Wikisource

Help:Copyright tags

←
Help:Contents
Copyright tags
→

Works should be tagged with a template that identifies their license status according to Wikisource's copyright policy. Select the most appropriate license from these categories. The templates on this page are ordered from top to bottom in the order that they are preferred; the first that applies is often the recommended template. Please note that non-commercial, fair use, and most copyright licenses are not acceptable; see the copyright policy.

Note that in some cases, more than one tag applies.

For official texts, refer to Official texts.

General licenses (recommended)

edit

Public domain

edit
Tag code Visible template
{{PD-old}}

 

This work was published before January 1, 1930, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-author-release}}

 

This work is in the public domain worldwide because it has been so released by the author.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-release}}

 

This work is in the public domain worldwide because it has been so released by the copyright holder.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-self}}

 

I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. This applies worldwide.

In case this is not legally possible:

I grant anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{MultiLicensePD}}

 

Multi-licensed into the public domain

I agree to multi-license my eligible text contributions, unless otherwise stated, under the GFDL and into the public domain. Please be aware that other contributors might not do the same, so if you want to use my contributions in the public domain, please check the multi-licensing guide.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-ineligible}}

 

This work is ineligible for copyright and therefore in the public domain, because it consists entirely of information that is common property and contains no original authorship.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-anon-US}}

 

This work was published before January 1, 1930 and is anonymous or pseudonymous due to unknown authorship. It is in the public domain in the United States as well as countries and areas where the copyright terms of anonymous or pseudonymous works are 95 years or less since publication.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

Automated public domain licenses

edit
PD-US series
edit

{{PD-US}} is a general template for works published over 95 years ago ({{PD/US}} has been merged into {{PD-US}} as of 2022). Depending on how long an author has died, entering {{PD-US|author's death year}} will automatically pick the relevant template. The template can also be used for films.

Tag code Visible template
{{PD-US|yyyy}}

 

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1930.

The longest-living author of this work died in 1942, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 82 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-US|film=y|yyyy}}

 

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1930.

Copyright law abroad tends to consider the following people authors of a film:

  • The principal director
  • The screenwriter, and/or other writers of dialogue
  • The composer/lyricist (if the film is accompanied by sound)
  • The cinematographer
  • By extension, the authors of any works that may serve as the basis for a film's plot

The longest-living of these authors died in 1942, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 82 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

PD-1996 series
edit

{{PD-1996}} is a general template for works first published outside the United States that are public domain based on the URAA date ({{Pd/1996}} has been merged into {{PD-1996}} as of 2022). Depending on how long an author has died, entering {{PD-1996|author's death year}} will automatically pick:

Tag code Visible template
{{PD-1996|yyyy}}

 

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was first published outside the United States (and not published in the U.S. within 30 days), and it was first published before 1989 without complying with U.S. copyright formalities (renewal and/or copyright notice) and it was in the public domain in its home country on the URAA date (January 1, 1996 for most countries).

The longest-living author of this work died in 1942, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 82 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

PD-anon-1996 series
edit

{{PD-anon-1996}} is for anonymous and pseudonymous works eligible for {{PD-1996}}. Depending on how long an anonymous and pseudonymous work has been published, entering {{PD-anon-1996|year when work was published}} will automatically pick:

Tag code Visible template
{{PD-anon-1996|yyyy}}

 

This work is anonymous or pseudonymous, and is in the public domain in the United States because it was first published outside the United States (and not published in the U.S. within 30 days), and it was first published before 1989 without complying with U.S. copyright formalities (renewal and/or copyright notice) and it was in the public domain in its home country on the URAA date (January 1, 1996 for most countries). It is also in the public domain in other countries and areas where the copyright terms of anonymous or pseudonymous works are 82 years or less since publication.

