Commons:Requests for comment/Third-party images published by the National Weather Service

Summary

This RfC is to gather opinions on three questions that frequently arise around the copyright and licensing status of images sourced from the National Weather Service (NWS):

Q.1 whether the general disclaimer on weather.gov can be relied on as evidence of permission that images created by members of the general public and other third parties that were published by the NWS were released into the public domain.
Q.2 whether fourth-party attributions (for example, by media companies republishing an image from weather.gov) can be relied on as evidence of permission, either solely or in combination with the above.
Q.3 whether a specific footer found on some weather.gov pages (example) can be understood as a free license.

The objective is to:

provide clarification on what kinds of images from weather.gov and its predecessor sites are permissible on the Commons
provide a centralised discussion that can be referenced in current and future Deletion Requests
if consensus is that the general disclaimer cannot be relied on in this way
- add a section to COM:PRS based on this discussion
- inform a redesign of the {{PD-NWS}} template based on this discussion

Background

The National Weather Service (NWS) is a US federal government agency within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). As such, materials produced by the NWS are ineligible for copyright, and its websites are a valuable source for weather-related imagery in the public domain, including weather maps and charts, infographics, and photos of the aftermath of severe weather events.

The NWS has over 120 regional offices which publish content under the weather.gov domain. Prior to around 10-15 years ago, these offices published their content under noaa.gov. This is relevant because not all images were migrated across to new pages on weather.gov, and many that we have here on the Commons are now only known from their previous locations as archived on archive.org. This RfC should be understood also to apply to images sourced from the NWS on any of those pages that linked to the weather.gov general disclaimer

The US National Weather Service publishes a large amount of third-party content. This content comes from media outlets, stock imagery licensors, and submissions by the general public.

Since 2009, contibutors to the Commons have uploaded third-party images sourced from weather.gov and other NWS websites under the rationale that:

R.1 the general disclaimer says "The information on National Weather Service Web servers and Web sites is in the public domain, unless specifically annotated otherwise, and may be used freely by the public." (The precise wording has changed slightly over time, but has remained essentially the same since at least 2009).
R.2 a disclaimer for public submissions of photos was found on a page by the Sioux City regional office that stated "By submitting images, you understand that your image is being released into the public domain. This means that your photo or video may be downloaded, copied, and used by others."

These rationales became enshrined in the language of the {{PD-NWS}} template in 2009.[1]

Historically, Commons contributors relying on these rationales understood the disclaimer at R.2 to apply to all images submitted by members of the public to the NWS. This was held to be true in multiple DR discussions notwithstanding the passive nature of the disclaimer and the great unlikelihood that a member of the public sharing an image with the NWS via email or social media could be reasonably expected to be aware of the existence of this page.

Research in 2024 has uncovered that at different times and simultaneously, various regional NWS offices of the National Weather Service have held contests or other public outreach exercises soliciting images from the public under a very wide range of terms and conditions. A few of these explicitly made release into the public domain a condition of submission, most did not, and at least one was ambiguous. Sets of terms and conditions discovered so far are set out below.

A3. NWS public submission processes found and documented so far

A3. NWS public submission processes found and documented so far:

