Editing Encyclopedia:Image use policy (section)

====Public domain====
{{Further|Wikipedia:Public domain|Wikipedia:Public domain image resources}}

Public domain images are not copyrighted, and copyright law does not restrict their use in any way. Wikipedia pages, including non-English language pages, are hosted on a server in the United States, so US law governs whether a Wikipedia image is in the public domain.

Images may be placed into the public domain by their creators, or they may be public domain because they are ineligible for copyright or because their copyright expired. In the US as of January 1, {{CURRENTYEAR}}, [[WP:COPYEXP|copyright has expired]] on any work published anywhere before January 1, {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-95}}. Although US copyrights have also expired for many works published since then, the rules for determining expiration are complex; see [[Wikipedia:Public domain#When does copyright expire?|When does copyright expire?]] for details.

In the US, reproductions of two-dimensional public domain artwork do not generate a new copyright; see ''[[Bridgeman v. Corel]]''. Scans of images ''alone'' do not generate new copyrights—they merely inherit the copyright status of the image they are reproducing. For example, a straight-on photograph of the ''[[Mona Lisa]]'' is ineligible for copyright.

Works must usually entail a minimum amount of creativity to be copyrightable. Those that fail to meet this [[threshold of originality]] and are therefore not copyrightable, fall instead into the public domain. For instance, images that consist only of simple typeface are generally public domain (though they may yet be trademarked). Editors must be aware of the origin country of the image, as the threshold of originality [[c:Commons:Threshold of originality|may vary significantly among jurisdictions]]. The US has a high threshold, whereas the UK has a lower one, following a "sweat of the brow" standard. In such cases, an image that is copyrighted in its home country, but ineligible for copyright in the US may be uploaded locally on the English Wikipedia as a public domain image using a tag such as {{tl|PD-USonly}}. This will help to prevent copying to Commons, where media must be free both in the source country and the US.

If you strongly suspect an image is a copyright infringement, you should list it for deletion; see {{section link||Deleting images}} below. For example, an image with no copyright status on its [[Help:File page|file page]] and published elsewhere with a copyright notice should be listed for deletion.