User:Physchim62/German images

The references in this section are to the Urheberrechtgesetz (UrhG, See External links).

Photographic works (Lichtbildwerke) are protected by copyright for seventy years after the death of the "author" (UrhG § 64), or for seventy years after the date of first publication in the case of anonymous works or works of unknown authorship (UrhG § 66).

Photographs (Lichtbilder) have a sui generis protection for fifty years after the date of first publication, or for fifty years after their production in the case of unpublished photographs (UrhG § 72).

The criterium for a work qualifying for copyright protection (as opposed to sui generis protection) is given in UrhG § 2(2):

Werke im Sinne dieses Gesetzes sind nur persönliche geistige Schöpfungen.

Personal intellectual creations alone shall constitute works within the meaning of this Law. (WIPO translation)

Hence photographs taken automatically do not qualify for copyright protection as they are not "personal creations": they do, however, qualify for sui generis protection.

The sense of "intellectual" ("geistig") in the criterium should be construed widely, as in its general use in copyright Law. The corresponding term in the Berne Convention is "literary and artistic works", which includes "every production in the literary, scientific and artistic domain, whatever may be the mode or form of its expression". The Berne convention specifically includes "photographic works to which are assimilated works expressed by a process analogous to photography" within its protection. (Berne Convention citations taken from Article 2(1))

From German Wikipedia:

In der juristischen Praxis ist die "persönliche geistige Schöpfung", die das Gesetz fordert, immer wieder ein Streitpunkt in konkreten Fällen: Je nach Werkgattung werden dabei in Gerichtsentscheidungen unterschiedliche Maßstäbe an die sog. Schaffenshöhe angelegt, was in der Folge dazu führt, dass zwar die meisten, aber nicht prinzipiell alle Ergebnisse menschlichen Schaffens in der Praxis urheberrechtlich geschützt sind.

In legal practice the "personal intellectual creation", which the Law demands [for copyright protection], is frequently a point at issue in real cases. Depending upon the kind of work, different yardsticks have been used in judicial rulings. The severity of the test has generally decreased, leading to the consequence that most, although in principle not all, results of human work are, in practice, protected by copyright. (Wikipedia translation)

German govenment images

The protection of German government works is covered by UrhG § 5:

(1) Laws, ordinances, official decrees and notices as also decisions and official grounds of decisions shall not enjoy copyright protection.

(2) The same shall apply to other official works published in the official interest for public information, with the condition that the provisions of § 62(l)–(3) and § 63(1)&(2) concerning prohibited alterations and acknowledgment of sources shall apply mutatis mutandis. (WIPO translation)

As UhrG § 62(1), where it applies, prohibits alteration of a work, it is difficult (though not impossible) to include German government images in a GFDL document such as Wikipedia.

These provisions apply equally to images produced by the authorities of the Third Reich, as the Federal Republic of Germany is its legal successor. (Source: German Wikipedia)

Practice on German Wikipedia

German speakers should refer to the original page at de:Wikipedia:Bildrechte

German Wikipedia does not even mention the shorter sui generis protection of non-copyright photographs: it assumes that all images it uses fall under full, seventy-year copyright protection unless they are specifically licensed or public domain. It also warns users that the assertion of anonymity of the photographer is virtually impossible to prove.

The question of the use of official images under UrhG § 5(2) is controversial, with some German editors saying that the provision is incompatible with the GFDL while others assert that, in practice, there is not a problem.

Images which are still under German copyright may qualify for fair use under U.S. copyright law.

{{PD-Germany}}

According to the Urheberrechtsgesetz (UrhG) (copyright Laws) of Germany, photographic works are copyrighted for 70 years after the death of the photographer (UrhG §§ 2, 64), and then enter the public domain.

{{GermanGov}}

{{FairuseWW2}}

Unsourced World War II images - Unresolved

The uploaders, who are currently active, were contacted on 2005-06-19 and invited to reconsider the copyright tags for these images.

• The images were tagged as {{PUIdisputed}} and listed on Wikipedia:Possibly unfree images on 2005-08-05.

• Image:Brecht.jpg has been removed from the corresponding German article as not PD.
• Image:Ah berghof and Image:Interrogationofabritishpilot.jpg seems difficult to argue as fair use.

Unsourced World War II images - Resolved

All the uploaders who are currently active were contacted on 19 June 2005 and invited to reconsider the copyright tags for these images. Images with absent uploaders were tagged {{PUIdisputed}} and listed on WP:PUI.

Sourced images over 70 years old

These images are still tagged {{PD-Germany}}.

Unsourced images over 70 years old

These images are still tagged {{PD-Germany}}.

German government images

These images have been tagged {{GermanGov}}.

• User:GeneralPatton provides the source for the Iron Cross images as "wartime propaganda postcards" on Image talk: EK 1class.png.

Images listed for deletion

This images have been listed (12 June 2005) on WP:IFD as orphans.

Other images

This image has been tagged {{PD-ineligible}}.

Other links to {{PD-Germany}}

• User talk:Maury Markowitz
• Wikipedia:Images and media for deletion
• User talk:Quadell
• User:Quadell/copyright
• User talk:Dbenbenn
• Image talk:Surreydocks1941.jpg
• Wikipedia talk:Image copyright tags/archive1
• Wikipedia:Templates for deletion/Log/Not deleted/May 2005
• Wikipedia:Templates for deletion/Log/Deleted/June 2005
• Image talk:Wir stehen nicht allein.jpg

• Urheberrechtgesetz (German Federal Ministry of Justice) (in German)
• English translation of the Urheberrechtgesetz (WIPO)
• Berne Convention (WIPO)