Office or project	Submission Ts & Cs	Scope	Earlist and latest known dates	Free license?	Notes
NWS Albuquerque, NM	"Because this is a government web site, images submitted to us become part of the public domain. How to Submit Your Photo: Email your photo to the webmaster. Make sure you include the location, date, time, and who to give credit to in the body of the email. In addition, please provide written permission to use your photo."	Albuquerque Photo Archive	2008–2008 (only known successful crawl, all others are 302 errors)	Ambiguous	Terms and conditions are contradictory; they ask submitter to "provide written permission to use [their] photo", but state that submissions "become part of the public domain". The resulting copyright and license status would depend on what the submitter actually wrote in their written permission, which we have no access to.
NWS Chicago, IL	"Share your fall foliage, harvest, pumpkin, or fall weather pictures with us! Please post them to our Facebook and/or Twitter page with your permission for us to use them. Thank you!"	Unclear	2017 - present	No	Submission only gives "us" (NWS Chicago? NWS generally?) permission to use the photos.
NWS Cleveland, OH	"You must provide us with permission to re-post and use your photo. You will received credit on anything we post!" (sic)	Unclear	2021 - present	No	Submission only gives "us" (NWS Cleveland? NWS generally?) permission to use the photos.
	"If you have information you would like to share with us, please e-mail us at the NWS Cleveland or send us the information via the poastal service at: (...) We are looking for: Pictures (digital or prints) Stories Impact and Statistics Note that we will not be able to return any of the information. We will give credit to all information posted unless otherwise requested. We do not guarantee all the information received will be posted." (sic)	Tornado Outbreak May 31, 1985 - Pictures	2017 - present	No	Process makes no mention of public domain. Submitted images published with attribution "Courtesy..."
NWS Des Moines, IA	"If you do send photos, please let us know if you grant permission for us to use them in future spotter talks and outreach presentations." ("What and how to report" tab)	"future spotter talks and outreach presentations"	2015 - present	No	Submission only gives "us" (NWS Des Moines? NWS generally?) permission to use the photos in a specific context
NWS Grand Forks, ND	"If you do send photos, please let us know if you grant permission for us to use them in future spotter talks and outreach presentations." ("What and how to report" tab)	"future spotter talks and outreach presentations"	2023 - present	No	Submission only gives "us" (NWS Grand Forks? NWS generally?) permission to use the photos in a specific context
NWS Grand Junction, CO	"If you have a weather related photograph that you would like to submit for the Image Gallery page, please E-mail the webmaster."	Image Gallery	2007 - 2012	No	Gives permission to publish on the image galley page.
NWS Grand Rapids, MI	(missing)	May 2020 Heavy Rain and River Flooding	2020 - unclear (page is still live, but notice is in the past tense and it's unclear whether NWS Grand Rapids is still accepting photos for this page).	Probably no	"Thank you to everyone who gave us permission to use their photos!" -- the original context is missing, but the acknowledgment here implies that this was a permission to use, not a release into the PD.
	(missing)	June 1st, 2019 Severe Weather	2019 - unclear (page is still live, but notice is in the past tense and it's unclear whether NWS Grand Rapids is still accepting photos for this page).	Probably no	as above
NWS Green Bay, WI	"In order for us to use your photo for the Photo Contest and other NWS Green Bay weather graphics, WE NEED WRITTEN PERMISSION from you. Please include a statement with your submission like, “NWS Green Bay may use my photo” or “Permission granted to use photo.” Photos submitted without such a statement will NOT be entered into the contest."	NWS Green Bay 2018 Holiday Photo Contest and "other NWS Green Bay weather graphics"	November-December 2018	No	Submission only gives NWS Green Bay permission to re-share the contribution, not anybody else (maybe not even any other NWS offices).
NWS La Crosse, WI	"Do you have some pictures from the surrounding area that you would like to contribute to our photos page? Email us your digital photos, along with the location and date they were taken (include your name if you'd like it included). We will review them, and if they pass the "test", they will be included. Please note that this is a government site and in the public domain, so no copyright privileges will exist."	Photos page	2015 - unclear (page is still live, but photos on it were all unpublished by 2021 and it's unclear whether NWS La Crosse is still accepting photos for this page).	Yes	Images emailed for inclusion on the photos page are unambiguously released into the public domain, but for third-party images that appear elsewhere on NWS La Crosse's site (let alone other NWS sites), we can't know whether they were submitted this way or under these terms.
NWS Lincoln, IL	"If you can help up, please paste your photos to our Facebook or Twitter feeds. Make sure they are pictures YOU have taken, and state that you are willing to let us use them."	NWS Lincoln Daily Weather Story	Northern Spring, 2024	No	Submission only gives the NWS permission to re-share the contribution, not anybody else.
NWS Louisville, KY	"By submitting images, you understand that your image is being released into the public domain. This means that your photo or video may be downloaded, copied, and used by others." also available here	Unclear	2009 - 2021 (note URL change, and there are subsequent captures of error pages).	Yes	In place from at least 2009–2022 at one of two URLs. However, we have no way of knowing whether any specific image published on weather.gov/lmk (let alone to other parts of weather.gov) was submitted under these terms, or whether submitters were necessarily even aware of them. The language of the terms and conditions is strange too, describing the public domain at one point, but permission for the NWS and NOAA to use the images for specific purposes ("storm reports, training presentations, printed materials, and web sites") elsewhere
	"We are eager to receive interesting photos of any weather phenomena, sunsets & sunrises, and scenic views from the area. Older pictures from historical weather events are particularly welcome. Feel free to use these pictures but we do request that you give credit to the original author or organization. Note: Because this is a government web site, images submitted to us become part of the public domain. Images should be amateur photography as copyright privileges do not exist."	NWS Louisville Photo Album	2005 - 2014 (last successful crawl)	Yes	Disclaimer specific to the "NWS Louisville Photo Album" page. There are sorted subpages beneath this, with photos we can reasonably assume were submitted under these terms and conditions. Unfortunately, it seems that few of these photos ever made it onto archive.org and they are no longer published.
NWS Memphis, TN	"By sharing information with us via social media you are giving the NWS permission to share it with the public by re-tweeting or re-sharing the information."	Unclear, but the context makes it appear to be the NWS Memphis Twitter and Facebook accounts	2016 - present	No	Submission only gives the NWS permission to re-share the contribution, not anybody else.
NWS Milwaukee, WI	"Do you have some beautiful and unique pictures of weather that occurred in the National Weather Service's Milwaukee/Sullivan Forecast Area? Would you like to have them included on our Photo Gallery page? Please email your digital photos to the webmaster at: w-mkx.webmaster@noaa.gov They will be reviewed, and if they pass the "test", we will include them on the page! We also ask you to include the Month/Day/Year/County/Nearest City of the weather event captured on film. If you'd like your name included, please provide that as well. Thanks for participating!"	NWS Milaukee Photo Gallery	2006 - 2007	No	Submission only gives the NWS permission to re-share the contribution, not anybody else.
NWS Omaha, NE	"Submitted images will be made available to use by anyone in the NWS and will be in the Public Domain." but also "Yes/No – is photo credit required with each use?"	Unclear, URL refers to a photo contest	Unclear. Earliest capture is 2023, but internal evidence points to 2019. Page is still live, but it's unclear up to when NWS Omaha was accepting photos this way.	Ambiguous	The requirement to provide a photo credit is incompatible with releasing something into the public domain. If somebody submitted a photo and specified this requirement, it is unclear what the resulting copyright and licence status would be.
NWS Peachtree City, GA	"If you have any weather related pictures you would like to share with us, we would be glad to put them on this Web Page and possibly use them in our Spotter Training with the proper credits."	"Our" Photo Gallery	Unclear, earliest capture is 2017, but photos on the page date between 1998 and 2008. The page is still live, but it's uncertain whether NWS Peachtree City is still accepting submissions this way.	Ambiguous	Submission terms grants NWS permission to publish images on web and in training material. Implicitly includes a promise of attribution, incompatible with public domain. However, the same page also grants third parties permission to re-use the photos, and only requests attribution. Given this, it's impossible to be certain what, exactly, submitters agreed to.
NWS Sioux Falls, SD	"By submitting images, you understand that your image is being released into the public domain. This means that your photo or video may be downloaded, copied, and used by others."	Unclear	2022 - 2024	Yes	This condition of submission to this office was in place since at least 2022. However, we have no way of knowing whether any specific image published on weather.gov/fsd (let alone to other parts of weather.gov) was submitted under these terms, or whether submitters were necessarily even aware of them. NWS Sioux Falls removed this language by August 8, 2024
	"Any submitted images may be used by the NWS or its parent organization, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, in storm reports, training presentations, printed materials, and web sites."	Unclear	current from August 2024	No	Only grants NWS and NOAA right to use photos and only for specific purposes
Lightning Photos	"The submitted images can be used by NOAA/NWS or anyone else for lightning safety and related uses."	Lightning Photos page and elsewhere	2019 - present	No	Not a free licence since it does not allow images to be used for any purpose other than lightning safety or related uses.
Rip Current Photos	"The submitted images can be used by NOAA/NWS or anyone else for lightning safety and related uses."	Rip Current Photos page and elsewhere	2020 - present	No	Not a free licence since it does not allow images to be used for any purpose other than lightning safety or related uses. Apparently just copied from the Lightning Photos page without adjusting the terms and conditions to apply to rip currents.
Sneaker Wave and High Surf Photos	"The submitted images can be used by NOAA/NWS or anyone else for lightning safety and related uses."	Sneaker Wave and High Surf Photos page and elsewhere	2020 - present	No	Not a free licence since it does not allow images to be used for any purpose other than lightning safety or related uses. Apparently just copied from the Lightning Photos page without adjusting the terms and conditions to apply to dangerous waves.
Weather Spotter's Field Guide	"If you are willing to allow the NWS to use your photo or video in our education and outreach efforts, please state that NWS has permission to reprint when you submit the file to us. If you would like us to credit you on the image, we will gladly do that."	NWS education and outreach efforts	2023 - present	No	Not a free licence since it does not allow images to be used by anyone other than the NWS or for any purpose other than education and outreach.

An email from the present author (User:Rlandmann) to the NWS Sioux City office seeking clarification of whether these conditions should be understood to apply to all image submissions by the public to the NWS not only resulted in the NWS legal team stating that the disclaimer should not be understood this way, but resulted in the NWS Sioux City office removing any reference to the public domain from their disclaimer.

