Remember that while US caselaw is clear on this point, it is less clear-cut elsewhere. We at WM tend to take a clear line that 2D reproductions are ineligible, but it's not a guaranteed absolute truth, particularly in the UK! We can predict how a court might rule... but they haven't yet, and claiming copyright is a legally defensible position in many cases.
("Legally defensible" is not always "correct", of course...) As a result, an explicit declaration is a positive thing and definitely should not be discouraged. A. On 16 Dec 2013 04:57, "Robinson Tryon" <bishop.robin...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Sun, Dec 15, 2013 at 8:36 PM, Gnangarra <gnanga...@gmail.com> wrote: > > its more legal/copyright descriptive, that necessitates the wording than > > just release them to the public which can still indicate they have > > restrictions > > I guess I was just concerned that it was sending the wrong message re: > the images, suggesting that the British Library had to put the images > into the Public Domain because they (or some other entity) could still > hold copyright to them. > > If it is unclear to the public that slavish reproductions of > out-of-copyright 2D works are not themselves eligible for copyright, > then perhaps we should work to improve that understanding. It's > difficult for a member of the public to exercise his rights unless he > knows to what he is entitled! > > --R > > _______________________________________________ > Commons-l mailing list > Commons-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/commons-l >
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