When you upload media content like images to Freebase, you're asked to indicate whether it's available for distribution under a license like CC-BY, or whether it's available under public domain or fair use guidelines. Below are some rules of thumb we use in considering whether or not something falls under the public domain. Because there are many gray areas and complexities in copyright law, these should be taken as rules of thumb only; if you're unsure about whether something you want to post on Freebase, like a photo or other media file, is considered public domain, we recommend that you consult tools like the American Library Association's copyright tool , information resources like Wikipedia's article on copyright and public domain , or seek expert legal advice.
What is Public Domain?
Something that is in the public domain can be freely reproduced without copyright infringement. Though the laws determining what constitutes the public domain vary from country to country, in the United States, where Freebase originates, there are a few basic criteria for determining whether or not something is in the public domain; if you are a resident of another country, different rules may apply. These rules apply to photographs, art works like paintings and sculpture, fiction and non-fiction written works, sound recordings, and movies, and concentrate on the publication date of the work.
- Any work published before 1923 is in the public domain. In the case of art works, the publication date is determined by the date on which a reproduction of that work was published.
- If a work appeared in the United States between 1923 and 1977 and does not contain a copyright notice, it is in the public domain. If it appeared between 1978 and March 1, 1989 and does not contain a copyright notice, it is in the public domain only if it has not been registered in the meantime.
- If a work appeared in the United States between 1923 and 1963 and does contain a copyright notice, it is in the public domain only if the copyright has not been filed since. If the work was published between 1964 and 1977, the copyright expires 95 years after first publication. If the work was published between 1978 and March 1, 1989, then it is under copyright until 70 years after the death of the author, or,
- Any work produced since March 1, 1989, with or without copyright notice, is under copyright until 70 years after the death of the author, or, again, in the in the case of works where the author is unknown or anonymous, until 95 years after their first publication or 120 years after their creation, whichever is shorter.
- Anything produced by the U.S. Government, such as census figures, is in the public domain. Note, however, that material found on U.S. Government websites might be under copyright and is reproduced under fair use, and that certain images produced by government agencies, such as stamps produced by the U.S. Postal Service, are under copyright. In addition, materials produced by a government contractor, such as a nuclear facility, are also usually under copyright held by the contractor.
- Anything produced by the United Nations, such as parliamentary proceedings, that is not offered for sale , is in the public domain.
- Anything that is a collection of bare facts , such as names and numbers in a telephone book, is in the public domain.
- In the United States and Germany, photographs of civilian buildings take from public locations are under public domain, but this is not the case in many other countries . This is referred to as "Freedom of Panorama."
- Anything unpublished (for example, photos found in an archive) is generally in the public domain if it was created prior to 1978. However, this is a particularly tricky area of copyright because the archive itself may have blanket copyright over its contents.
As you can see, determining public domain is a tricky undertaking, and depending on where you live, different laws might apply. However, if something you want to post on Freebase isn't in the public domain, you still might be able to use it in a Freebase topic under Fair Use rules.
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