Commons:Public Domain Day
Public Domain Day celebrates the entry of works into the public domain due to the expiration of copyright. From this day forward anyone may share these works in Wikimedia Commons.
Wikimedia Commons requires that its content be free and open to share in the country of original publication of a work and in the United States where the Wikimedia data servers are.
How to celebrate
[edit]Host a Wikimedia party!
[edit]15 January 2001 is the founding date of both Wikipedia and Creative Commons. Although Wikimedia Commons' founding day is 7 September 2004, with Wikipedia, Creative Commons, and Public Domain Day all being in January, that month is still a good day to have a Commons' celebration.
Go to a coffeehouse, library, or community center and make wiki edits with other free culture enthusiasts. Play 95-year old music or watch a 95-year old movie. Scheme about the new ways to remix or share old works, including Steamboat Willie, the notable film behind the Mickey Mouse Protection Act which extended copyright terms in the United States for twenty years.
Undelete previously uploaded works
[edit]To help comply with copyright laws around the world some files that get uploaded are deleted, either indefinitely or with event plans to be undeleted following their copyright's expiration. On January 1 of every year these User uploaded files are now eligible for restoration! Wikimedia Commons administrators undertake the task to undelete these files. Please remember to thank the administrators and the original uploaders for their efforts!
Upload files which are now public domain
[edit]Media published in 1929 can now be hosted in Commons. Please contribute media from 1929! In the case of works that follow Life+ rules please ensure that it is also public domain in the United States, where Wikimedia Commons servers are hosted.
Contribute clean-up efforts
[edit]Since most templates are not automatic, many files that were uploaded under harder-to-prove rules, like Template:PD-US-no notice and Template:PD-US not renewed, on January 1, will be better tagged with Template:PD-US-expired (or better yet Template:PD-old-auto-expired, which includes permissions for non-US work, as well.)
There are also many pages using the old Template:PD-1923, consider updating this to Template:PD-US-expired or Template:PD-old-auto-expired as well. While both do the same thing functionally, the more recent template helps to emphasize the growing public domain.
Update information on related Wikimedia projects
[edit]Get ready for future years!
[edit]Prepare the undeletion lists of future years at
Peruse next year's undeletion list
An overview of restored and newly uploaded files will be available at Commons:Public Domain Day/2025.
Instructions for undeleting and uploading files
[edit]Starting at 1 January, many files from authors who's copyright has been expired are restored on Commons, as well as new files are uploaded which are now free of copyrights.
- Undeleting files
- Add in the undeletion summary that a file is restored because of Public Domain Day, and/or is now in the public domain.
- Uploading new files to Commons
- Please add this category: Category:Media uploaded for Public Domain Day 2025.
- Moving files from another wiki
- For Commons they are newly uploaded files, please add them to this category: Category:Media uploaded for Public Domain Day 2025.
Romaine will go through the undeletion log every day (until about 10 January) and add all files marked as PDD/public domain will be listed on the gallery page Commons:Public Domain Day/2025. Also files listed in Category:Media uploaded for Public Domain Day 2025 will be listed on the gallery page. Please do not add files to the gallery page yourself, as then they will be added twice, except for files uploaded/restored after 10 January.
Past celebrations
[edit]Notable Public Domain Days
[edit]While arbitrary in the context of the law, the year 1923 was heavily significant for Commons contributors as it was the cut-off for public domain until 2019.
2019
[edit]On January 1, 2019, all published works from 1923 entered the United States public domain after a twenty-year pause.
2024
[edit]
The year that Steamboat Willie, and by extension Mickey Mouse, passed into the public domain.
External links
[edit]- Public Domain Day at Duke University School of Law
- PublicDomainManifesto.org
- The Public Domain Review
- Everybody's Libraries