Commons:Threshold of originality
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The threshold of originality is a concept in copyright law that is used to assess whether or not a particular work, or a portion of it, can be copyrighted. It is used to distinguish works that are sufficiently original to warrant copyright protection from those that are not. In this context, "originality" refers to "coming from someone as the originator/author" (insofar as it somehow reflects the author's personality), rather than "never having occurred or existed before" (which would amount to the protection of something new, as in patent protection).
As a rule, copyright applies to a work as a whole. If a work contains a portion that is complex enough to receive copyright protection, then the whole work is considered to be copyrighted. One cannot upload said work to Commons by applying de minimis to the non-trivial portion.
The remainder of this page discusses images judged ineligible for copyright protection by a court or similar authority. It is usually impossible to determine whether a specific image is within the threshold of originality without a judicial decision. However, per precautionary principle, the image should be deleted if there is significant doubt that the image is not copyrighted.
For further information, see Threshold of originality on Wikipedia.
Map
- [This illustration is not explained enough. You may edit the page to make it clearer.]
COM:TOO United States
Civil law countries
Civil law countries usually require a relatively high minimum level of intellectual creativity which will exclude typical signatures and simple logos from copyright protection. However, this does not apply to all such countries. For example, Austria and China are both known to have a relatively low threshold of originality, while a few simple logos from the Philippines gained copyright registrations from the country's Intellectual Property Office.
If you are aware of specific case law or legal advice on this issue in any country, please add a "Threshold of originality" section to the appropriate Commons:Copyright rules by territory country subpage, and add a link to it with an entry below.
COM:TOO Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Afghanistan/en
COM:TOO Austria
Austria
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Austria/en
COM:TOO Brazil
Brazil
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Brazil/en
COM:TOO Czech Republic
Czech Republic
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Czech Republic/en
COM:TOO Chile
Chile
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Chile/en
COM:TOO China
China
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/China/en
COM:TOO Denmark
Denmark
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Denmark/en
COM:TOO Finland
Finland
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Finland/en
COM:TOO France
France
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/France/en
COM:TOO Germany
Germany
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Germany/en
COM:TOO Greece
Greece
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Greece/en
COM:TOO Hungary
Hungary
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Hungary/en
COM:TOO Indonesia
Indonesia
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Indonesia/en
COM:TOO Iran
Iran
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Iran/en
COM:TOO Italy
Italy
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Italy/en
COM:TOO Japan
Japan
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Japan/en
COM:TOO Libya
Libya
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Libya/en
COM:TOO Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Luxembourg/en
COM:TOO Mexico
Mexico
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Mexico/en
COM:TOO Netherlands
Netherlands
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Netherlands/en
COM:TOO Norway
Norway
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Norway/en
COM:TOO Peru
Peru
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Peru/en
COM:TOO Philippines
Philippines
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Philippines/en
COM:TOO Poland
Poland
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Poland/en
COM:TOO Portugal
Portugal
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Portugal/en
COM:TOO Russia
Russia
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Russia/en
COM:TOO Senegal
Senegal
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Senegal/en
COM:TOO Slovenia
Slovenia
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Slovenia/en
COM:TOO South Korea
South Korea
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/South Korea/en
COM:TOO Spain
Spain
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Spain/en
COM:TOO Sweden
Sweden
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Sweden/en
COM:TOO Switzerland
Switzerland
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Switzerland/en
COM:TOO Taiwan
Taiwan
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Taiwan/en
COM:TOO Turkey
Turkey
Common law countries
Common law countries typically use a "skill and labour" test to determine the minimum level of originality capable of attracting copyright protection. The required level is extremely low in some countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom. However, Canada and India are major two exceptions. Without some research into individual laws, it cannot be assumed that a text logo from a Common law country is necessarily allowed on Commons. If there is real doubt about the position a local court would take, then the image must be deleted under the precautionary principle.
If the logo is extremely simple (e.g. in a standard font), it will not be eligible for copyright even in Common law countries.
If you are aware of specific case law or legal advice on this issue in any country, please add a "Threshold of originality" section to the appropriate Commons:Copyright rules by territory country subpage, and add a link to it with an entry below.
