Commons:Copyright rules by territory/United Nations
Copyright rules: United Nations Shortcut: COM:UNITED NATIONS | |
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| Durations | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
| Common licence tags | {{PD-US-no notice-UN}} {{PD-UN-doc}} |
| ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 | ~ |
| Treaties | |
| Univ. Copyright Convention | 24 July 1971 |
This page provides an overview of copyright rules of the United Nations relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating from the United Nations must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in the United Nations and in the United States before it can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. If there is any doubt about the copyright status of a work, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.
General rules
According to shop.un.org as of 2019,[1]
- Permission is required to reuse content from any and all United Nations’ online platforms and databases (namely, legal and statistical databases).
- With regard to treaties and conventions, while each individual text is in the public domain, the online UN Treaty Collection is proprietary.
- Use and display of the United Nations emblem is highly restricted and essentially limited to the organization’s activities. You may not use any trademark, official mark, official emblem, flag or logo of the United Nations, or any of its other means of promotion or publicity, to represent or imply an association or affiliation with the United Nations without the United Nation’s prior written consent.
- UN photos cannot be altered, sold, redistributed or used to create derivative works.
Rules for certain types of documents
The United Nations' basic policy towards copyrighting as set forth in administrative instruction ST/AI/189/Add.9/Rev.1 of 26 March 1985 was not to seek copyright with the intention of thus facilitating dissemination as widely as possible of the ideas in United Nations publications. Under ST/AI/189/Add.9/Rev.2 of 17 September 1987, the United Nations would still not seek copyright for official records, documents and public information material, but did seek protection for all recurrent publications, studies or reports.[2]
United States status
Under the Second Protocol of the Universal Copyright Convention (Paris text), protection under U.S. copyright law is "expressly required"[Please clarify – June 2025] for works published by the United Nations, by UN specialized agencies and by the Organization of American States.[17 USC Sec. 104 (b.5)][3]
Copyright tags
See also: Commons:Copyright tags
- {{PD-US-no notice-UN}}: Work is excerpted from an official document of the United Nations published in the United States prior to 17 September 1987.
- {{PD-UN-doc}}: Published by the United Nations without a copyright notice, was left in the public domain in order to disseminate "as widely as possible the ideas (contained) in the United Nations Publications". It falls into one of the following categories outlined in Administrative Instruction ST/AI/189/Add.9/Rev.2 (paragraph 2):
- Official records (proceedings of conferences, verbatim and summary records, periodic supplements, compilations of resolutions, etc.)
- United Nations documents issued with a UN document symbol
- Public information material designed primarily to inform the public about United Nations activities (not including material that is offered for sale)
- {{PD-UN-map}}: United Nations maps.
- {{PD-LN}}: Official records of the League of Nations, transferred to the United Nations when the league dissolved in 1946.
Freedom of panorama
See also: Commons:Freedom of panorama
None of international copyright treaties mandate the provision exempting photos or other images of copyrighted works permanently located in public places from the exclusive rights of the authors of the said works. The Berne Convention, under Article 9(2), instead allows the member states "to permit the reproduction of such works in certain special cases, provided that such reproduction does not conflict with a normal exploitation of the work and does not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the author."
- 1988 model law drafted by WIPO-UNESCO
Former US Copyright Office chief Ralph Oman noted the existence of a Draft Model Copyright Law as a result of discussions between the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and UNESCO in the late 1980s. It contained draft principles, one of which concerned the reproduction of images of architecture. The 1988 Secretariat's Memorandum distributed these draft principles.[4] One of the draft principles dealt with the protection of images of works of architecture.
- The reproduction of the external images of works of architecture by means of photography, cinematography, painting, sculpture, drawing or similar methods should not require the authorization of their authors if it is done for private purposes or, even if it is done for commercial purposes, where the works of architecture are on a public street, road or square or in any other place normally accessible to the public.[1988 Principle WA7]
Despite opposition from some invited stakeholders due to the principle "taking away much of the rights of authors of works of architecture," there was no adequate support for proposals to modify the clause. The Committee of Governmental Experts stated the "Principle WA7 has been reproduced without changes."[4] Nevertheless, this "model law" was just a soft law, serving as a mere guide for countries which were developing their copyright laws during the late 20th century. It cannot force all countries to imitate its provisions, including its architectural panorama exception.
See also
Citations
- ↑ Rights & Permissions. United Nations (2018). Retrieved on 2018-12-29.
- ↑ ST/AI/189/Add.9/Rev.2. United Nations (17 September 1987). Retrieved on 2018-12-29.
- ↑ House Report No. 94-1476 in connection with Title 17, United States Code, Section 104 (2006-08-31).
- ↑ a b Oman, Ralph (1989-06-19). The Report of the Register of Copyrights on Works of Architecture 148-155. Retrieved on 2026-08-27.