A5. Excerpt from email from NWS Sioux Falls to User:Rlandmann

"... Our apologies for the delay in a response, but we wanted to run your question through our legal team before replying. No, not all images credited to members of the general public are in the public domain on weather.gov. In some cases, the credited image creator has only given permission for the National Weather Service to use the image on NOAA websites.
The disclaimer page that you cited in your email was created specifically for a prior photo submission contest and since has been used occasionally when requesting images from the public taken during specific storm events. It is the opinion of the legal team that they "do not believe a disclaimer, alone, can be used to transfer a copyright holder's ownership interest to NOAA or to abandon the copyright interest to the public domain". Since then, we have removed the questionable language on the disclaimer page...."

Reliance on this rationale (R.2) therefore depends being able to establish with reasonable certainty that a particular image was submitted under a particular set of terms and conditions. Examples where we can establish such a connection are extremely rare, but do exist, such as at the photo page previously published by the La Crosse, WI regional office.

The question remains about how to interpret the words of the general disclaimer quoted at R.1.

Q.1. Is the NWS general disclaimer evidence of permission?

The passages in the NWS general disclaimer that relate to third-party content are:

A1. Pertinent sections of the general disclaimer on the weather.gov website:

"The information on National Weather Service (NWS) Web pages are in the public domain, unless specifically noted otherwise..."

and

"Use of Third-Party Data and Products
Third-party information and imagery are used under license by the individual third-party provider. This third-party information may contain trade names, trademarks, service marks, logos, domain names, and other distinctive brand features to identify the source of the information. [...] Please contact the third-party provider for information on your rights to further use these data/products."

Historically, contributors relying on R.1 as a rationale for an image being in the public domain have considered the first of these two statements in isolation from the second. A belief has emerged that the words "unless specifically noted otherwise" means that the NWS is making an assertion that all images on their websites that do not have an explicit copyright notice either:

embedded in them or
published in their caption

are in the public domain. I'll refer to this as "the historical interpretation" and fortunately, it is very easily testable.

Even assuming that "information" in the context of that passage is even intended to apply to images, there are several problems with this position.

P.1.1. The historical interpretation of "unless specifically noted otherwise" is inconsistent with the second passage that states that "Third-party information and imagery are used under license by the individual third-party provider."

If third-party images are being used by the NWS under licence, then those images are not in the public domain. If they were, then the third parties would not need to license them to the NWS, and indeed could not license them to the NWS.

Read together, the most reasonable interpretation of the disclaimer is that the NWS "specifically notes" images that do not belong to them and which therefore cannot be presumed to be in the public domain.

P.1.2. Direct communications with the NWS to date confirm that the historical interpretation is not how the NWS intends the disclaimer to be read:

A4. Excerpt from email from NWS La Crosse to User:Hurricanehink

"... Our belief is that someone can still allow us to use an image on our website, but can still hold their intellectual property rights. You may need to go directly to the individual(s) that contributed imagery for additional permissions...."

and

A5. Excerpt from email from NWS Sioux Falls to User:Rlandmann

"... Our apologies for the delay in a response, but we wanted to run your question through our legal team before replying. No, not all images credited to members of the general public are in the public domain on weather.gov. In some cases, the credited image creator has only given permission for the National Weather Service to use the image on NOAA websites.
The disclaimer page that you cited in your email was created specifically for a prior photo submission contest and since has been used occasionally when requesting images from the public taken during specific storm events. It is the opinion of the legal team that they "do not believe a disclaimer, alone, can be used to transfer a copyright holder's ownership interest to NOAA or to abandon the copyright interest to the public domain". Since then, we have removed the questionable language on the disclaimer page...."

P.1.3. The historical interpretation is inconsistent with what we can observe the NWS actually doing in practise on their websites.

P.1.3.1. An easy test of the historical interpretation is to examine photos on NWS websites where we have access to a direct statement of copyright ownership by the copyright owner themselves. We most commonly find this with images sourced to media outlets known to strictly and aggressively protect their IP, including Getty Images and the AP.

There is not a single known instance where the NWS has published such an image with an explicit copyright notice in its caption. Instead, they are generally captioned "Courtesy of..." or "Photo by..." exactly the same way that the NWS captions almost all third-party images.

I've collected some examples here, including a Getty Image published by the NWS with no caption at all:

A7. Examples of how third-party images known from external sources are credited on weather.gov

A7. Examples of how third-party images known from external sources are credited on weather.gov

