Global Warming Art:Copyrights
From Global Warming Art
One of the goals of Global Warming Art is provide an archive of easily reusable material related to climate change. This is done by emphasizing figures and images that can be freely licensed; however, because this site presents both original works and material from third party sources, care must be taken to respect the copyright licensing terms associated with the text and images presented here.
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Text
Except where otherwise indicated, all of the text appearing on this site is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL). Hence the text on this site may be freely incorporated into any other documents that obey the terms of the GFDL provided that this site is properly attributed as the source. Since the GFDL is the same license used by Wikipedia, text may be freely exchanged between this site and Wikipedia provided that the original source is noted. In particular, if text is copied from this site to Wikipedia (or any other GFDL wiki), it is requested that this site be noted as the origin in the edit summary. Similarly, text from other GFDL sources may be incorporated into the pages presented here, in which case this will be noted in the "page history" accessible from the "toolbox" menu at left.
For use outside the context of the GFDL, one may also quote or paraphrase the text that appears here in a way that is consistent with the United States doctrine of fair use or other locally appropriate statute.
Images
The figures and photographs presented in Global Warming Art are derived from a variety of sources. As such it is necessary to check the image description page of each image to determine the appropriate licensing terms. In most, but not all cases, those terms will allow the images to be used on other sites and projects provided proper attribution and other terms are met. Each image's description page can be reached by clicking on any small copy of the image as it appears on this site, and doing so should direct you to a page that contains a "copyright" or "licensing" section and describes the terms applicable to reusers. Common examples of different type of images are public domain, GFDL, and Creative Commons.
Please note that some images cannot be used commercially, without additional approval from the image's copyright holder.
Global Warming Art License
Original works created for this site will usually be licensed under the "Global Warming Art License" which is really just a bundle of two other licenses: the GFDL (mentioned above), and the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license. This means that an image may be incorporated into third party projects under the terms of either license (whichever best serves the needs of the reuser).
It is generally expected that when reusing artwork under the terms of either of these licenses that the user will
- Acknowledge Global Warming Art and/or the specific author of this image, as the source of the image.
- Provide a link or reference back to the specific image page:
- Allow any modifications made to the image to also be reused under the terms of one or both of the licenses noted above.
Please note that only the more restrictive GFDL is permitted by default for commercial projects; however, as described in the information for professional republishers, this site will often grant more liberal use rights for specific projects provided that we can be assured that our rights will be protected. Commercial publishers who are unable or unwilling to follow the free content restrictions imposed by the GFDL may be able to purchase a commercial license to use these images.
For examples of third party publishers who have used materials created for Global Warming Art see image use by others.
Data vs. Image distinction
In the context of graphs and charts, it should be noted that under United States copyright law, it is usually not possible to copyright scientific data. In the US, copyright only protects creative expressions and under established case law most scientific data is regarded as "facts which are discovered", and are consequently ineligible for copyright protection (see: Feist v. Rural). However, copyright will often extend to the particular way in which that data is represented. So, it is often the case that a specific plot or image representing that data will be subject to copyright even though the underlying information is not. This site relies upon the US exception for scientific data in constructing many of the figures presented here and reusers in other locations should consider whether or not the underlying scientific data might be subject to copyright in their jurisdiction and act accordingly.
Questions
Like many legal issues, copyright can be complicated. If you have questions or concerns about the licensing of a specific image appearing on this site, feel free to contact us at copyrights@globalwarmingart.com. Please provide specific details about your intended use.
