[Commons-l] [Foundation-l] PD-art and official "position of the WMF"

[Henning Schlottmann]

Patricia Rodrigues wrote:
> So if you don't mind, I'd like to pose some questions:
> *Is the official position of the WMF to consider only US copyright in what concerns content to be hosted in any Wikimedia project?

No

> **If the answer is no, which copyrights should we consider to host content? Please specify the situation for Wikimedia Commons too.

The established position is that content needs to be free in the USA and
the country of origin. But there are a few exceptions, that are
established as well. PD-art is just one of them.

For example: The King James Bible enjoys a perpetual copyright in the
UK. Only four printers are licensed to print copies and they pay (small)
royalties. We host a copy of the KJB on wikisource none the less.

Greece has a very questionable provision in the copyright law, under
which the state claims copyright (!) for each and every antiquities from
the Greek history. We happily ignore that and show excavations, works of
art, historic weapons and the like.

Italy has a similar provision regarding works of art in state-run
museums. We ignore that as well.

Ciao Henning