Example	Page on weather.gov	Image on weather.gov	External source	Creator	Copyright and license	Attribution by NWS	Comments
A7-1-1	https://www.weather.gov/safety/flood-states-ia (expand "The 2008 Flood" section)	Image of semi-submerged traffic lights	Getty Images	Scott Olson, distributed by Getty Images	Under copyright. "The Site is owned by Getty Images. Unless otherwise indicated, all of the content featured or displayed on the Site, including, but not limited to, text, graphics, data, photographic images, moving images, sound, illustrations, software, and the selection and arrangement thereof ("Getty Images Content"), is owned by Getty Images, its licensors, or its third-party image partners. All elements of the Site, including the Getty Images Content, are protected by copyright, trade dress, moral rights, trademark and other laws relating to the protection of intellectual property."[2]	Photo is included twice: At top of page with no attribution at all in "The 2008 Flood" section: "Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images"	I asked NWS.webfeedback if it was OK to re-use this Getty image, including commercial use and with modifications. Unsurprisingly, they said no.
A7-1-2		Image of flood-damaged bridge	"Downtown Waterloo railroad bridge collapses", The Waterloo Courier June 11, 2008 (paywalled). Scan of print edition available here. Image syndicated to other media outlets, including sfgate.com and boston.com.	Morgan Hawthorne, staff photographer for The Waterloo Courier, distributed by the Associated Press	Under copyright. Image no longer appears to be distributed by AP. The Waterloo Courier's copyright policy states: "This Site and the content on the Site that we provide (“Our Content”) is owned by us and third party providers and is protected by U.S. and international copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. This Site and Our Content may not be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, sold, leased, licensed, sublicensed, transmitted, or distributed without our written permission, except that you may download, display, and print one copy of Our Content on a single computer for your personal, non-commercial use only."[3] User:Rlandmann has made contact with The Waterloo Courier's licensing agent, who confirms that the image is not freely available, but is available to license.	"Photo by The Waterloo Courier"	The NWS has used this image in at least two other places: original context lost, credited in the image itself "AP Photo/The Waterloo Courier, Morgan Hawthorne" Central Iowa Floods of 2008, cover photo, credited on page 3: "AP Photo/The Waterloo Courier, Morgan Hawthorne"
A7-2-1	https://www.weather.gov/gsp/gspPrepare_6	Image of devastated urban area	Getty Images	Joe Raedle, distributed by Getty Images	Under copyright. "The Site is owned by Getty Images. Unless otherwise indicated, all of the content featured or displayed on the Site, including, but not limited to, text, graphics, data, photographic images, moving images, sound, illustrations, software, and the selection and arrangement thereof ("Getty Images Content"), is owned by Getty Images, its licensors, or its third-party image partners. All elements of the Site, including the Getty Images Content, are protected by copyright, trade dress, moral rights, trademark and other laws relating to the protection of intellectual property."[4]	"Photo courtesy of Joe Raedle, Getty Images"
A7-3-1	https://www.weather.gov/tsa/hydro_tadd	Image of washed-away road	Associated Press	Dave Martin, distributed by Associated Press	Under copyright. "Copyright 2009 AP. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed"	"AP Photo Dave Martin"
A7-4-1	https://www.weather.gov/lmk/snow_plow_game	Image of a football	"A foothold on history: 25 years later, Mark Henderson still remembered for role in Pats’ ’Snowplow Game’", Boston Herald November 17, 2018 (paywalled)	John Wilcox	Under copyright. "Intellectual Property Rights All information, data, and content displayed on, transmitted through or used in connection with MediaNews Group sites, including, but not limited to, news articles, reviews, directories, guides, text, photographs, images, illustrations, audio clips, video, html, source and object code, trademarks, logos and the like, as well as its selection and arrangement (together, the “Content”), is owned by MediaNews Group and its affiliated companies or the third party credited as the owner of the Content. All Content is provided for informational purposes only and you are solely responsible for verifying the accuracy, completeness, and applicability of all Content and for your use of any Content. You may use the Content online only, and solely for your personal, non-commercial use. If you operate a web site and wish to link to any of the sites owned and operated by MediaNews Group, you may do so provided you agree to cease such link upon request from MediaNews Group and that you do not state or imply any sponsorship of your site by MediaNews Group (for example, by using our stylized trademark or logo). No other use is permitted without prior written permission of MediaNews Group. The permitted use described in this paragraph is contingent on your compliance at all times with the Terms of Use. You may not, for example, republish any portion of the Content on any internet, intranet or extranet site or incorporate the Content in any database, compilation, archive or cache. You may not distribute any Content to others, whether or not for payment or other consideration, and you may not modify, copy, frame, cache, reproduce, sell, publish, transmit, display or otherwise use any portion of the Content."[5]	"Photo credit: Boston Herald/John Wilcox"
A7-5-1	https://www.weather.gov/lsx/PresidentsDay2021SnowEvent	Image of traffic on Interstate in snow	"Snow, bone-jarring cold descend on St. Louis as emergency workers struggle to respond", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 15, 2021 (paywalled)	Colter Peterson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch	Under copyright. "Our Intellectual Property This Site and the content on the Site is owned by us and third party providers and is protected by U.S. and international copyright, trademark and other intellectual property laws. This Site and the content may not be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed without our written permission, except that you may download, display, and print one copy of the materials presented on this Site on a single computer for your personal, non-commercial use only."[6]	"Photo courtesy of Colter Peterson and the St. Louis Post Dispatch"
A7-6-1	https://www.weather.gov/iwx/decade_weather_2010_2019	Image of semi-submerged police car	"Record rainfall in Michiana leaves floods, damaged homes and a long cleanup", South Bend Tribune, August 17, 2016	Santiago Flores, South Bend Tribune	Under copyright. "Rights and Restrictions Relating to Site Content Your Limited Right to Use Site Materials. This Site and all the materials available on the Site are the property of us and/or our affiliates or licensors, and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. The Site is provided solely for your personal noncommercial use. You may not use the Site or the materials available on the Site in a manner that constitutes an infringement of our rights or that has not been authorized by us. More specifically, unless explicitly authorized in these Terms of Service or by the owner of the materials, you may not modify, copy, reproduce, republish, upload, post, transmit, translate, sell, create derivative works, exploit, or distribute in any manner or medium (including by email or other electronic means) any material from the Site. You may, however, from time to time, download and/or print one copy of individual pages of the Site for your personal, non-commercial use, provided that you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices."[7]	"Photo Courtesy of South Bend Tribune"
A7-7-1	https://www.weather.gov/bmx/event_04072014	Image of flooded road	"Rainfall totals top 7 inches in metro Birmingham; central Alabama gets brunt of heavy rain", AL.com, April 7, 2014 (image 8/14 in carousel, click for details)	Tamika Moore, AL.com	Under copyright. "© 2024 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local."	"Courtesy of al.com"
A7-8-1	https://www.weather.gov/rlx/2023-July-28-Severe-Weather-Event	Image of damage to regional medical center sign (image ratio distorted in page; open in own tab/window to see correct proportions)	"Storms down trees, damage buildings", WSAZ3, July 29, 2023	anonymous, "WSAZ with permission" "Viewers sent us photos of the damage, which also included damage to a sign at Logan Regional Medical Center."	Under copyright. "3. Intellectual Property Rights: All text, images, photographs, graphics, logos, trade, product or program names, titles, packaging, user interfaces, audio and/or video content and any other content provided on or through the Services by GLM, Stations, third-party licensors (including UGC), vendors and suppliers that provide internal support to our Services (collectively “Operational Service Providers”), and advertisers, sponsors or promotional partners (collectively, “Advertisers”), including the selection, coordination, and arrangement of any such content (collectively, “GLM Content”), are owned by or licensed to GLM, Stations, Advertisers, Operational Service Providers and/or our third-party licensors. GLM Content is protected under U.S. and/or international copyright, trademark, patent, or other relevant intellectual property laws. Nothing stated or implied on the Services confers on you any additional license or right under any copyright, trademark, patent or other intellectual property right of GLM or any third party unless explicitly provided in this TOU. Unless such use is expressly prohibited by GLM, you may view, reproduce, transmit, link, cache GLM Content for your own personal and non-commercial use, including posting on your personal Facebook page or other personal social networking platforms, provided you do not delete, change or obscure any of the GLM Content (including any copyright, trademark or proprietary notices), and do not misrepresent that GLM Content is your own. You may not (and you may not permit or encourage anyone else to) make derivative works, publicly perform, reproduce, distribute, transmit or link to GLM Content in or on any other third party website, digital service or via any vehicle in any manner that is likely or intended to cause confusion about the owner or origin of GLM Content, or is misleading, disparaging, harmful, or a detriment to GLM in our sole discretion. Except where permitted by law or expressly authorized by GLM, GLM Content may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, linked, cached or otherwise used for any commercial purposes unless you have the prior written permission of GLM. You may only use our Services and our GLM Content as expressly permitted in this TOU and for no other purpose."[8] (emphasis User:Rlandmann)	"Photo Credit: WSAZ-TV"
A7-9-1	https://www.weather.gov/jkl/20200412_nontstormwind	Collage of storm damage images	"Damage reported in Pikeville following storms Sunday night", WYMT, April 13, 2020	WYMT	Under copyright. "3. Intellectual Property Rights: All text, images, photographs, graphics, logos, trade, product or program names, titles, packaging, user interfaces, audio and/or video content and any other content provided on or through the Services by GLM, Stations, third-party licensors (including UGC), vendors and suppliers that provide internal support to our Services (collectively “Operational Service Providers”), and advertisers, sponsors or promotional partners (collectively, “Advertisers”), including the selection, coordination, and arrangement of any such content (collectively, “GLM Content”), are owned by or licensed to GLM, Stations, Advertisers, Operational Service Providers and/or our third-party licensors. GLM Content is protected under U.S. and/or international copyright, trademark, patent, or other relevant intellectual property laws. Nothing stated or implied on the Services confers on you any additional license or right under any copyright, trademark, patent or other intellectual property right of GLM or any third party unless explicitly provided in this TOU. Unless such use is expressly prohibited by GLM, you may view, reproduce, transmit, link, cache GLM Content for your own personal and non-commercial use, including posting on your personal Facebook page or other personal social networking platforms, provided you do not delete, change or obscure any of the GLM Content (including any copyright, trademark or proprietary notices), and do not misrepresent that GLM Content is your own. You may not (and you may not permit or encourage anyone else to) make derivative works, publicly perform, reproduce, distribute, transmit or link to GLM Content in or on any other third party website, digital service or via any vehicle in any manner that is likely or intended to cause confusion about the owner or origin of GLM Content, or is misleading, disparaging, harmful, or a detriment to GLM in our sole discretion. Except where permitted by law or expressly authorized by GLM, GLM Content may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, linked, cached or otherwise used for any commercial purposes unless you have the prior written permission of GLM. You may only use our Services and our GLM Content as expressly permitted in this TOU and for no other purpose."[9]	"Courtesy WYMT"	Collage on NWS page is taken directly from WYMT
A7-10-1	https://www.weather.gov/cae/Feb2014SnowIceEvent.html	Image of snow-covered landscape	"Augusta hardest hit statewide for power outages", The Augusta Chronicle, February 13, 2014	Augusta Chronicle	Under copyright. "Your Limited Right to Use Site Materials. This Site and all the materials available on the Site are the property of us and/or our affiliates or licensors, and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. The Site is provided solely for your personal noncommercial use. You may not use the Site or the materials available on the Site in a manner that constitutes an infringement of our rights or that has not been authorized by us. More specifically, unless explicitly authorized in these Terms of Service or by the owner of the materials, you may not modify, copy, reproduce, republish, upload, post, transmit, translate, sell, create derivative works, exploit, or distribute in any manner or medium (including by email or other electronic means) any material from the Site. You may, however, from time to time, download and/or print one copy of individual pages of the Site for your personal, non-commercial use, provided that you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices."[10]	"Courtesy Augusta Chronicle"

