Thank you Jean-Fred for creating this page: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Usage_guidelines_for_public_domai… I've gone ahead and on the basis of Europeana's original guidelines<http://www.europeana.eu/portal/pd-usage-guide.html>and some of the comments that have been made so far (on both lists) I've attempted to fill out this page on Commons with our own PD usage guidelines. I've summarised it to 6 points: - Give attribution - Give credit - Show respect - Share - Be aware - Preserve I have also added in the lead... "Importantly, such a guideline is in no way a legal contract or an attempt to "enclose" the reuse of public domain works; but would indicate a "polite" way to deal with these works. If these principles prevents you from improving Wikimedia projects or sharing cultural heritage, ignore it." Can I suggest that we take discussions from both cultural-partners-l and commons-l on this issue to the talkpage: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons_talk:Usage_guidelines_for_public_… Sincerely, -Liam wittylama.com/blog Peace, love & metadata

On Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 3:23 AM, Rama Neko &lt;ramaneko(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote: I disagree on two accounts. First, it's an usage guide. It assumes you already have the PD work available for use, so the photograph point is moot. Second, even if it were referring to the process of obtaining (not using), many places impose groundless restrictions (as if they owned copyright, and every use of the work had to be approved by them). Supporting this position implicitly says we agree that a PD work is not actually available. The current form is indeed good. It's about how-to-use PD content, showing respect * Don't imply you use is endorsed. (It may or may not, but don't imply it) * Point out any modification (so it doesn't get confused with the original work) * Properly label the credits for any modification All about general and desirable conditions on how to use, not how you get the PD content. -- Pedro Sánchez http://drini.mx @combinatorica