Commons:Deletion requests/File:Newton Falssa Damaged homes 1985-05-31.jpg
This deletion request should be read in the context of Commons:Deletion requests/File:Niles Park Plaza 1985 tornado.jpg
The two images are from the same source, published on the same website, and share the same rationale. However, that request has been open for a long time and is long, and convoluted, so I thought it would be clearer to open a separate request for this one.
This image has been uploaded from a National Weather Service web page, where it is attributed to a third party, the Ohio Department of Transportation.
For many years, hosting such images on the Commons was done in good faith under the rationale that:
- public submissions to the NWS all entered the public domain and/or
- all files hosted on NWS websites were in the public domain unless they carried a formal copyright notice
An extensive review of this rationale in 2024 revealed that neither of these beliefs held up to scrutiny. These findings were confirmed in an RfC conducted from August to October 2024.
Per COM:ONUS it is the responsibility of the person uploading an image to the Commons or anyone arguing for its retention here to provide evidence of permission from the copyright holder. Nevertheless, I emailed ODOT on September 7 about File:Niles Park Plaza 1985 tornado.jpg. I did get a reply that indicated a willingness to release the image, but when presented with the release template, they stopped responding. (VRT ticket:2024090610010381)
Since this is an image created in the US before 1989, its copyright status rests on knowing when and in what context it was first published. Currently, we do not have any evidence that it was published before it appeared on the NWS website. Therefore, this is a presumably unfree file and we must delete it as a precaution under COM:PRP.
 | Closing admins should familiarise themselves with the evidence and discussions at this RfC when closing this request. |
Rlandmann (talk) 12:11, 5 November 2024 (UTC)
Deleted: per nomination. --Infrogmation of New Orleans (talk) 19:20, 15 November 2024 (UTC)