This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

PD-posthumous
edit

{{PD-posthumous}} is to identify posthumous works. Depending on how long a posthumous work has been published, entering {{PD-posthumous|year when a work was posthumously published}} will automatically pick:

Tag code Visible template
{{PD-posthumous|yyyy}}

 

This work is a posthumous work which is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright terms of posthumous works are 82 years or less since posthumous publication.

 

This template must be accompanied by a tag indicating copyright status in the United States.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

Creative Commons

edit

Please note that non-commercial and non-derivative licenses are prohibited on WikiSource.

Tag code Visible template
{{Cc-by-4.0}}

 

This work is released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license, which allows free use, distribution, and creation of derivatives, so long as the license is unchanged and clearly noted, and the original author is attributed.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{Cc-by-3.0}}

 

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. This page must provide all available authorship information.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{CC-by-3.0-us}}

 

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License. In short: you are free to distribute and modify the work as long as you attribute its author(s) or licensor(s). This page must provide all available authorship information.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{CC-by-3.0-au}}

 

This work is is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia Licence. In short: you are free to distribute and modify the work as long as you attribute its author(s) or licensor(s). This page must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work.)

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{CC-BY-2.5}}

 

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License. This page must provide all available authorship information.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{CC-BY-2.0}}

 

This work is released under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license, which allows free use, distribution, and creation of derivatives, so long as the license is unchanged and clearly noted, and the original author is attributed.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{Cc-by-sa-4.0}}

 

This work is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license, which allows free use, distribution, and creation of derivatives, so long as the license is unchanged and clearly noted, and the original author is attributed—and if you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same license as this one.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{Cc-by-sa-3.0}}

 

This work is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license, which allows free use, distribution, and creation of derivatives, so long as the license is unchanged and clearly noted, and the original author is attributed.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{CC-by-sa-3.0-us}}

 

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License. In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of the work under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it only under a license compatible with this one.

This page must provide all available authorship information.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{CC-BY-SA-2.0}}

 

This work is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license, which allows free use, distribution, and creation of derivatives, so long as the license is unchanged and clearly noted, and the original author is attributed—and if you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same license as this one.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{CC-Zero}}

 

This work is available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

The person who associated a work with this deed has dedicated the work to the public domain by waiving all of their rights to the work worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{CC-Whitehouse.gov}}

 

This work is sourced from www.whitehouse.gov. Except where otherwise noted, third-party content on that site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{CC-BY-4.0-Russian-president}}

 

This work is from http://kremlin.ru and is released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license, which allows free use, distribution, and creation of derivatives, so long as the license is unchanged and clearly noted, and the original author is attributed.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

Other free licenses

edit
Tag code Visible template
{{GFDL}}

 

This work is licensed under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.

 

The Terms of use of the Wikimedia Foundation require that GFDL-licensed text imported after November 2008 must also be dual-licensed with another compatible license. "Content available only under GFDL is not permissible" (§7.4). This does not apply to non-text media.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{FAL}}

 

This work is licensed under the terms of the FAL Free Art license [1].

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{Apache 2.0}}

 

This work is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this work except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at Apache License, Version 2.0. Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

Particular cases

edit

Public Domain

edit

USA public domain

edit
Tag code Visible template
{{PD-USGov}}

 

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States federal government (see 17 U.S.C. 105).

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-USGov-NASA}}

 

This work is in the public domain because it was created by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), whose copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted".

Please note that use of NASA logos is restricted by law, but these are not copyright restrictions.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-EdictGov}}

 

This work is in the public domain in the U.S. because it is an edict of a government, local or foreign. See § 313.6(C)(2) of the Compendium II: Copyright Office Practices. Such documents include "legislative enactments, judicial decisions, administrative rulings, public ordinances, or similar types of official legal materials" as well as "any translation prepared by a government employee acting within the course of his or her official duties."

These do not include works of the Organization of American States, United Nations, or any of the UN specialized agencies. See Compendium III § 313.6(C)(2) and 17 U.S.C. 104(b)(5).

