Commons:WikiProject Public Domain/PD-US review

{{PD US}} is a widely used and abused PD template. It is generally used

1. when the requirement the tag states (The creator and year of publication are essential information and must be provided.) is violated, and "this is PD in the US" is simply asserted
2. as a synonym for {{PD-1923}} (the only specific PD rationale the template mentions)
3. when the details for a more specific US PD tag (see Commons:Hirtle chart) are available, but it's easier to use the generic tag, even though it's less clear for reusers, and less easy to check the PD rationale validity

In very many cases, {{PD-US}} can be replaced with simply

1. {{PD-old-auto-1923|deathyear=XXXX}} (for works published before 1923, automatically also providing PD status info for other countries)
2. or some form of USGov license tag

Guidance affected

• {{PD-US}}
• MediaWiki:Licenses (for Special:Upload)
• Special:UploadWizard

Templates affected

• {{PD-US}}

Tools

• Help:VisualFileChange.js - a very powerful tool, to be used with caution (access via "perform batch task" in the lefthand Toolbox). Can do text replacements ("custom replace" option) to execute the review process on many similar files at once.

Target for completion

?

Progress

• 29 December: 325,886 files in Category:PD US.
• Current: 4,234,739 in Category:PD US.