This page helps users determine whether a given work is in the public domain in the USA where Wikisource server is hosted, and which template to use.
If a work is in the public domain in Canada but not in the USA, without license compatible with the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0 and the GFDL, please post it on Canadian Wikilivres (requiring username as IP users cannot edit there).
This document attempts to clarify whether copyright applies but see also Copyright policy and Copyright tags for categories to use.
Official records, UN documents issued with a UN symbol, and not-for-sale public information materials designed primarily to inform the public about United Nations activities
Note: Foreign works published after 1923 are likely to be still under copyright in the US because of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, even if they briefly entered public domain before the agreement.[೬] Only unambiguous conditions are listed below.
Date of publication
Condition
What is public domain
Template
Before 1 July 1909
none.
all works.
{{Pd/1923|year of author's death}}, or {{PD-anon-1923}} if anonymous or pseudonymous
1 July 1909–1922
in compliance with US formalities, published in English language, or the author is known to have died in ಪದವಿನ್ಯಾಸ ದೋಷ: ಗುರುತಿಸಲಾಗದ ವಿರಾಮ ಚಿಹ್ನೆ"೨". or earlier (more than 70 years ago)
all works.
{{Pd/1923|year of author's death}}, or {{PD-anon-1923}} if anonymous or pseudonymous
1923–1977
public domain in its home country as of 1 January 1996 and never published in the US prior to that date
all works.
{{PD-1996}}, {{Pd/1996|year of author's death}}, or {{PD-anon-1996}} if anonymous or pseudonymous
After 1 January 1978
copyright in its home country
works by authors who died more than 95 years ago (ಪದವಿನ್ಯಾಸ ದೋಷ: ಗುರುತಿಸಲಾಗದ ವಿರಾಮ ಚಿಹ್ನೆ"೨".)
Laws; regulations; resolutions, decisions and orders of State organs; other documents of a legislative, administrative or judicial nature; and their official translations.
Official works, in particular the texts of treaties, laws and regulations and those of reports or decisions by authorities of any kind, and translations thereof.
The constitution, acts, regulations, official documents (including proclamations, text of speeches, news releases, and other documents prepared by civil servants in the course of carrying out their duties), and their translations and compilations by central or local government agencies.
Official works released by any German federal or state authority or court. Third party translations are not public domain until 70 years after the death of the translator.
Any result of open meetings of state institutions, laws and regulations, state addresses or government official speeches, court decisions and judicial orders or decisions of arbitration boards or of other similar agencies.
'Corporate authorship' refers to works written for hire or in the name of a corporation.
Date of publication
Conditions
Public domain
Template
none.
unpublished
Works created 120+ years ago (ಪದವಿನ್ಯಾಸ ದೋಷ: ಗುರುತಿಸಲಾಗದ ವಿರಾಮ ಚಿಹ್ನೆ"೨".)
none.
1923 through 1977
published outside the US and copyright in its home country
works created 120+ years ago (ಪದವಿನ್ಯಾಸ ದೋಷ: ಗುರುತಿಸಲಾಗದ ವಿರಾಮ ಚಿಹ್ನೆ"೨".) or published 95+ years ago (ಪದವಿನ್ಯಾಸ ದೋಷ: ಗುರುತಿಸಲಾಗದ ವಿರಾಮ ಚಿಹ್ನೆ"೨".), whichever is earliest.
none.
1978–1 March 1989
no notice, but subsequent registration
or with notice
works created 120+ years ago (ಪದವಿನ್ಯಾಸ ದೋಷ: ಗುರುತಿಸಲಾಗದ ವಿರಾಮ ಚಿಹ್ನೆ"೨".) or published 95+ years ago (ಪದವಿನ್ಯಾಸ ದೋಷ: ಗುರುತಿಸಲಾಗದ ವಿರಾಮ ಚಿಹ್ನೆ"೨".), whichever is earliest.
none.
After 1 March 1989
none.
works created 120+ years ago (ಪದವಿನ್ಯಾಸ ದೋಷ: ಗುರುತಿಸಲಾಗದ ವಿರಾಮ ಚಿಹ್ನೆ"೨".) or published over 95+ years ago (ಪದವಿನ್ಯಾಸ ದೋಷ: ಗುರುತಿಸಲಾಗದ ವಿರಾಮ ಚಿಹ್ನೆ"೨".), whichever is earliest.
Edict of a government, local or foreign; Documents include "judicial opinions, administrative rulings, legislative enactments, public ordinances, and similar official legal documents"
An unpublished work is one that has never been published in any form, or which was first published after 2003 but created before 1935.
Note for the European Union: If a previously unpublished work is published first time ("editio princeps") later than 70 years after the death of the author, then it is no more public domain but it is granted a copyright for 25 years (Council Directive 93/98/EEC, see here)
Type of work
What is public domain
Template
Most works (except those below)
or created before 1978 and published after 2002
works of authors who died more than 70 years ago (ಪದವಿನ್ಯಾಸ ದೋಷ: ಗುರುತಿಸಲಾಗದ ವಿರಾಮ ಚಿಹ್ನೆ"೨".)
These tables outline the estimated length of time of copyright per country[೭][೮][೯]. Laws regarding anonymous works, corporate-authored works, or non-literary works vary per country. This is not intended to be used as a legal guideline since it cannot reflect the complexity of the copyright laws in effect at any one time and since copyright laws are changing continuously; this section simply provides a useful summary as part of a more in-depth research. See also the following Wikipedia copyright length lists for further information:
first publication + 70 for anonymous or pseudonymous works (only if the author doesn't make his identity known before the expiry)[೧೧]
first publication + 70 for audiovisual and photographic works[೧೨], phonograms and transmission for the broadcasts of broadcasting organizations[೧೩]
texts of treaties or conventions, laws, decrees, regulations, judicial decisions and other official enactments shall be excluded from copyright protection[೧೪]
Brunei
life + 50
Bulgaria
life + 70
Burkina Faso
life + 50
Burundi
life + 50
Cambodia
life + 50
Cameroon
life + 50
Canada
life + 50
Cape Verde
life + 50
Chile
life + 50
China
life + 50
Colombia
life + 80
Costa Rica
life + 70
Cote d'Ivoire
life + 99
Croatia
life + 50 if author died before 1949[೧೫], otherwise life + 70 [೧೬][೧೭]
a These works have copyright terms extending 70 years beyond the author's life, or until 31 December 2047 (whichever is greater), pursuant to 17 United States Code 303.
↑s304 Copyright Act 1976 "Copyright in a work created before January 1, 1978, but not theretofore in the public domain or copyrighted, subsists from January 1, 1978, and endures for the term provided by section 302 [17 USCS Sect. 302]. In no case, however, shall the term of copyright in such a work expire before December 31, 2002; and, if the work is published on or before December 31, 2002, the term of copyright shall not expire before December 31, 2027." s302 states "Copyright in a work created on or after January 1, 1978, subsists from its creation and, except as provided by the following subsections, endures for a term consisting of the life of the author and fifty years after the author's death." The Copyright Term Extension Act extended the dates to December 31, 2047 and seventy years after death.