 

A non-American governmental edict may still be copyrighted outside the U.S. Similar to {{PD-in-USGov}}, the above U.S. Copyright Office Practice does not prevent U.S. states or localities from holding copyright abroad, depending on foreign copyright laws and regulations.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-US}}

 

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1930.

This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-US-no-notice}}

 

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was legally published within the United States (or the United Nations Headquarters in New York subject to Section 7 of the United States Headquarters Agreement) between 1930 and 1977 (inclusive) without a copyright notice.

This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-US-no-notice-post-1977}}

 

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was legally published within the United States (or the United Nations Headquarters in New York subject to Section 7 of the United States Headquarters Agreement) between 1978 and March 1, 1989 (inclusive) without a copyright notice, and without subsequent copyright registration with the U.S. Copyright Office within 5 years.

This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-US-no-renewal}}

 

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was legally published within the United States (or the United Nations Headquarters in New York subject to Section 7 of the United States Headquarters Agreement) before 1964, and copyright was not renewed.

Works could have had their copyright renewed between January 1st of the 27th year after publication or registration and December 31st of the 28th year. As this work's copyright was not renewed, it entered the public domain on January 1st of the 29th year.

This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

 

It is imperative that contributors ascertain that there is no evidence of a copyright renewal before using this license. Failure to do so will result in the deletion of the work as a copyright violation.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-1996}}

 

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was first published outside the United States (and not published in the U.S. within 30 days), and it was first published before 1989 without complying with U.S. copyright formalities (renewal and/or copyright notice) and it was in the public domain in its home country on the URAA date (January 1, 1996 for most countries).

This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-old-US}}

 

This work is from the United States and in the public domain because it was not legally published with the permission of the copyright holder before January 1, 2003 and the author died more than 70 years ago. This is a posthumous work and its copyright in certain countries and areas may depend on years since posthumous publication, rather than years since the author's death. Translations or editions published later may be copyrighted.

This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-US-no-human}}

 

This work is in the public domain in the U.S. because it contains no human authorship. Under 17 U.S.C. § 102(a) and Compendium § 306, copyright-eligible "works of authorship" are limited to works "created by a human being." The human authorship requirement excludes works made by animals or "works produced by a machine or mere mechanical process" (Compendium § 313.2). See also meta: Wikilegal/Copyright for Google Translations, concluding that machine translations are ineligible for U.S. copyright protection.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

Canada public domain

edit
See also: Template:Legislation-CAGov
Tag code Visible template
{{PD-Canada}}

 

This work is in the public domain in Canada because it originates from Canada and one of the following statements is true:

  • The author died over 70 years ago (before 1955) and the work was published more than 50 years ago (before 1975).
  • The author died before 1972, meaning that copyright on that author's works expired before the Canadian copyright term was extended non-retroactively from 50 to 70 years on 30 December 2022.

This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

 

This template must be accompanied by a tag indicating copyright status in the United States.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-Canada-anon}}

 

This work is a Canadian work, of which the author or authors are unknown. It is in the public domain in Canada because:

  • 50 years have passed since the end of the calendar year of its publication; or
  • 75 years have passed since the end of the calendar year of its creation.

For more information, see: laws.justice.gc.ca

 

This template must be accompanied by a tag indicating copyright status in the United States.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-CAGov}}

 

This work is in the public domain worldwide because it was prepared or published by or under the direction or control of the Canadian Government or any government department prior to 1975.

 

Section 12 of the Canadian Copyright Act provides a reservation for Crown rights or privileges. Lack of modern case law on the subject makes it unclear whether perpetual prerogative rights over these documents still apply, or whether these rights have lapsed. Notwithstanding, these documents are reproducible under the terms of the Reproduction of Federal Law Order.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{Decisions-CAGov}}

 

According to the Supreme Court of Canada, Law Society of Upper Canada v. CCH Canadian Limited, paragraph 35, court decisions are not covered by copyright.

