Help:Official texts

Works should be tagged with a template that identifies their license status according to Wikisource's copyright policy.

Many offical texts are considered to edicts of government, and are not copyrightable in the United States. Wikisource has a general template for pages that meet this criteria, however a more specific template should be used in order to inform the reader if the official text is public domain in the country of origin.

These do not include works of the Organization of American States, United Nations, or any of the UN specialized agencies. See Compendium II § 206.03 and 17 U.S.C. 104(b)(5).

Pursuant to UN Administrative_Instruction_ST/AI/189/Add.9/Rev.2 available in English only, these documents are in the public domain worldwide:

1. Official records (proceedings of conferences, verbatim and summary records, ...)
2. United Nations documents issued with a UN symbol
3. Public information material designed primarily to inform the public about United Nations activities (not including public information material that is offered for sale, which, if in the public domain in the United States due to no copyright renewal or notice as required, should be instead tagged {{PD-US-no-renewal}} or {{PD-US-no-notice}}).

Pursuant to UN Administrative Instruction ST/AI/189/Add.9/Rev.2 available in English only, these documents are in the public domain worldwide:

1. Official records (proceedings of conferences, verbatim and summary records, ...)
2. United Nations documents issued with a UN symbol
3. Public information material designed primarily to inform the public about United Nations activities (not including public information material that is offered for sale).

§ 5. Results of intellectual activities to which this Act does not apply

• 1) ideas, images, notions, theories, processes, systems, methods, concepts, principles, discoveries, inventions, and other results of intellectual activities which are described, explained or expressed in any other manner in a work;
• 2) works of folklore;
• 3) legislation and administrative documents (acts, decrees, regulations, statutes, instructions, directives) and official translations thereof;
• 4) court decisions and official translations thereof;
• 5) official symbols of the state and insignia of organisations (flags, coats of arms, orders, medals, badges, etc.) and banknotes;
• 6) news of the day;
• 7) facts and data;
• 8) ideas and principles which underlie any element of a computer program, including those which underlie its user interfaces."

Hence it is assumed that this image has been released into the public domain. However, in some instances the use of this image might be regulated by other laws.

Third-party translations are not covered by this licence.

According to section 52.1.q.iii of Indian copyright act ...

52.Certain acts not to infringement of:-

(1) The following acts shall not constitute an infringement of copyright, namely : ---

q) the reproduction or publication of ---

( iii ) the report of any committee, commission, council, board or other like body appointed by the Government if such report has been laid on the Table of the Legislature, unless the reproduction or publication of such report is prohibited by the Government

Latest copy of Indian copyright act in PDF format: http://copyright.gov.in/CprAct.pdf

Link: Copyright Office, Government of India

6. Official Publications

Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 4, there will be no copyright pertaining to laws, regulations, Knesset publications or judicial decisions of a court or of a governmental agency that has adjudicative powers under the law.

According to the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Protection Act, 1994, Section 15 part (8), "No copyright shall subsist in the official text of any work of a legislative, administrative or legal nature, or an official translation thereof; [or] a speech of a political nature or a speech delivered in the course of judicial proceedings."

As an edict of a government, it is also in the public domain in the United States.

According to the Copyright Ordinance of Pakistan, 1962, amended 1992 - Ordinance No. XXXIV of 1962, Chapter III, section 22. "Term of copyright in Government works and in works of international organizations" :

1. "Copyright in a Government work shall, where Government is the first owner of the copyright therein, subsist until fifty years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the work is first published."

In addition, a Russian or Soviet work that is in the public domain in Russia according to this rule is in the public domain in the U.S. only if it was in the public domain in Russia in 1996, e.g. if it was published before 1946 (1942 for WWII veterans) and the creator died before that year, and no copyright was registered in the U.S. (This is the combined effect of the retroactive Russian copyright law of 1993, Russia's joining the Berne Convention in 1995, and of 17 USC 104A with its critical date of January 1, 1996.)

1. Law, sub-law act or other kind of law act.
2. Official materials of state authorities or materials published by any other person or institution which do public function.
3. Official translations of materials of state authorities or translation of materials published by any other person or institution which do public function.
4. Any of acts in judgment processes."

Hence it is assumed that this work has been released into public domain. This federal law applies for both republics, Serbia and Montenegro, as long as they do not adopt own inherent laws.

According to the Copyright Act, 1978, § 12 (8) (a), "No copyright shall subsist in official texts of a legislative, administrative or legal nature, or in official translations of such texts, or in speeches of a political nature or in speeches delivered in the course of legal proceedings."

As an edict of a government, it is also in the public domain in the United States.

1. Constitution, laws, treaties, decrees, ordinances and rules;
2. Notices, public notifications, directions and others similar to them issued by the state or local government;
3. Judgments, decisions, orders, or rulings of courts, as well as rulings and decisions made by the administrative appeal procedures, or other similar procedures;
4. Compilations or translations of works as referred to in Subparagraphs 1 to 3 which are produced by the state or local government; and
5. Current news reports which transmit simple facts, and digital audio transmission

See exception in the article 13 of the Spanish Law of Intellectual Property.

1. a law or other regulation,
2. a decision by public authorities,
3. a report by Swedish public authorities
4. an official translations of one of the above.

1. maps,
2. works of drawings, painting or engraving,
3. musical works, or
4. poetry.

1. News of the day and facts having the character of mere information which is not a work in literary, scientific or artistic domain
2. Constitution and legislations
3. Regulations, by-laws, notifications, orders, explanations and official correspondence of the Ministries, Departments or any other government or local units
4. Judicial decisions, orders, decisions and official reports
5. Translation and collection of those in (1) to (4) made by the Ministries, Departments or any other government or local units

See Crown copyright artistic works, Crown copyright non-artistic works and List of Public Bodies with Crown Status.

The policy set out in this Guidance Note applies to the following texts:

• Acts of the United Kingdom Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly;
• Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland;
• Explanatory Notes to Acts of the United Kingdom Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly;
• Measures of the General Synod of the Church of England.
• Statutory Instruments including those made by the National Assembly for Wales.
  

In accordance with the guidelines, any Publisher's Imprints have been removed, and it is acknowledged that this is an unofficial copy of the text.

As an edict of a government, it is in the public domain in the U.S.