Clarifying and Documenting Licensing Requirements and Best Practices in Ubuntu

[Erich Eickmeyer]

On Wed, 2025-01-22 at 19:44 +0000, Simon Quigley wrote:
> Hi Erich,
> 
> On 1/21/25 07:27 PM, Erich Eickmeyer wrote:
> [snip]
> > Just throwing this in there additionally, with regards to images.
> > 
> > Some images do not meet the threshold of originality[1] that is
> > required in order to claim copyright on an image, such as those
> > that
> > only contain simple text and shapes. That is not to say they can't
> > receive trademark status, just that they cannot have a copyright
> > claimed on them.
> > 
> > In the past, it has been agreed to that the images that in these
> > cases,
> > they remain in the public domain and the DEP-5 stanzas would be
> > formatted as follows:
> > 
> >     Files: {path to file}
> >     Copyright: None
> >     License: Public-Domain
> >     
> >     License: Public-Domain
> >      This logo image consists only of simple geometric shapes or
> > text.
> >      It does not meet the threshold of originality needed for
> > copyright
> >      protection, and is therefore in the public domain.
> > 
> > This was agreed to in the review of the edubuntu-menu package with
> > regards to the Ask Ubuntu logo, which is cited as not having met
> > the
> > threshold of originality[2].
> > 
> > [1]
> > https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Threshold_of_originality
> > [2] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ask_Ubuntu_logo.svg
> 
> Thanks! This is a good one!
> 
> Would you be willing to provide exact text that I can put in the
> document, or give me permission to quote you (almost) exactly?
> 

Feel free to quote almost exactly or adjust to fit the document. Of
note, the Archive Admin that reviewed and agreed to this was Steve
Langasek, around two years ago.