COM:TOO Australia
Australia
No information available
COM:TOO Canada
Canada
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Canada/en
COM:TOO Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Hong Kong/en
COM:TOO India
India
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/India/en
COM:TOO Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Ireland/en
COM:TOO Israel
Israel
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Israel/en
COM:TOO Malaysia
Malaysia
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Malaysia/en
COM:TOO Nigeria
Nigeria
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Nigeria/en
COM:TOO New Zealand
New Zealand
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/New Zealand/en
COM:TOO Singapore
Singapore
Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Singapore/en
COM:TOO United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Logos and flags
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claimed not to reach the threshold
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claimed not to reach the threshold
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(DR)
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(DR) "PD text logo -- no question"
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(Australian company logo DR) "PD-textlogo"
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(Canada company logo DR) "PD-textlogo"
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(DR)
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(DR)
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(DR)
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(DR)
- File:Hercules 1998 Intertitle.png originally "background isn't elaborate or eligible for any type of copyright" (decided here in 2010), deleted in 2012 as "shows artistry beyond the TOO".
Architecture
Images which have been kept because of lack of originality or de minimis:
Note that some of these decisions were controversial.
Photographs
Photographs which have been deemed ineligible for copyright protection:
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(DR) Photograph of a three-dimensional object (drawer pull) with bevels and cast shadows
Maps
Maps which have been deemed ineligible for copyright protection:
Darden v. Peters: the addition of "font and color selection; visual effects such as relief, shadowing, and shading; labeling; call-outs" and anti-aliasing to a preexisting map is below the threshold of originality
Use: {{PD-map}}. See the section farther down on partial copying or cropping of uncopyrightable elements from copyrighted works. See also:
- Commons:Map resources and its sections on public domain maps on the web.
- Open.Michigan Wiki. Casebook archive on "whether or not the content object is protected by US Copyright law.". Opening in the maps section. Data-driven maps in particular are in the public domain. The map represents data. All choices made in the creation of the map being based upon utilitarian and informational considerations. See also: Commons talk:Threshold of originality#Casebook. More locations. See this University of Michigan Casebook archive here. It loads much faster than the Casebook at archive.org.
- Public domain maps. From: Public Domain Sherpa. A copyright and trademark lawyer.
- Category:PD map
Charts
Charts which have been deemed ineligible for copyright protection. Use: {{PD-chart}}. See the section farther down on partial copying or cropping of uncopyrightable elements from copyrighted works. See also:
- Commons:Chart and graph resources and its section on public domain charts on the web.
- Open.Michigan Wiki. Casebook archive on "whether or not the content object is protected by US Copyright law.". Opening in the charts section. See also: Commons talk:Threshold of originality#Casebook. More locations. See this University of Michigan Casebook archive here. It loads much faster than the Casebook at archive.org.
- Category:PD chart
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See discussion.
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See the info in the author section of the file description.
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See the deletion discussion, and this discussion.
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See the deletion discussion.
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See the deletion discussion.
Partial copying or cropping of copyrighted works
When a file copies only part of a copyrighted work, that file's copyright status is determined only by what it has copied. If it only copied uncopyrightable elements, then the file is also uncopyrightable. In other words, we judge the copyright status of a file only by what the file itself contains, not by the status of other content the original source contained that was not copied by the file.
OK | This image of the front cover of a novel is public domain in the USA because it only copies uncopyrightable text, not copyrightable contents of the book itself or possibly-copyrightable contents of the back cover. (DR) It would probably not be PD in UK because of the UK's publisher's 25 year copyright on typography, except for the fact that this typographical arrangement was published over 25 years ago. |
Lower threshold in United Kingdom etc.
- File:BBC.svg and many associated variants for BBC divisions were kept, because they only contain Gill Sans, which is an old, standard font.
See Commons:Deletion requests/File:BBC.svg. - File:Clerical Medical.png (uploaded as non-free content (fair use) on en.wikipedia.org)
See Commons:Deletion requests/File:Clerical Medical.png (with reasoning of the EDGE logo).
See also
- {{Licensed-TOO}} template for formatting and internationalization of licenses of TOO images
- Commons:Copyright rules by subject matter
- Category:Threshold of originality related deletion requests
- Commons:When to use the PD-scan tag - on the level of originality needed for a scan of a work to generate a copyright independent of the work
- Commons:When to use the PD-Art tag - on the level of originality needed for a photo of a work to generate a copyright independent of the work
- meta:Wikilegal/Copyright threshold of originality for logos
- Category: PD-ineligible license tags
- Category: PD ineligible
- Commons:Chart and graph resources. Including other public domain resources.
- Commons:Map resources. Including other public domain resources.
References
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For more complete, working references see Commons:Copyright rules by territory and the individual countries and territories: