While I don't want to go into detail (the links speak for themselves), the
basic question assumes countries which have Freedom of Panorama.
For example, the Netherlands has full Freedom of Panorama. However, since
the servers of the WMF are in the USA and the WMF us a US corporation, the
question is whether US copyright law would /also/ apply. Because US Freedom
of Panorama does apply to architecture, but not to sculptures and public
art. Therefore, under US law, photos of (recent) public sculptures would
not be free.
However, this even gets more complicated: this is not about what is /our/
opinion, but what does the Wikimedia Commons community think about it. Are
such images at risk to be deleted?
Best,
Lodewijk
2013/3/2 Jane Darnell <jane023(a)gmail.com>
Thanks for your quick responses! I know this is
probably new for both
of you (it was new for me), but the current discussion implies that
lots of images of 3-D objects by Dutch creators that have been out on
Commons for years are now threatened to be taken down. This includes
all artworks created less than 90 years ago, so it includes all WWII
monuments. For more information see this:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:URAA_artist
This is a similar issue as the takedowns that have already started for
2-dimensional artworks by Dutch creators who died 70+ years ago. An
example are the artworks by Leo Gestel, who died in 1941, but only
those works he created before 1923 are allowed on Commons. Even though
in the Netherlands all of his work has fallen into the public domain,
the images are stored on servers in the US and therefore fall under US
copyright restrictions.
This means that by definition, WWII monuments that are not simply text
and include some sculpture or other artwork, are no longer eligible
for Commons. My gut feeling is that these monuments are public domain,
because it seems to me that a sculpture created for a European
municipality in a specific location within that municipality to honor
an event within that municipality could not possibly fit the
description "first published in the US in year X". I was hoping for
some quick explanation I could reuse for the Dutch National Committee,
but I guess this is all still new for Wikipedians in general.
Thanks in any case for your time!
Jane
2013/3/2, WereSpielChequers <werespielchequers(a)gmail.com>om>:
I don't know about the DMCA take down notice
in question, but you need to
remember that Europe is a continent with many countries, and FOP is one
of
the areas that hasn't been harmonised even
within the European Union. I'm
in the UK which does largely have FOP, but only for three dimensional
works
that are permanently on Public display. The
Houseball is definitely three
dimensional but if it was in the UK I'd be wondering if it permanent or
temporary? For other WWII stuff in the UK a key consideration is whether
it
is two or three dimensional - there are some WWII
related two d display
boards near me which I would have photographed if they were covered by
FOP.
My suggestion would be to only go ahead in those countries that have FOP,
and include a link to the guidelines we have for commons images from that
country.
WSC
On 2 March 2013 10:53, Jane Darnell <jane023(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello,
> WMNL was recently approached for helping start a photo contest for
> WWII monuments. Based on this
>
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Freedom_of_Panorama_in_Europe_NC.svg
> We assumed that these photographs could be
used on Wikipedia, but the
> recent discussions about the DMCA takedown notice for this
>
>
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Houseball_(Oldenburg_and_van_Bru…
indicate
that FOP in Europe is not really FOP.
To be careful, we have decided to cancel the photo contest idea,
though people are of course terribly disappointed about this.
Does anyone know the status of this discussion? Of course, WLM has
brought in several thousand of these "possibly-not-FOP" sculptures, as
they are often WLM monuments themselves, or are situated directly in
front of buildings that are WLM monuments.
Thanks in advance for any info you have - we need a short and sweet
way to inform the WWII monument committee and WMNL volunteers why we
are cancelling.
Jane
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