[WikiEN-l] Images that are PD in their country of origin

[Cary Bass]

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SlimVirgin wrote:
> On Tue, Feb 9, 2010 at 10:59, Cary Bass <cary at wikimedia.org> wrote:
>
>> I'd like to point out that in fact, these images would be
>> accepted on to Commons, because Commons respects the country of
>> origin rule rather than the PD-US rule that more often applies on
>> the English Wikipedia.
>
> Hi Cary, most of the image people I've checked with say that images
> on the Commons are supposed to be PD in their country of origin
> *and* in the U.S. Although there are images on the Commons that are
> PD in their country of origin but *not* in the U.S., they usually
> carry a tag that places the PD status in doubt and may be proposed
> for deletion. This means we can't use them on WP.
>
> Look at this image for example.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Refugees_from_Lydda.jpg
>
> Palestinian refugees in the British Mandate of Palestine during the
> exodus from their homes after Israeli troops moved in, July 1948,
> photographer unknown, believed to be from, or working on behalf of,
> the British War Office. First publication date not known, but I do
> know it had been published by 1957. It's PD in Israel, which now
> governs part of that land. It's PD in Jordan, which governs the
> other part. 99.9 percent certain it's PD in the UK, which governed
> the land at the time. But not clearly PD in the U.S. It has
> therefore been proposed for deletion from the Commons.
> http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Refugees_from_Lydda.jpg
>
Yes, of course I didn't make an exception to my comment, regarding
whether or not an image was first published in the United States. :-)
Foolish me for not pointing out the exceptions; however... this image
was published in 1957 without a copyright notice, making it public
domain in the US. I've noted that in the deletion discussion on Commons.

- --
Cary Bass
Volunteer Coordinator, Wikimedia Foundation

Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate
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