[WikiEN-l] Hijack

Mon Nov 17 08:25:06 UTC 2003

Jake Nelson wrote:

>Matt M. wrote:
>
>>>Material that's in the public domain remains in the public domain
>>>forever. Nobody can attack it and nobody can defend it. You can slap a
>>>bogus copyright notice on a public domain work, but that does not change
>>>its public domain status.
>>>
>><warning: personal interest coming>
>>
>>Do you happen to know if this is true in Canada? I ask because the Gov't
>>
>of
>
>>Quebec has several photos on one of their archive websites that are
>>definitely old enough to be P.D. but which they claim to have copyright
>>over. I'm wondering if I could get away with using them without asking.
>>
>
>Just because the photo's PD doesn't mean a scan of it is. It's the same as
>how a photograph of public property is copyrightable. That's how I recall it
>being described to me, anyway. Your mileage (kilometerage?) may vary...
>
It doesn't mean that the scan is copyright either; that depends on 
whether there is a creative act in making that scan.

A photograph of public property is copyrightable of course, but, at 
least in Canada, taking a picture of an permanently placed building or 
outdoor statue is not a breach of copyright, even if you intend to 
publish the photograph.

Ec