P.1.3.2. The converse test is also helpful. The NWS publishes images from many different sources on its websites. By far, the most common attributions they use are "Courtesy of..." and "Photo by..." These attributions are used for all kinds of images, ranging from those where we have access to a direct statement of copyright ownership from the copyright owner (as at P.1.3.1 above) through to images very clearly in the public domain (such as those produced by NWS offices or other US Government agencies).

Here's a summary, with links to examples:

A20. Survey of image attributions on NWS websites across different copyright and licensing scenarios

A7. Examples of how third-party images known from external sources are credited on weather.gov

Example	Page on weather.gov	Image on weather.gov	External source	Creator	Copyright and license	Attribution by NWS	Comments
A7-1-1	https://www.weather.gov/safety/flood-states-ia (expand "The 2008 Flood" section)	Image of semi-submerged traffic lights	Getty Images	Scott Olson, distributed by Getty Images	Under copyright. "The Site is owned by Getty Images. Unless otherwise indicated, all of the content featured or displayed on the Site, including, but not limited to, text, graphics, data, photographic images, moving images, sound, illustrations, software, and the selection and arrangement thereof ("Getty Images Content"), is owned by Getty Images, its licensors, or its third-party image partners. All elements of the Site, including the Getty Images Content, are protected by copyright, trade dress, moral rights, trademark and other laws relating to the protection of intellectual property."[11]	Photo is included twice: At top of page with no attribution at all in "The 2008 Flood" section: "Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images"	I asked NWS.webfeedback if it was OK to re-use this Getty image, including commercial use and with modifications. Unsurprisingly, they said no.
A7-1-2		Image of flood-damaged bridge	"Downtown Waterloo railroad bridge collapses", The Waterloo Courier June 11, 2008 (paywalled). Scan of print edition available here. Image syndicated to other media outlets, including sfgate.com and boston.com.	Morgan Hawthorne, staff photographer for The Waterloo Courier, distributed by the Associated Press	Under copyright. Image no longer appears to be distributed by AP. The Waterloo Courier's copyright policy states: "This Site and the content on the Site that we provide (“Our Content”) is owned by us and third party providers and is protected by U.S. and international copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. This Site and Our Content may not be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, sold, leased, licensed, sublicensed, transmitted, or distributed without our written permission, except that you may download, display, and print one copy of Our Content on a single computer for your personal, non-commercial use only."[12] User:Rlandmann has made contact with The Waterloo Courier's licensing agent, who confirms that the image is not freely available, but is available to license.	"Photo by The Waterloo Courier"	The NWS has used this image in at least two other places: original context lost, credited in the image itself "AP Photo/The Waterloo Courier, Morgan Hawthorne" Central Iowa Floods of 2008, cover photo, credited on page 3: "AP Photo/The Waterloo Courier, Morgan Hawthorne"
A7-2-1	https://www.weather.gov/gsp/gspPrepare_6	Image of devastated urban area	Getty Images	Joe Raedle, distributed by Getty Images	Under copyright. "The Site is owned by Getty Images. Unless otherwise indicated, all of the content featured or displayed on the Site, including, but not limited to, text, graphics, data, photographic images, moving images, sound, illustrations, software, and the selection and arrangement thereof ("Getty Images Content"), is owned by Getty Images, its licensors, or its third-party image partners. All elements of the Site, including the Getty Images Content, are protected by copyright, trade dress, moral rights, trademark and other laws relating to the protection of intellectual property."[13]	"Photo courtesy of Joe Raedle, Getty Images"
A7-3-1	https://www.weather.gov/tsa/hydro_tadd	Image of washed-away road	Associated Press	Dave Martin, distributed by Associated Press	Under copyright. "Copyright 2009 AP. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed"	"AP Photo Dave Martin"
A7-4-1	https://www.weather.gov/lmk/snow_plow_game	Image of a football	"A foothold on history: 25 years later, Mark Henderson still remembered for role in Pats’ ’Snowplow Game’", Boston Herald November 17, 2018 (paywalled)	John Wilcox	Under copyright. "Intellectual Property Rights All information, data, and content displayed on, transmitted through or used in connection with MediaNews Group sites, including, but not limited to, news articles, reviews, directories, guides, text, photographs, images, illustrations, audio clips, video, html, source and object code, trademarks, logos and the like, as well as its selection and arrangement (together, the “Content”), is owned by MediaNews Group and its affiliated companies or the third party credited as the owner of the Content. All Content is provided for informational purposes only and you are solely responsible for verifying the accuracy, completeness, and applicability of all Content and for your use of any Content. You may use the Content online only, and solely for your personal, non-commercial use. If you operate a web site and wish to link to any of the sites owned and operated by MediaNews Group, you may do so provided you agree to cease such link upon request from MediaNews Group and that you do not state or imply any sponsorship of your site by MediaNews Group (for example, by using our stylized trademark or logo). No other use is permitted without prior written permission of MediaNews Group. The permitted use described in this paragraph is contingent on your compliance at all times with the Terms of Use. You may not, for example, republish any portion of the Content on any internet, intranet or extranet site or incorporate the Content in any database, compilation, archive or cache. You may not distribute any Content to others, whether or not for payment or other consideration, and you may not modify, copy, frame, cache, reproduce, sell, publish, transmit, display or otherwise use any portion of the Content."[14]	"Photo credit: Boston Herald/John Wilcox"
A7-5-1	https://www.weather.gov/lsx/PresidentsDay2021SnowEvent	Image of traffic on Interstate in snow	"Snow, bone-jarring cold descend on St. Louis as emergency workers struggle to respond", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 15, 2021 (paywalled)	Colter Peterson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch	Under copyright. "Our Intellectual Property This Site and the content on the Site is owned by us and third party providers and is protected by U.S. and international copyright, trademark and other intellectual property laws. This Site and the content may not be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed without our written permission, except that you may download, display, and print one copy of the materials presented on this Site on a single computer for your personal, non-commercial use only."[15]	"Photo courtesy of Colter Peterson and the St. Louis Post Dispatch"