 

The federal government references judicial decisions in the Reproduction of Federal Law Order, suggesting that they are protected by either Crown Copyright or Crown rights or privileges. Crown Copyright affects documents produced later than 1974. No evidence has been found that any Crown rights or privileges exist in judicial decisions.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

India public domain

edit
Tag code Visible template
{{PD-India}}

 

This work is in the public domain in India because it originates from India and its term of copyright has expired. According to The Indian Copyright Act, 1957, all documents enter the public domain after 60 years counted from the beginning of the following calendar year after the death of the author (i.e. as of 2025, prior to January 1, 1965). Film, sound recordings, government works, anonymous works, and works first published over 60 years after the death of the author are protected for 60 years after publication.

Works by authors who died before 1941 entered the public domain after 50 years (before 1991) and copyright has not been restored.

This work is also in the public domain in the United States because it was first published outside the United States (and not published in the U.S. within 30 days), and it was first published before 1989 without complying with U.S. copyright formalities (renewal and/or copyright notice) and it was in the public domain in India on the URAA date (January 1, 1996). This is the combined effect of India having joined the Berne Convention in 1928, and of 17 USC 104A with its critical date of January 1, 1996.

The critical date for copyright in the United States under the URAA is January 1, 1941.

This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-INGov}}

 

This work is the work of Government of India. Section 52(1)(q) of the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 allows for the reproduction or publication of

  • any matter which has been published in any Official Gazette except an Act of a Legislature;
  • any Act of a Legislature subject to the condition that such Act is reproduced or published together with any commentary thereon or any other original matter;
  • the report of any committee, commission, council, board or other like body appointed by the government if such report has been laid on the Table of the Legislature, unless the reproduction or publication of such report is prohibited by the government;
  • any judgement or order of a court, Tribunal or other judicial authority, unless the reproduction or publication of such judgement or order is prohibited by the court, the Tribunal or other judicial authority, as the case may be.

The decision of the Supreme Court of India in "Eastern Book Company & Ors vs D.B. Modak & Anr" on 12 December, 2007 interpreted this section of the Act as making the material public domain.

This work is also in the public domain in the U.S. because it is an edict of a government, local or foreign. See § 313.6(C)(2) of the Compendium II: Copyright Office Practices. Such documents include "legislative enactments, judicial decisions, administrative rulings, public ordinances, or similar types of official legal materials" as well as "any translation prepared by a government employee acting within the course of his or her official duties."

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

UK and non-UK public domain

edit
Tag code Visible template
{{PD-UKGov}}

 

This work is in the public domain worldwide because it was created by a public body of the United Kingdom with Crown Status and commercially published before 1975.

See Crown copyright artistic works, Crown copyright non-artistic works and List of Public Bodies with Crown Status.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-nonUK}}

 

This work is in the public domain in some countries and areas outside the United Kingdom, including the United States.

However, owing to the subsistence of certain long-standing restrictions on publication and distribution, the work is not necessarily copyright- or restriction-free in the United Kingdom. Potential re-users of this content are advised to check carefully if any restrictions would apply to their intended reuse.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

Other countries' public domain

edit
Tag code Visible template
{{PD-Australia}}

 

This work is in the public domain in Australia because it was created in Australia and the term of copyright has expired. According to Australian Copyright Council - Duration of Copyright, the following works are public domain:

  • published non-government works whose author died before January 1, 1955,
  • anonymous or pseudonymous works and photographs published before January 1, 1955, and
  • government works published more than 50 years ago (before January 1, 1975).

This work is also in the public domain in the United States because it was first published outside the United States (and not published in the U.S. within 30 days), and it was first published before 1989 without complying with U.S. copyright formalities (renewal and/or copyright notice) and it was in the public domain in Australia on the URAA date (January 1, 1996). This is the combined effect of Australia having joined the Berne Convention in 1928, and of 17 USC 104A with its critical date of January 1, 1996.

Because the Australian copyright term in 1996 was 50 years, the critical date for copyright in the United States under the URAA is January 1, 1946.

