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You know that you could get into trouble for putting your name on photos that are in the public domain...

I am still holding off, Christmas is not until next week and I am still digging furiously through the files.



Jens O.

"You know that you could get into trouble for putting your name on photos that are in the public domain"


Jens, What kind of trouble? I believe here in the US public domain means anyone can use it any way they see fit. Does anyone in here know more about this? I know people in the US copy Government Documents (Field Manuals and Technical Manuals) and sell them all the time.

Yes,

you can use them all the time, provided you do NOT put your name on them- that is the whole idea of public domain. By putting your name on it, you are claiming a copyright or ownership which you do not have- or so a lawyer friend once told me and since it is the federal government responsible for the documents, photos etc., you do the math.



Jens O.

It isn't that simple.

Anything created by the U.S. Gov't is Public Domain but you will see it printed and sold by various publishing houses. Often there will be a copyright notice that says 'additional material copyrighted nnnn' Which can technically mean that they added a 'Forward' or something equally as trivial. I have also seen additional notations on maps or pictures be the claim for 'added material'

There is nothing stopping someone from modifying something in the public Domain and then claiming a copyright on it. That is the whole reason why the GNU organization came up with the 'CopyLeft' which is the basis for the GNU Public License (GPL) which codifies their concept and keeps an item from slipping into teh public domain and then through modification into a copyrighted product.

www.gnu.org/licenses/licenses.html

Disclaimer _ I am not a copyright expert or a lawyer. My knowledge is based on dealing with Computer software and documentation for 20+ years and explaining and justifying various Public Domain, GPL and copyrighted material to Corporate legal staff, Software Engineers and family members ("Dad why CAN"T I get copies of all of Jimmies games, Evryone else is") over the years (I think family members ws the toughest )

cbo

The whole name on the picture thing, I thought you did that only if you owned the object in the picture, like an ebay auction, personal project or document.

Anywho, have a Merry Christmas.

thanks guys,
I believe in the United States public domain means we can do what we want with a US Government photograph, in other countries this might not be the case, in England I believe the Crown retains ownership. Remember each country is different when it comes to government documents/photographs and international laws don't necessarily apply....but i'm far from being a lawyer, we need a copyright lawyer.....

We could get into a whole philosphical discussion about the intent and concept of governments

In The U.S. the basic concept is that power, and the right to establish a government flows from the people. therefor the Government (and everything it owns/creates) belongs to the people. In The U.K. The Government is established at the pleasure of the Monarch. Therefor everything it owns/creates belongs to the Monarch. So in the U.K. The Crown holsds the copyright while in the us the Public owns the copyright

All my previous disclaimers still apply (I don't think we need a copyright lawyer it would only encourage them. Besides after the revolution 'the first thing we do is shoot all the lawyers' )

That's what I was trying to say but you said it much better....

Anyhow,

let me see if my season's greetings work when I put them in a reply, for some reason I always get a "database error" when I try to post them in a new topic...



Greetings and Good Wishes to all Curmudgeons in Armour.

Whether you keep Christmas, have a holiday, mutter "humbug", have a family time or just your own company, may you enjoy the next few days and may they bring you what you would wish for yourselves and those you value.

Best Wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-discriminatory and gender neutral celebration of the summer/winter solstice practiced within the religious or secular tradition of your choice - being mindful of the choices of others without regard to race, creed, colour, computer platform, or political preference of the wisher or those to whom the wish is directed.

Or...

Merry Christmas, Frohe Weihnachten, Joyeux Noël, Feliz Navidad, Buon Natale, Feliz Natal, srecan bozic, vesele vianoce, glædelig jul, veselé Vánoce, Vrolijk Kerstfeest, God Jul, Felican Kristnaskon, Nadolig Llawen, Zorionak eta urte berri on, Linksmu sventu Kaledu, Selamat Natal, Kia ora, Christmas Alegre, Mele Kalikimaka... also... Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanzaa. Or maybe just a Happy Holiday.

Jens O.

Edit: I now know where the problem apparently lies- this format does not support the Cyrillic alphabet or the more ununsual Polish and Serbocroat accents... But it does the Skandinavian "æ", go figure- shades of the Cold War?

So, to our Russian, Polish and any other members with non-Latin alphabets, pick your favourite from the list above.

Merry christmas and a good and healthy 2008!

Lesley

Peace,safety and happiness to all of you and to yours.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! And may you and your families be blessed with good fortune and health in 2008