A7-6-1	https://www.weather.gov/iwx/decade_weather_2010_2019	Image of semi-submerged police car	"Record rainfall in Michiana leaves floods, damaged homes and a long cleanup", South Bend Tribune, August 17, 2016	Santiago Flores, South Bend Tribune	Under copyright. "Rights and Restrictions Relating to Site Content Your Limited Right to Use Site Materials. This Site and all the materials available on the Site are the property of us and/or our affiliates or licensors, and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. The Site is provided solely for your personal noncommercial use. You may not use the Site or the materials available on the Site in a manner that constitutes an infringement of our rights or that has not been authorized by us. More specifically, unless explicitly authorized in these Terms of Service or by the owner of the materials, you may not modify, copy, reproduce, republish, upload, post, transmit, translate, sell, create derivative works, exploit, or distribute in any manner or medium (including by email or other electronic means) any material from the Site. You may, however, from time to time, download and/or print one copy of individual pages of the Site for your personal, non-commercial use, provided that you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices."[16]	"Photo Courtesy of South Bend Tribune"
A7-7-1	https://www.weather.gov/bmx/event_04072014	Image of flooded road	"Rainfall totals top 7 inches in metro Birmingham; central Alabama gets brunt of heavy rain", AL.com, April 7, 2014 (image 8/14 in carousel, click for details)	Tamika Moore, AL.com	Under copyright. "© 2024 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local."	"Courtesy of al.com"
A7-8-1	https://www.weather.gov/rlx/2023-July-28-Severe-Weather-Event	Image of damage to regional medical center sign (image ratio distorted in page; open in own tab/window to see correct proportions)	"Storms down trees, damage buildings", WSAZ3, July 29, 2023	anonymous, "WSAZ with permission" "Viewers sent us photos of the damage, which also included damage to a sign at Logan Regional Medical Center."	Under copyright. "3. Intellectual Property Rights: All text, images, photographs, graphics, logos, trade, product or program names, titles, packaging, user interfaces, audio and/or video content and any other content provided on or through the Services by GLM, Stations, third-party licensors (including UGC), vendors and suppliers that provide internal support to our Services (collectively “Operational Service Providers”), and advertisers, sponsors or promotional partners (collectively, “Advertisers”), including the selection, coordination, and arrangement of any such content (collectively, “GLM Content”), are owned by or licensed to GLM, Stations, Advertisers, Operational Service Providers and/or our third-party licensors. GLM Content is protected under U.S. and/or international copyright, trademark, patent, or other relevant intellectual property laws. Nothing stated or implied on the Services confers on you any additional license or right under any copyright, trademark, patent or other intellectual property right of GLM or any third party unless explicitly provided in this TOU. Unless such use is expressly prohibited by GLM, you may view, reproduce, transmit, link, cache GLM Content for your own personal and non-commercial use, including posting on your personal Facebook page or other personal social networking platforms, provided you do not delete, change or obscure any of the GLM Content (including any copyright, trademark or proprietary notices), and do not misrepresent that GLM Content is your own. You may not (and you may not permit or encourage anyone else to) make derivative works, publicly perform, reproduce, distribute, transmit or link to GLM Content in or on any other third party website, digital service or via any vehicle in any manner that is likely or intended to cause confusion about the owner or origin of GLM Content, or is misleading, disparaging, harmful, or a detriment to GLM in our sole discretion. Except where permitted by law or expressly authorized by GLM, GLM Content may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, linked, cached or otherwise used for any commercial purposes unless you have the prior written permission of GLM. You may only use our Services and our GLM Content as expressly permitted in this TOU and for no other purpose."[17] (emphasis User:Rlandmann)	"Photo Credit: WSAZ-TV"
A7-9-1	https://www.weather.gov/jkl/20200412_nontstormwind	Collage of storm damage images	"Damage reported in Pikeville following storms Sunday night", WYMT, April 13, 2020	WYMT	Under copyright. "3. Intellectual Property Rights: All text, images, photographs, graphics, logos, trade, product or program names, titles, packaging, user interfaces, audio and/or video content and any other content provided on or through the Services by GLM, Stations, third-party licensors (including UGC), vendors and suppliers that provide internal support to our Services (collectively “Operational Service Providers”), and advertisers, sponsors or promotional partners (collectively, “Advertisers”), including the selection, coordination, and arrangement of any such content (collectively, “GLM Content”), are owned by or licensed to GLM, Stations, Advertisers, Operational Service Providers and/or our third-party licensors. GLM Content is protected under U.S. and/or international copyright, trademark, patent, or other relevant intellectual property laws. Nothing stated or implied on the Services confers on you any additional license or right under any copyright, trademark, patent or other intellectual property right of GLM or any third party unless explicitly provided in this TOU. Unless such use is expressly prohibited by GLM, you may view, reproduce, transmit, link, cache GLM Content for your own personal and non-commercial use, including posting on your personal Facebook page or other personal social networking platforms, provided you do not delete, change or obscure any of the GLM Content (including any copyright, trademark or proprietary notices), and do not misrepresent that GLM Content is your own. You may not (and you may not permit or encourage anyone else to) make derivative works, publicly perform, reproduce, distribute, transmit or link to GLM Content in or on any other third party website, digital service or via any vehicle in any manner that is likely or intended to cause confusion about the owner or origin of GLM Content, or is misleading, disparaging, harmful, or a detriment to GLM in our sole discretion. Except where permitted by law or expressly authorized by GLM, GLM Content may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, linked, cached or otherwise used for any commercial purposes unless you have the prior written permission of GLM. You may only use our Services and our GLM Content as expressly permitted in this TOU and for no other purpose."[18]	"Courtesy WYMT"	Collage on NWS page is taken directly from WYMT
A7-10-1	https://www.weather.gov/cae/Feb2014SnowIceEvent.html	Image of snow-covered landscape	"Augusta hardest hit statewide for power outages", The Augusta Chronicle, February 13, 2014	Augusta Chronicle	Under copyright. "Your Limited Right to Use Site Materials. This Site and all the materials available on the Site are the property of us and/or our affiliates or licensors, and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. The Site is provided solely for your personal noncommercial use. You may not use the Site or the materials available on the Site in a manner that constitutes an infringement of our rights or that has not been authorized by us. More specifically, unless explicitly authorized in these Terms of Service or by the owner of the materials, you may not modify, copy, reproduce, republish, upload, post, transmit, translate, sell, create derivative works, exploit, or distribute in any manner or medium (including by email or other electronic means) any material from the Site. You may, however, from time to time, download and/or print one copy of individual pages of the Site for your personal, non-commercial use, provided that you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices."[19]	"Courtesy Augusta Chronicle"

