English: The Seal of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, the first seal ever adopted by a judicial court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, this symbol first appeared in 1680. The version seen here is based loosely on one modernized by the Suffolk County Sheriff's Office (rarely used compared to the City of Boston's own seal) however it remains virtually unchanged in its subject matter and inscription from its 1680 counterpart (#4) The seal reads Sigil[lum] Comitat[us] Suffolciæ, Nova Anglia or literally "The Seal of the County of Suffolk, New England"
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was a Commonwealth of Massachusetts public record disseminated by a Commonwealth agency or the Massachusetts Archives. Massachusetts' Secretary of the Commonwealth has stated that such works can be copied and used for any purpose. This copyright does not extend to those records created, received, or under the custody of municipalities by M. G. L. c. 66, § 7, unless otherwise stated, nor does this apply to copy-written materials for commercial purposes received by employees of the Commonwealth.
Language describing permissions
A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law,
Published by
William Francis Galvin,
Secretary of the Commonwealth
Division of Public Records,
(Updated January 2017)
can be found at https://www.mass.gov/files/2017-06/Public%20Records%20Law.pdf and page 7 says:
"With the exception of situations in which a records custodian is withholding records pursuant to Exemption (n), inquiries into a requester's status or motivation for seeking information are expressly prohibited. [1] Consequently, all requests for public records, even if made for a commercial purpose or to assist the requester in a lawsuit against the holder of the records, must be honored in accordance with the Public Records Law."
↑See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a) (public records are to be provided to “any person”); see also 950 CMR 32.05(5) (custodian prohibited from inquiring into a requester’s status or motivation); but see G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(n) (a records custodian may ask the requester to voluntarily provide additional information in order to reach a “reasonable judgment” regarding disclosure of responsive records).
Definition of "public record"
Public records are defined in A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law,
Published by
William Francis Galvin,
Secretary of the Commonwealth
Division of Public Records,
(Updated January 2017)
at https://www.mass.gov/files/2017-06/Public%20Records%20Law.pdf on page 40, under M. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26) as:
all books, papers, maps, photographs, recorded tapes, financial statements, statistical tabulations, or other documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any agency, executive office, department, board, commission, bureau, division or authority of the commonwealth, or of any political subdivision thereof, or of any authority established by the general court to serve a public purpose, or any person, corporation, association, partnership or other legal entity which receives or expends public funds for the payment or administration of pensions for any current or former employees of the commonwealth or any political subdivision as defined in section 1 of chapter 32, unless such materials or data fall within the following exemptions found on page 40
Limitations of template usage
Concerned wikipedia editors have noticed that the Commonwealth may make unfounded allegations that copyright protections exist for state regulations based on technical codes developed and copyrighted by private organizations. Where such works/allegations are concerned, {{PD-EdictGov}} and {{PD-US-Codes-and-Standards-as-Statutory-Law}} may be appropriate.
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"Those records created by Massachusetts government agencies and institutions held by the Massachusetts Archives are not copyrighted and are available for public use. Copyright for materials submitted to state agencies may be held by the person or organization that created the document."
Note: Works that are considered "public records" but were not created by a state or municipal government agency may be copyrighted by their author; the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution prevents state law from overriding the author's right to copyright protection that is granted by federal law. For example, a state agency may post images online of the final appearance of a building under construction; while the images may be "public records", their creator (eg. architecture/construction firm) retains copyright rights to the image unless the contract with the agency says otherwise. See: Government-in-the-Sunshine Manual: To what extent does federal law preempt state law regarding public inspection of records?. Disclaimer: The information provided, especially the list of agencies permitted to claim copyright, may not be complete. Wikimedia Commons makes no guarantee of the adequacy or validity of this information in this template (see disclaimer).
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
The copyright situation of this work is theoretically uncertain, because in the country of origin copyright lasts 70 years after the death of the author, and the date of the author's death is unknown. However, the date of creation of the work was over 120 years ago, and it is thus a reasonable assumption that the copyright has expired (see here for the community discussion). Do not use this template if the date of death of the author is known.
Sinun tulee myös lisätä Yhdysvaltain public domain -tägi ilmaistaksesi, miksi tämä teos on public domainissa Yhdysvalloissa.
Huomaa, että muutamissa maissa tekijänoikeuden kesto on pidempi kuin 70 vuotta: Meksikossa se on 100 vuotta, Jamaikalla 95 vuotta, Kolumbiassa 80 vuotta ja Guatemalassa ja Samoalla 75 vuotta. Tämä kuva ei välttämättä ole public domainissa näissä maissa, minkä lisäksi ne eivät käytä lyhyimmän keston sääntöä. Hondurasissa tekijänoikeuden yleinen kesto on 75 vuotta, mutta nämä tämä maa käyttävät lyhyimmän keston sääntöä. Tekijänoikeus saattaa pidentyä Ranskassa teosten kohdalla, joiden tekijä oli ranskalainen ja kuoli Ranskan puolesta toisessa maailmansodassa (lisätietoa), ja venäläisten tekijöiden kohdalla, mikäli tekijä palveli itärintamalla toisessa maailmansodassa tai kuoleman jälkeen neuvostosorron uhriksi joutuneiden, sittemmin rehabilitoitujen tekijöiden kohdalla (lisätietoa)
Valokuvien tekijänoikeudet ovat vanhentuneet ennen 1. kesäkuuta 1957 otetuista tai ennen vuotta 1974 julkaistuista valokuvista.
Piirrosten, maalausten ja kaiverrusten tekijänoikeus raukeaa 50 vuotta julkaisuvuoden jälkeen ja muiden teosten heti, kun luontivuodesta on kulunut 50 vuotta.
HMSO on julistanut että tekijänoikeuksien vanheneminen on maailmanlaajuista (lähde). Katso myös tämä sivu, tämä sivu ja tämä sivu lisätietoja varten kruunun tekijänoikeudesta (Crown Copyright).
{{Information |Description ={{en|1=The Seal of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, the first seal ever adopted by a judicial court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, this symbol first appeared in 1680. The version seen here is based loosely on one...
Tämä tiedosto sisältää esimerkiksi kuvanlukijan, digikameran tai kuvankäsittelyohjelman lisäämiä lisätietoja. Kaikki tiedot eivät enää välttämättä vastaa todellisuutta, jos kuvaa on muokattu sen alkuperäisen luonnin jälkeen.