This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-AZ-exempt}}

 

This work is not an object of copyright according to the law of Azerbaijan Republic No.: 115-1Q of 5 June 1996 on Copyright and Neighbouring right. This work is in the public domain worldwide (details).

Article 5. Scope of Copyright

3. Ideas, methods, processes, systems, means, concepts, principles, discoveries and fact may not be protected by copyright.

Article 7. Works Which are not Objects of Copyright
The following are not subjects of copyright:

a) official documents (laws, court decisions, other texts of legislative, administrative or judicial character) and official translations thereof;
b) State emblems and official signs (flags, armorial bearings, decorations, monetary signs and other State symbols and official signs);
c) works of folklore, which have no signs of Article 5 of this Law;
d) communications concerning events and facts that have informational character.

According to interstate and international compacts the Azerbaijan Republic is the legal successor of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, therefore this license tag is also applicable to official symbols and formal documents of the ADR and Azerbaijan SSR.

 

This license tag cannot be applied to proposed official symbols and drafts of the formal documents, which can be copyrighted.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-Chile}}

 

This work is in the public domain according to Chilean copyright law (No. 17,336 and its amendments). Nevertheless, its author and source must be acknowledged.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-DEGov}}

 

This work is in the public domain according to German copyright law because it is part of a statute, ordinance, official decree or judgment (official work) issued by a German federal or state authority or court (§ 5 Abs.1 UrhG).

This work is also in the public domain in the U.S. because it is an edict of a government, local or foreign. See § 313.6(C)(2) of the Compendium II: Copyright Office Practices. Such documents include "legislative enactments, judicial decisions, administrative rulings, public ordinances, or similar types of official legal materials" as well as "any translation prepared by a government employee acting within the course of his or her official duties."

 

Third-party translations are not covered by this licence.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-IndonesianGov}}

 

This work is is in the public domain in Indonesia since it falls within the exemptions to copyright protection in Article 42 of the Law of The Republic of Indonesia Number 28 of 2014 on Copyrights as a:

  1. result of an open meeting of a government institution;
  2. law or regulation;
  3. government speech or speech of a government official;
  4. court decision or judicial provision; or
  5. scripture or religious symbol.

 

An additional license tag is required in order to demonstrate why this work is freely licensed or in the public domain in the United States. Works that are in the public domain in Indonesia under the provisions of Article 42 b, c, or d will usually also be in the public domain in the United States as an edict of government, and may be tagged with {{PD-EdictGov}}. Works that are in the public domain in Indonesia under the provisions of Article 42 a may also qualify as an edict of government, but individual determination of copyright status is needed for each work in this category.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-Jordan-exempt}}

 

This work is not an object of copyright according to Article 7 of the "Copyright Protection Law of 1992" (as amended up to Law No. 9 of 2005) of Jordan. This work is in the public domain worldwide (details).

Article (7): Works not Subject to Protection

The protection provided for under this Law shall not include the following works unless collections of these works are distinguished with personal effort, which encompasses invention or organization:

  1. Laws, regulations, judicial decisions, administrative committees' decisions, international agreements and other official documents and translations of these works or any part thereof.
  2. News published, broadcast or delivered publicly.
  3. Works that have become public property. National folklore shall be considered public property for the purposes of this Article, provided that the Minister shall exercise the copyrights of such works to counter distortion, alteration or damage to cultural interests.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-Ethiopia}}

 

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was first published in Ethiopia, which is not a participant in the Berne Convention or any other treaty on copyright with the United States, and was not simultaneously published in another country.

This work is also in the public domain in Ethiopia if it meets one of the following criteria:

  • It is an anonymous, pseudonymous or posthumous work and 50 years have passed since the date of its publication.
  • It is a collective or audiovisual work and 50 years have passed since the date of its publication.
  • It is a photographic work, and 25 years have passed since the date of its creation (or publication, whatever date is the latest).
  • It is another kind of work, and 50 years have passed since the year of death of the author (or last-surviving author).
  • It is "any official text of a legislative, administrative or of legal nature, as well as official translations thereof".