P.1.3.3. Logically, there are a limited number of scenarios that fit observable reality:

P.1.3.3.1. The historical interpretation of the NWS general disclaimer is correct and Getty Images, the AP, and various other media agencies have been uncharacteristically generous (or incompetent) and released all these images (and many more) into the public domain, while still offering them for license elsewhere.

P.1.3.3.2. The historical interpretation of the NWS general disclaimer is correct and NWS website maintainers are universally incompetent and get this wrong every single time they publish such an image.

P.1.3.3.3. The historical interpretation of the NWS general disclaimer is incorrect, and absence of an explicit copyright statement in a caption or embedded in an image is does not amount to an assertion by the NWS that an image is in the public domain.

P.1.3.4. More generally, the lack of consistency summarized at A.20 suggests two scenarios:

P.1.3.4.1. The historical interpretation of the NWS general disclaimer is correct, but NWS website maintainers apply it so inconsistently and haphazardly that whatever the intention of the disclaimer, it is such an unreliable guide to the copyright status of an image that the general disclaimer cannot provide evidence of permission.

P.1.3.4.2. The historical interpretation of the NWS general disclaimer is incorrect, the style of attributions (or lack of attributions) are not generally assertions by the NWS about the copyright status of third-party images, and again cannot provide evidence of permission.

Q.2. Are fourth-party image attributions evidence of permission?

Sometimes, images published on NWS websites are also found on various reliable sources (mostly media outlets), under a variety of attributions.

In some recent DR discussions, a line of reasoning has emerged that if such outlets credit the NWS or NOAA as the source of the image, this amounts to the outlet asserting that the image is in the public domain. For example:

A22. Examples of reliable sources crediting images sourced from the NWS to the NWS

A.22 Examples of reliable sources crediting images sourced from NWS to NWS

Number	NWS page	Image	NWS attribution	Media outlet	Media outlet attributions
A22-1	(archived; previously, the first image on the page)	now found on NOAA Flickr stream under a CC-BY license	Fred Stewart	WYSO	National Weather Service
				The Enquirer (cincinnatti.com)	Fred Stewart, National Weather Service (NB: No other source suggests or claims that Stewart worked for the NWS)
				Times of India	National Weather Service
				WKBN	National Weather Service
				Northern Kentucky Tribune	National Weather Service
				NBC4i	National Weather Service/Wilmington, Oh.
				WVXU	National Weather Service
				Houston Chronicle	National Weather Service

The problem with this reasoning is that:

P.2.1. Such attributions demonstrably fail to credit the creator of the image (even when this information is available at the source). They can be considered a reliable source only for where the journalist or editor found the image, nothing more (and do not actually purport to provide more than this).

Q.3. Is the footer on some NWS pages a free license for any images on that page?

Many NWS pages[20] include the following footer text:

A21. Footer found on many weather.gov web pages

"Media use of NWS Web News Stories is encouraged!
Please acknowledge the NWS as the source of any news information accessed from this site."

In some recent DR discussions, a line of reasoning has emerged that these words amount to an assertion by the NWS that all the content on the page, including any images published on it, is in the public domain.

Other than "News information" seeming to be an odd way to refer to images, the main problem with this line of reasoning is:

P.3.1. This footer does not appear to invite reuse by anyone other than "media" outlets, or implictly, for any purpose other than news reporting. It certainly does not state or imply that such content is in the public domain per se, only that media outlets have permission to use it (and are even encouraged to do so).

Discussion

An editor has requested comment from other editors for this discussion.
If you have an opinion regarding this issue, feel free to comment below.

Q.1. Is the NWS general disclaimer evidence of permission?

Oppose For all the reasons I documented, but most particularly, because this claim doesn't even stack up with observable evidence (P.1.3.4.) --Rlandmann (talk) 11:00, 26 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
~~Support~~ The general disclaimer seems to be worded appropriately. For the clause of “specifically annotated otherwise”, NWS either allows the user to add a copyright “©” watermark to the image {as seen in this image, hosted on this NWS webpage} or by directly adding a copyright statement using “©” {as seen on this NWS webpage: difference between the “Tornado Photos” and “Damage” tabs}. That disclaimer is linked at the bottom of all NWS webpages. To me, “specifically annotated otherwise” indicates a direct copyright (©) statement or watermark. For that reason, I believe any of the instances of problematic images (i.e. something like Commons:Deletion requests/File:MayfieldKentuckyEF32016.PNG) are one-off instances. The whole disclaimer shouldn’t be discredited or dismissed over a few images (we have found only 1 or 2 actual confirmed instances of this as well) which bluntly most likely slipped through the crack, which we ourselves on the Commons have had happen before (i.e. with a relevant example: Commons:Deletion requests/File:Tor jreed 091510 A07.jpg). WeatherWriter (talk) 11:53, 26 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I am changing my !vote to Weak Oppose. I believe, if coupled with Q.2 below, then it would be valid evidence of permission, however, as a stand-alone with no media/secondary support, it is not enough. WeatherWriter (talk) 03:53, 19 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Strong oppose – The NWS’s own legal team has even said that this is unreliable for third party stuff. 🌀 Hurricane Clyde 🌀 (talk) 15:44, 26 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

