Template talk:Collective work

Comparison to de minimis

What is the difference with the template {de minimis}? --Hannolans (talk) 13:59, 3 October 2018 (UTC)

The two are similar, but {{De minimis}} would be used for a photograph that is known to contain a small, low-resolution version of a non-free image, while this is used for a newspaper or magazine page that may contain non-free text or images. An unsigned article in an 1890 newspaper is most likely in the public domain, but there is a small risk it is not, and this template warns of that risk. Aymatth2 (talk) 14:17, 3 October 2018 (UTC)

So this template is used in an uncertain situation and after analysis the file for copyright, this template should be removed when no copyrighted material is found or replaced by de minimis if found? Alternatively, we could also work with parameters? --Hannolans (talk) 15:28, 3 October 2018 (UTC)

La Patrie (1899-02-19)

• De minimis does not apply to text. If a newspaper page contains the complete and legible text of a non-free article, that cannot be defended on the basis that it was short and in a small font.
• With the example of an 1890 newspaper, the status of an unattributed article is often uncertain. The author could have written it when he was 20, published it in an anthology of his work in 1935 and lived until 1950, aged 80. Because the newspaper is over 120 years old and we do not know who wrote the article we assume it is free, but we may be wrong.
• This template links to the article on Collective work, which describes concepts very different from de minimis.
• See the page image to the right, one of thousands like this in Commons. Most of the articles are unattributed and many of the pictures are unsigned. There is very real chance that some of the text or images are unfree, but we do not know which if any. Template {{Collective work}} gives a suitable warning.

Aymatth2 (talk) 16:09, 3 October 2018 (UTC)

Ah, I see, can I propose instead of 'page images': 'text pages'? Is the term 'collective work' not too broad as 'work' can mean design, video and so on? What about {collective page}? --Hannolans (talk) 22:06, 8 October 2018 (UTC)

"Commons:Collective work" is a term commonly used in copyright law to cover newspapers, magazines, anthologies and so on. I prefer to stick with it. The template is for use with page images when the collective work is public domain but we are not sure that all the text and images are free, because we do not know when all the authors died. We may never be sure. This is related to {{PD-old-assumed}} but would apply to newspapers etc. from 70 to 120 years old. {{PD-collective-work}} is for when we are confident it is all public domain. De minimis is for when we are sure there is a non-free image, but think it is so small it is trivial. Aymatth2 (talk) 23:40, 8 October 2018 (UTC)