2006/4/29, Fredrik Josefsson fred_chessplayer@yahoo.se:
Hi. Are images on Wikimedia Commons have to be public domain worldwide or should we take some prejudice of the servers location in the U.S.?
As is well known, images published before 1923 in the U.S. are public domain in the U.S and probably worldwide (unless the opposite can be suspected). Images published anywhere in the world before 1923 is also public domain in the United States , but many other countries apply the 70 years pma -- "after death of author".
How zealous should we be? Is the 70 pma always to be applied?
What if it is uncertain who the creator is, and whether he did more than 70 years ago -- would it then be possible to keep the images for the time being if the image was created before 1923 (such as images from World War I)?
My own proposal for policy on this point was to go with the laws of the country of the original author.
-- Andre Engels, andreengels@gmail.com ICQ: 6260644 -- Skype: a_engels