Template talk:PD-US-record

This template was nominated for deletion 31 December 2013. Result was No Consensus to Delete.

New York

• Capitol Records vs. Naxos says, "we [*19]conclude that New York provides common-law copyright protection to sound recordings not covered by the federal Copyright Act, regardless of the public domain status in the country of origin, if the alleged act of infringement occurred in New York." (emphasis added) It does not talk about where the original recording was made, but where the infringement occurred. So I have made a change to the wording of the template. Thatcher • (on enwiki) 00:19, 25 August 2009 (UTC)
  • So how do we block New York IPs from playing files that are so marked? --Damian Yerrick (☎) 23:49, 3 January 2010 (UTC)
    • Commons hosts files that are copyright free or that have a free license, but there are additional restrictions that may vary by locality (Nazi symbols in Germany, misuse of official seals or logos, trademark, etc) and these files should be so marked. I view this as such an additional local restriction. -Nard the Bard 02:33, 4 January 2010 (UTC)
• See this discussion at the village pump regarding the legitimacy of this template. Jafeluv (talk) 09:55, 4 January 2010 (UTC)
  • And Commons talk:Licensing/Archive 30#Public domain sound recordings. Before that Commons talk:Licensing/Archive 25#US sound recordings. /KjellK (talk) 21:46, 11 December 2010 (UTC)
    • Also see Commons_talk:Licensing/Archive_27#Proposed_addition:_US_sound_recordings From June 2010 and Commons_talk:Licensing/Archive_25#US_sound_recordings March 2010.--TonyTheTiger (talk) 18:18, 3 June 2011 (UTC)

Revision by Gazebo on 2014-02-18 at 07:34

From what one can tell, the template currently indicates a policy wherein pre-1972 recordings that are not based on underlying copyrighted compositions or other material can be treated as out of copyright except in New York State and certain foreign countries. At the same time, it would seem that the copyright situation of pre-1972 recordings could change in the future (i.e. if there are rulings in states other than New York State or if federal copyright is extended to pre-1972 recordings) and so the template has been edited to reflect this. If a user is looking for sound recordings with the intent of finding recordings that they can treat as being uncopyrighted throughout the future, this information is important. Another issue is directing copyright holders to the page for the WMF designated agent--though the applicability of the DMCA notice and takedown provisions to pre-1972 recordings may not be totally clear, it would seem reasonable and an indication of good faith on the issue of respecting copyrights to direct copyright holders to the designated agent info even in the case of pre-1972 recordings. Finally, there is an aspect of US copyright where certain sound recordings that are of foreign origin can be copyrighted under federal copyright via the URAA even if they were fixed prior to Feb 15, 1972. From what one understands, sound recordings that are subject to federal copyright (whether via the URAA or other reasons) should only be uploaded to Commons if the recording was released under a free license by the copyright holder and this template should not be applied to pre-1972 recordings that are federally copyrighted via the URAA. --Gazebo (talk) 08:02, 18 February 2014 (UTC)

Wikilegal report

In response to request from a user, there is a Wikilegal report at meta:Wikilegal/Copyright Status of Sound Recordings Fixed Prior to February 15 1972 related to this issue.

Wikilegal is a place for the community to engage in a discourse on legal issues the projects face. Although made by Foundation legal staff or interns, these posts are not intended as legal advice, but they are an opportunity for inquiry and discussion. See meta:Wikilegal for more. --Maggie Dennis (WMF) (talk) 13:36, 19 March 2014 (UTC)