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-Iran}}

 

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was first published in Iran and not re-published in the United States, or a treaty party, within 30-days of publication in Iran. The copyright laws of Iran are not recognised according to Circ. 38a of the US Copyright Office.

It will remain copyrighted in Iran until 50 years after the death of the author.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-in-Iran}}

 

This work is in the public domain in its home country of Iran where it was first published. In the case of private works, this indicates that the author died at least 30 years ago; in the case of corporate works, that they were first published at least 30 years ago. This work is additionally free in the United States, where Iranian copyright is not recognised, according to Circ. 38a of the US Copyright Office.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-Ireland public record}}

 

This work is of the Irish President, or of the Oireachtas, and is in the public domain as being a public record that has been released by the copyright holder.

  The permission for use of this work has been verified and archived in the Wikimedia OTRS system. Reference: Ticket:2012032510004135

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-JapanGov}}

 

This work is public domain because, according to Article 13 of the Copyright Act of Japan, this work is not eligible for copyright. The provisions of Article 13 shall not grant copyright to a work falling under any of the following categories:

  1. the Constitution and other laws and regulations;
  2. public notices, instructions, circular notices and the like issued by organs of the State or local public entities, incorporated administrative agencies or local incorporated administrative agencies;
  3. judgments, decisions, orders and decrees of courts, as well as rulings and judgments made by government agencies in proceedings of a quasi-judicial nature;
  4. translations and compilations prepared by organs of the State or local public entities, incorporated administrative agencies or local incorporated administrative agencies of [any of] the materials listed in the preceding three items.

This work is also in the public domain in the U.S. because it is an edict of a government, local or foreign. See § 313.6(C)(2) of the Compendium II: Copyright Office Practices. Such documents include "legislative enactments, judicial decisions, administrative rulings, public ordinances, or similar types of official legal materials" as well as "any translation prepared by a government employee acting within the course of his or her official duties."

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-MacaoGov}}

 

This work is in the public domain because it is exempted by Article 6 of Macao copyright law. This exempts official governmental works and their translations from copyright, and explicitly allows copyrighted free use on any protected work therein.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-NorwayGov}}

 

This work is in the public domain because it is a part of a decision or a statement by an authority or a public body of Norway. Norwegian copyright law specifies that no copyright exists in such material (§ 14).

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-NZGov}}

 

This work is in the public domain because it is listed under the exempted Governmental works outlined by current New Zealand law. The New Zealand copyright law specifies that "no copyright exists in any of the following works, whenever those works were made". (§ 27).

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-PhilGovDoc}}

 

This work is in the public domain because it is a work of the Philippine government (see Republic Act No. 8293 Sec. 176).

All official Philippine texts of a legislative, administrative, or judicial nature, or any official translation thereof, are ineligible for copyright.

This work is also in the public domain in the U.S. because it is an edict of a government, local or foreign. See § 313.6(C)(2) of the Compendium II: Copyright Office Practices. Such documents include "legislative enactments, judicial decisions, administrative rulings, public ordinances, or similar types of official legal materials" as well as "any translation prepared by a government employee acting within the course of his or her official duties."

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-PRC-exempt}}

 

This work is in the public domain because it is exempted by Article 5 of Chinese copyright law. This exempts all Chinese government and judicial documents, and their official translations, from copyright. It also exempts simple factual information, and calendars, numerical tables, and other forms of general use and formulas.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-ROC-exempt}}

 

This work is in the public domain because it is exempted by Article 9 of the Republic of China's Copyright Act (in effect in the "Free Area"). This excludes from copyright all government and official documents and official translations, including news releases, speeches, laws, and documents. It also excludes from copyright oral and literary news reports strictly intended to communicate facts, test questions from all kinds examinations held pursuant to laws or regulations, slogans and common symbols, terms, formulas, numerical charts, forms, notebooks, or almanacs.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-Russia}}

