[Commons-l] PD-UN template

Sat Oct 28 17:42:57 UTC 2006

>
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2006 20:04:43 +0200 (CEST)
> From: Fredrik Josefsson <fred_chessplayer at yahoo.se>
> Subject: [Commons-l] PD-UN template
> To: Commons-l at wikimedia.org
> Message-ID: <20061023180443.22932.qmail at web23010.mail.ird.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
>
> On behalf of a user who asked a question on Commons:
>
> Question about [[s:en:Template:PD-UN]]
> <http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/en:Template:PD-UN> and
> its Chinese and French versions hereto. When
> Wikisource was a multilingual site accepting all
> languages, it had so many UN Security Council
> resolutions posted by various users unaware of UN
> copyright. As the UN Headquarters is subject to the
> same USA laws, works published there are copyrighted
> in the same way as works published in the USA.
>
> Works published in the USA between 1978 and 1 March
> 1989 without copyright notices and without subsequent
> copyright registrations are in the public domain in
> the USA, but should subsequent copyright registrations
> be validly made, the works become copyrighted. I would
> like to ask if these works are acceptable here. This
> is critical as most, if not all, images at
> [[:Category:Stamps of United Nations]] may be indeed
> copyrighted.
>
> ----
>
> I thought I ask at the mailinglist, see if anyone can
> provide an answer...
>
> / Fred-Chess
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2006 20:10:02 +0200
> From: David Monniaux <David.Monniaux at free.fr>
> Subject: Re: [Commons-l] PD-UN template
> To: Wikimedia Commons Discussion List <commons-l at wikimedia.org>
> Message-ID: <453D057A.4070908 at free.fr>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed
>
> Fredrik Josefsson wrote:
>
> >On behalf of a user who asked a question on Commons:
> >
> >Question about [[s:en:Template:PD-UN]]
> ><http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/en:Template:PD-UN> and
> >its Chinese and French versions hereto. When
> >Wikisource was a multilingual site accepting all
> >languages, it had so many UN Security Council
> >resolutions posted by various users unaware of UN
> >copyright. As the UN Headquarters is subject to the
> >same USA laws
> >
> How so? The headquarters are in extraterritorial territory.

I was the one asking at Commons. Section 7 of the United States Headquarters
Agreement for the United Nations, Public Law
80-357<http://www.un.int/usa/host_hqs.htm>does apply American laws to
the UN Headquarters in New York unless otherwise
provided. This would apply American copyright law there as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain#United_States_law says, "Until
the Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988, the lack of a proper
copyright notice would force an otherwise copyrightable work into the public
domain, although for works published between 1978 and 1989, this defect
could be cured by registering the work with the Library of
Congress<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Congress>within 5
years of publication. After 1988, an author's copyright in a work
begins when it is fixed in a tangible form; neither publication nor
registration is required, and a lack of a copyright notice does not place
the work into the public domain."

If Wikipedia is correct, works published in the USA and the UN Headquaters
between 1978 and 1989 with no copyright notice would be in the public domain
in the USA now since much more than 5 years have passed since 1989. This is
why I would like to ask before bringing Template:PD-UN from Wikisource to
Wikimedia Commons. However, we should have a verifiable citation to the
5-year claim.

Jusjih, admin at 8 Wiki sites (Commons, English and Chinese Wikipedia,
Wiktionary, Wikisource)
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