) 12:33, 21 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Same author but different book. And the picture of Colonel Evangelisti is not there.9 PilotaDD (talk) 19:07, 22 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

1934 painting by Georgia O'Keeffe[edit]

File:19 - ofty8zO (50062828047).jpg, transferred from Flickr where it was uploaded with a bogus CC licence, is actually a 1934 painting by American painter Georgia O'Keeffe, titled Purple Hills Ghost Ranch - 2 / Purple Hills No II per [6]. I'm not sure, is this copyrighted in the US, or is it some kind of PD-no-notice/-not-renewed? I couldn't find it with a quick search at [7], but would like to make sure if we can keep the file or need to delete it for a few more years. --Rosenzweig τ 21:29, 21 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Same for File:64 - YZ9s7jg (50062578451).jpg, a 1939 painting by O'Keeffe titled White Bird of Paradise per [8]. --Rosenzweig τ 21:47, 21 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
There is also the issue of publication; Regarding the 1934 painting, its early exhibitions were:
1935 New York (An American Place), nos. 27 or 28, as Red Hill form--Bad Lands, New Mexico
1936 New York (An American Place), no. 7, as Dark Hills, Ghost Ranch, New Mexico
1938 Williamsburg ?
1988 Phoenix, no. 22
So if it was not catalogued with a reproduction, it would have to have been exhibited without any steps taken to prevent copying for it to count as publication. Felix QW (talk) 19:04, 22 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The second painting linked was only exhibited once at An American Place in 1940, and then not exhibited again until 2009 (https://collections.okeeffemuseum.org/object/1148/#about-this-object-details).
It seems from the MoMa records of other O'Keeffe paintings as if the "An American Place" exhibitions were not catalogued, and took place in a commercial gallery, so it is conceivable that they were not "published" until after formalities had been abolished.
Indeed, the link posted above from the print shop gives a 2009 copyright date for the White Bird of Paradise and a 1997 copyright date for the 1934 painting, and that does seem plausible to me. In that case, the paintings would be copyrighted until 2056. Felix QW (talk) 19:40, 22 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Displaying an artwork in a commercial gallery usually means that is being offered to the public for purchase, which makes it an act of publication. Toohool (talk) 20:31, 22 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Logo's copyright.[edit]

I got many warnings from my uploading file of companies' logos. If my deleted file such as File:Pavarie logo.svg; File:Expasa logo.svg ; File:Pasar logo.svg crosses the threshold of originality, then all works listed on Commons will be subject to deletion. So I think the decision was not appropriate. Luke atlas (talk) 02:07, 22 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Luke atlas: Each country's threshhold of orignality isn't necessarily the same and in some cases those differences might be what determines whether a file is kept by Commons. Commons requires that the content it hosts be acceptably licensed under US copyright law and under the copyright law the country of first publication. The United States, for example, has a threshold of originality that's relatively high and requires a greater degree of creativity be exhibited for something to be eligible for copyright protection, than the UK does. So, there are many logos of UK origin that would be ineligible for copyright protection in the US but which are considered protected in the UK, and thus aren't OK for Commons. Since the files you're asking about have already been deleted, only a Commons administrator can see them. If you feel they were deleted by mistake, you can seek clarificaiton from the Commons administrator who deleted them. You can also seek a deletion review if you like. Please understand though that borderline case logos are often deleted as a precaution per COM:PCP, absent a clear community consensus they're OK for Commons. In those cases, you may want to consider uploading the logo locally to one of the various language Wikipedias if they permit non-free/fair use content to be uploaded and used. -- Marchjuly (talk) 02:25, 22 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Assuming those logos are from Japan, just the fact that the design "shows creativity" is enough to make them eligible for copyright. Very low threshold. - Jmabel ! talk 09:25, 22 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

File:Чунер Михайлович Таксами.jpg[edit]

Is anyone able to verify the licensing of File:Чунер Михайлович Таксами.jpg? The source url is dead and I'm unable to find an archived version. The uploader has several file related notifications on their user talk page that resulted in files being deleted; so, this one might need a closer look. -- Marchjuly (talk) 02:11, 22 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

An archived version of their rights page did mention CC0, though with Google Translate they also seem to have requested a link, and also no clue if the photo was actually taken by them (meaning did they have the rights to license it in the first place). Carl Lindberg (talk) 13:42, 22 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Photo from 1900[edit]

Am I right in thinking I can upload the photograph here https://geschichte.univie.ac.at/en/persons/alexius-meinong with the tag {{PD-Austria}}. I believe it was taken in 1900 by Carl Pietzner who died in 1927, but do I also need to know when it was first published before uploading? Shapeyness (talk) 10:28, 22 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

{{PD-Austria}} is for "simple" photographs, not portrait photographs like this one. It's said to be from "Pietzner, Graz", so I doubt it's from Carl Pietzner himself, who was based in Vienna since 1895 (but owned several photo studios in other Austrian cities). The photo is said to be from 1900 though, so I think you can upload it with {{PD-old-assumed-expired}}. For studio photographs which are at least 120 years old we usually assume they were also published around that time unless we have knowledge of some fact which says otherwise. --Rosenzweig τ 10:44, 22 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Ok thanks Rosenzweig. Shapeyness (talk) 13:08, 22 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

[edit]

Buenas ,una pregunta que pasaría si el logo en Venezuela es simple (ToO simple,por ejemplo el logo del Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela:File:Psuv (Venezuela) logo.svg) y si público un logo simple en Venezuela es posible agregará el {{PD-textlogo}} porque según el COM:Venezuela no dice nada del "Threshold of Originality" pero será posible agregar el template {{PD-textlogo}}?? AbchyZa22 (talk) 11:43, 22 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Como no hay información del umbral de originalidad venezolano, no hay que ser tan astutos. Yo solo me guiaría por letras y figuras geométricas, a lo más una estrella, como el caso que ejemplificas, pero no más allá de eso. Bedivere (talk) 03:00, 23 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Bedivere:Gracias, por la opinión AbchyZa22 (talk) 11:07, 23 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Jmabel:Buenas, dime una opinión con respecto a este tema?? AbchyZa22 (talk) 11:08, 23 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Uploading a picture of a design object that is also useful[edit]

I would like to upload a new version of this image: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Engler-geschirr.jpg

Because I took a picture of the same display recently and have it at a higher resolution.

Does this qualify as a "useful article", even though it is exhibited as a design object? Tomebuilder (talk) 01:10, 23 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Per Commons:Overwriting existing files, you should upload your photo as a separate file. Whether those cups are protected by copyright (and not design rights) in Germany is anyone's guess; per de:Heike Wiechmann#Geburtstagszug-Urteil I think they are not. In the US, COM:UTIL should apply. --Rosenzweig τ 07:48, 23 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
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