[WikiEN-l] State seals and fair use

[Ray Saintonge]

daniwo59 at aol.com wrote:
> There is a lot of talk about getting free alternatives to restricted Fair  
> Use images, and how this is actually a priority of the Wikimedia Foundation. 
>  
> That said, I want to point out one specific area where the Foundation is  
> failing. The United States consists of 50 states, each of which has a state  
> seal, but to date, only twenty of the state seal images are free, i.e., 60  
> percent are fair use images, when a free alternative should be easily available.  In 
> fact, what possible justification is there for using a fair use  image?
In addition to the age factor, which has already been raised, there is 
also the applicability of the merger principle.  This effectively says 
that when the thing itself and its representation are inseparably merged 
there can be no copyright.

Ec