Commons:Deletion requests/Files in Category:Hugo Erfurth

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Files in Category:Hugo Erfurth

The German photographer Hugo Erfurth died in 1948, so his photographs are now in the public domain in Germany. Unfortunately, all of his post-1923 works are still copyrighted in the US because of the URAA (Uruguay Round Agreements Act), which basically copyrighted foreign works in the US for a time span of 95 years after their publication.

Since Commons hosts only files which are free (public domain or freely licensed) in both their country of origin (here: Germany) and the US, all of Erfurth's works which are not clearly pre-1924 should be deleted.

• File:Clotilde von Derp-Sacharoff by Hugo Erfurth 1928.jpg
• File:Corinth,Lovis 1858-1925.JPG
• File:Der Maler Richard Müller mit Modell im Atelier. Foto von Hugo Erfurth.jpg
• File:Gerhart Hauptmann by Hugo Erfurth 1929.jpg
• File:Hardenberg kuno ferdinand graf von 1931.jpg
• File:Heinrich George by Hugo Erfurth 1930.jpg
• File:Johanna Ey, 1930, by Hugo Erfurth.jpg
• File:Käthe Kollwitz by Hugo Erfurth 1925.jpg
• File:Käthe Kollwitz by Hugo Erfurth 1928.jpg
• File:Lyonel Feininger by Hugo Erfurth, 1941.jpg
• File:Mary Wigman by Hugo Erfurth 1926.jpg
• File:Max Beckmann 1928, by Hugo Erfurth.jpg
• File:Max Beckmann by Hugo Erfurth 1928.jpg
• File:Otto Dix by Hugo Erfurth, c. 1929.jpg
• File:Otto Dix by Hugo Erfurth, c. 1933.jpg
• File:Otto Dix mit Pinsel by Hugo Erfurth 1929.jpg
• File:Painter Kete Holvits by Erfurt G.jpg
• File:Palucca jump by Hugo Erfurth c. 1926.jpg
• File:Paul Klee by Hugo Erfurth, 1927.jpg
• File:Porträtstudie (zwei liegende Frauen) by Hugo Erfurth 1931.jpg
• File:Renée Sintenis 1930, by Hugo Erfurth.jpg
• File:Selfportrait by Hugo Erfurth 1938.jpg

Rosenzweig τ 19:16, 5 January 2019 (UTC)

For a work to be eligible for protection under the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA), it needs to not be in the public domain in the source country. Since, as User:Rosenzweig points out, these works are in the public domain in Germany (the source country), the URAA does not apply, so these works are in the public domain in Germany and the U.S. and should not be deleted. Qono (talk) 16:49, 6 January 2019 (UTC)

That is not correct. The work needed to be still protected in the source country on the URAA date. For Germany, that date was January 1, 1996. All of the works of Hugo Erfurth were still protected in Germany on that date, therefore the copyrights of all his post-1922 works were restored in the US for a term of 95 years after publication. That term has now ended for the 1923 works, but all post-1923 works are still protected. -- Rosenzweig τ 17:45, 6 January 2019 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Qono (talk • contribs) 18:36, 6 January 2019 (UTC)

Given that the present tense is used in the referenced U.S. Copyright Office's circular 38b, it isn't immediately clear that URRA applies as of Jan 1, 1996, but this does seem to be the consensus of Wikimedia documentation.

However, German copyright law states that copyright for photographs expires after only 50 years. So, even assuming the January 1, 1996 effective date for the URAA, all works dated 1946 and earlier would have been in the public domain in Germany when the URAA went into effect. Therefore, these works are not eligible for URAA protection and should still not be deleted. Qono (talk) 18:36, 6 January 2019 (UTC)

Again, that is not correct. You're referring to a section in the German law about "Lichtbilder" (simple photographs) that does not apply to Erfurth's photographs - those are carefully posed "Lichtbildwerke" that are protected for 70 years after the death of their creator. --Rosenzweig τ 21:44, 6 January 2019 (UTC)

Thanks for the clarifications here, User talk:Rosenzweig. Again, it is not clear from the translation I was using that there was a distinction between creative photographs and "simple" photographs, but you are clearly more of an expert in German copyright law than I, so I concede. Qono (talk) 23:46, 6 January 2019 (UTC)

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Kept: see COM:DIU - the hypothetical copyright in US is only imaginary. In line with the WMF point of view, the vast majority of admins does not delete files for this reason. --Jcb (talk) 14:40, 12 January 2019 (UTC)