 

This work is in the public domain in Russia (Article 1281 of the Russian Civil Code; Article 6 of Federal Law 231-FZ from December 18, 2006) because:

  • it was published anonymously or under a pseudonym before January 1, 1943 and the name of the author did not become known during 50 years after publication (before January 1, 1993), or
  • it was published anonymously or under a pseudonym after January 1, 1943, and the name of the author did not become known during 70 years after publication (as of 2025, this applies to works published before January 1, 1955), or
  • the work is non-amateur cinema or television film (or shots or fragments from it), which was first shown between January 1, 1929 and January 1, 1955 (over 70 years ago), or
  • the creator died over 74 years ago (before January 1, 1951), or
  • the creator died over 70 years ago (before January 1, 1955) and did not fight in or work during the Great Patriotic War (June 22, 1941–May 9, 1945).

If the author was subjected to repression and rehabilitated posthumously, countdown of copyright protection begins not from the death date, but from the rehabilitation date. If the work was first published posthumously, the copyright term is counted from the date of that first publication, unless the author was later rehabilitated, in which case it runs again from that later rehabilitation date.

This work is also in the public domain in the United States because it was first published outside the United States (and not published in the U.S. within 30 days), and it was first published before 1989 without complying with U.S. copyright formalities (renewal and/or copyright notice) and it was in the public domain in Russia on the URAA date (January 1, 1996). This is the combined effect of Russia having joined the Berne Convention in 1995, and of 17 USC 104A with its critical date of January 1, 1996.

The critical dates for copyright in the United States are January 1, 1943 for anonymous works; January 1, 1922 if the creator fought in the Great Patriotic War; January 1, 1926 otherwise.

This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-South Africa}}

 

This work was created and first published in South Africa and is now in the public domain in South Africa, because its term of copyright has expired. According to the Copyright Act, 1978, texts enter the public domain after 50 years counted from the end of the year of the death of the author, or in the case of works of the government, from the end of the year of publication (i.e. as of 2025, prior to January 1, 1975).

This work is also in the public domain in the United States because it was first published outside the United States (and not published in the U.S. within 30 days), and it was first published before 1989 without complying with U.S. copyright formalities (renewal and/or copyright notice) and it was in the public domain in South Africa on the URAA date (January 1, 1996). This is the combined effect of South Africa having joined the Berne Convention in 1928, and of 17 USC 104A with its critical date of January 1, 1996.

The critical date for copyright in the United States is January 1, 1946.

This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-SpainGov}}

 

This work is in the public domain worldwide because it was created by a public body of Spain.

See exception in Article 13 of the Spanish Law of Intellectual Property.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-Switzerland-official}}

 

This work is:

  • a law, ordinance, international treaty or other official act
  • a decision, protocol or report by public authorities
  • a piece of currency
  • a patent or patent application

of Switzerland or the Swiss cantons. It is therefore not protected by copyright by virtue of Art. 5 of the Swiss Copyright Act.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-TH-exempt}}

 

This work is in the public domain worldwide because it originated in Thailand and is a work under Template error: please specify the type of this work (see template documentation) of Thailand's Copyright Act, 2537 BE (1994) (WIPO translation), which provides:

7. The following shall not be deemed copyright works under this Act:

  1. news of the day and facts having the character of mere information, not being works in the literary, scientific or artistic fields;
  2. the constitution and legislation;
  3. regulations, bylaws, notifications, orders, explanations and official correspondence of the Ministries, Departments or any other government or local units;
  4. judicial decisions, orders, decisions and official reports;
  5. translations and collections of the materials referred to in items (1) to (4), made by the Ministries, Departments or any other government or local units.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-VenezuelaGov}}

 

This work is in the public domain because it is a work of the Venezuelan government and according to the "Law on Copyright", August 14, 1993, Part 1, Chapter 1, Section 1-4, "The texts of laws, decrees, official regulations, public treaties, judicial decisions and other official acts shall not be protected by this Law."

This work is also in the public domain in the U.S. because it is an edict of a government, local or foreign. See § 313.6(C)(2) of the Compendium II: Copyright Office Practices. Such documents include "legislative enactments, judicial decisions, administrative rulings, public ordinances, or similar types of official legal materials" as well as "any translation prepared by a government employee acting within the course of his or her official duties."

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

United Nations public domain

edit
Tag code Visible template
{{PD-UN}}

 

This work is excerpted from an official document of the United Nations. The policy of this organisation is to keep most of its documents in the public domain in order to disseminate "as widely as possible the ideas (contained) in the United Nations Publications".

Pursuant to UN Administrative Instruction ST/AI/189/Add.9/Rev.2 available in English only, these documents are in the public domain worldwide:

  1. Official records (proceedings of conferences, verbatim and summary records, …)
  2. United Nations documents issued with a UN symbol
  3. Public information material designed primarily to inform the public about United Nations activities (not including public information material that is offered for sale).

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{PD-LN}}

 

This work is excerpted from an official document of the League of Nations. Property of the League of the Nations was transferred to the United Nations when the league dissolved in 1946. The policy of the United Nations is to keep most of its documents in the public domain in order to disseminate "as widely as possible the ideas (contained) in the United Nations Publications".

Pursuant to UN Administrative_Instruction_ST/AI/189/Add.9/Rev.2 available in English only, these documents are in the public domain worldwide:

  1. Official records (proceedings of conferences, verbatim and summary records, ...)
  2. United Nations documents issued with a UN symbol
  3. Public information material designed primarily to inform the public about United Nations activities (not including public information material that is offered for sale, which, if in the public domain in the United States due to no copyright renewal or notice as required, should be instead tagged {{PD-US-no-renewal}} or {{PD-US-no-notice}}).

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

Translations

edit

Translations are derivative works. They get separate copyright status without affecting the original works, so the licenses of both original and translated works must be provided.

Tag code Visible template
{{Translation license}}

   This work is a translation and has a separate copyright status to the applicable copyright protections of the original content.

Original:

 

This page does not provide license information for the original content.

Pages with no license information may be nominated for deletion. If you'd like to help, see Help:Copyright tags or comment.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

Translation:

 

This page does not provide license information for the translation.

Pages with no license information may be nominated for deletion. If you'd like to help, see Help:Copyright tags or comment.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

edit
Tag code Visible template
{{CopyrightByWikimedia}}

 

™ Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
This file is (or includes) one or more of the official logos or designs used by the Wikimedia Foundation or by one of its projects. Use of the Wikimedia logos and trademarks is subject to the Wikimedia trademark policy and visual identity guidelines, and may require permission.

 

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

 

This work is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license, which allows free use, distribution, and creation of derivatives, so long as the license is unchanged and clearly noted, and the original author is attributed.

Attribution: Wikimedia Foundation

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

{{No license}}
{{No US license}}
{{Copyright author}}

for pages in the Author: namespace

 

A preliminary search indicated that this author's works are generally still protected under copyright law, and cannot be hosted on Wikisource. However, some works may be in the public domain or under free licensing terms. Read more here.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse


Usage

edit

Works

edit

It is expected that each work that is added to Wikisource will have the appropriate license appended to the work by the addition of the 'tag code as shown. When published the license will display at the bottom of the page.

Generally only one license is required, though in special cases there may be a requirement for a couple of licenses. Where this is to be done, the licenses should be wrapped inside the template pair {{license container begin}} and {{license container end}}.

Authors and publishers

edit

We also apply copyright tag templates to author and publisher pages as applicable.

Multiple licenses should be wrapped inside the template pair {{license container begin}} and {{license container end}}.


Retrieved from "https://en.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=Help:Copyright_tags&oldid=14534388"