That second image you mentioned approaches copyvio territory rather than just precautionary principle because it actually has a ©️ watermark on it. 🌀 Hurricane Clyde 🌀 (talk) 16:02, 26 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Question for @WeatherWriter: I'm curious about what you make of all the cases where we have unambiguous copyright claims from image owners, but the NWS has simply credited them "Courtesy of..." or "Photo by..." as they usually do for third-party content? I documented eleven such examples in detail at A.7 above. (I stopped at an arbitrary 10 NWS pages, but you and I both know that there are dozens, if not hundreds, of other examples of the NWS publishing media images that are all likely under such restrictive terms). Are you claiming that the AP, Getty, and similar outlets have placed these images in the Public Domain? Or do you think the NWS is just really bad (universally bad..!) at following the attribution rules you claim they have set for themselves? --Rlandmann (talk) 21:36, 27 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Comment – I know I’m not WeatherWriter; but I just want to say that places like the AP and Getty rarely (if ever) make any of their works PD. Hurricane Clyde 🌀^{my talk page!} 10:20, 19 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose based on what I've read. I would err on the side of caution to only including images known to be taken by NWS employees, or otherwise have confirmation that it was released into the public domain. Hurricanehink (talk) 20:47, 26 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Not generally. First, images that are on NWS servers may have been submitted anytime within the past two to three decades, and may have been submitted by any number of methods (including website form/link, email referred from website, direct email, social media, and others). This makes it impossible to know in most cases what form, disclaimer, or other release a person saw (if any) when they submitted that photograph. Second, while a generic statement such as "images on this website are in the (insert appropriate licensing status) unless stated otherwise" may be appropriate on some websites, that is only the case if there is reason to believe that the person making that statement actually had the rights to make that determination or alternatively that the website has stringent procedures for confirming copyright status and explicitly verifying from the copyright holder before posting. The NWS's policies and procedures do not meet what I would view as the minimum standard of accuracy and rigidity for us to be able to "take their word for it". This is evident in the fact that, since these images/licensing were first brought up here, at least two images that they did not put any disclaimer on whatsoever have been removed from their site and/or clarified - one of them was even hosted in a database that they previously (and still do) claim is only used to host confirmed public domain images.
I am willing to consider that there may be exceptions that can be made for certain parts of the website, or for certain situations in which the NWS (or the individual office in question) is posting images that have a more stringent release from their owners. An example of this would be photo submission contests - the rules for those contests specify the method of submission and whether the photographer will be releasing copyright by submitting them to the contest. These exceptions should be handled in individual discussions and do not affect the blanket determination that the PD-NWS tag as previously used is invalid, should be changed/deprecated, and those individual exceptions dealt with either a new tag or an updated PD-NWS tag that explicitly identifies those portions of the website deemed acceptable by individual discussions. Berchanhimez (talk) 06:39, 27 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Comment: For anyone looking for examples of such exceptions, I'm aware of only two specific NWS pages where we can make a connection with reasonable certainty between a set of images and a set of T&Cs that place them the Public Domain: [21] and [22]. (We also know of one instance where we can link a specific group of images with a clearly unfree set of terms and conditions: [23]). Other sets of T&Cs that place images in the PD are known, but we have no idea right now which, if any, images were submitted under them. The other point to note is that in the two pages of free images, it's not the general disclaimer that allows us to make that determination, it's the specific, known T&Cs that do. --Rlandmann (talk) 21:24, 27 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose as unreliable. — 🇺🇦Jeff G. ツ please ping or talk to me🇺🇦 22:30, 16 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Per Hurricanehink and Jeff G. I really don't see how this could be reliable outside of images that were clearly taken by employees of the NWS. --Adamant1 (talk) 04:16, 17 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
No, per OP and Berchanhimez. Relinquishing/abandoning a copyright can only be done through an overt act; a disclaimer is not sufficient. Consigned (talk) 15:47, 22 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I would say no. Evidence collected at Commons:WikiProject Public Domain/PD-NWS review/A25 has shown that the NWS is not reliable when it comes to attribution. Even if those pictures entered public domain due to some technicality, I still think we should courtesy delete any photos that the author did not intend to release into public domain. I'm also concerned that the NWS could be used for license laundering because someone could upload someone else's photo and claim it as their own. Ixfd64 (talk) 22:44, 3 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Q.2. Are fourth-party image attributions evidence of permission?

Oppose These types of sources only say where the image was found, not who owns it. Attempting to use Wikipedia's "Reliable Sources" policy to justify the contrary is beyond just a stretch. --Rlandmann (talk) 11:00, 26 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Support Given the NWS general disclaimer (see my explanation from Q.1 above), it seems clear that RS media outlets are using it. I believe any of the instances of problematic images (i.e. something like Commons:Deletion requests/File:MayfieldKentuckyEF32016.PNG) are one-off instances. To me, the use of RS media attributing NWS as the source seems to be a huge step in proving the PD-nature of images, given they all pass respective editor checks. One outlet claiming a photograph is PD based on NWS would be one thing. But when multiple are saying it, despite us knowing it “isn’t NWS”, that to me, is clearly supporting evidence of the General Disclaimer being valid. WeatherWriter (talk) 11:53, 26 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Weak oppose – It is kinda case dependent. Such images should be more closely looked at. But as a whole; I think such attribution is unreliable. But again, such images should be looked at on a case-by-case basis. 🌀 Hurricane Clyde 🌀 (talk) 15:47, 26 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@WeatherWriter have you ever thought of several RS media making wrong attributions? This has been the case of some media here, in which various locator maps of Philippine provinces and regions, when used in their online articles, are wrongfully attributed to Wikimedia Commons or Wikipedia, even if the CC licensing terms require the attribution of the creator/uploader (Wikimedia Commons merely hosts uploaders' original contents). It is likely that some (if not all) RS media may be guilty of either mis-attribution or lazy attribution to NWS only, and they may not be familiar with the intrincacies of the copyright statuses of 3rd party content that NWS sites publish. JWilz12345 (Talk|Contrib's.) 02:36, 16 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I have. That said, storm chasers/weather-related photos are often highly scrutinized and copyright strikes/DMCA takedowns happen all the time. Elon Musk himself even had to walk back a statement after getting caught up on his own words regarding an aurora photo by someone. Given RS media is well aware of these facts (as most have contracts with storm chasers to license footage), and the fact they have editorial reviews, it seems unlikely several would mistakenly attribute for the same photo. One time thing is much different than several RS media and/or non-NOAA government agencies doing it over and over again. For example, if you take a look at File:F5 Ruskin Heights, Missouri tornado in Kansas 1957.jpg (and the subsequent ongoing deletion request), several RS media as well as the local county government either give no attribution or attribution to the National Weather Service or File:Niles Park Plaza 1985 tornado.jpg (subsequent deletion request), where a photo supposedly taken by the Ohio Department of Transportation, a branch of the Ohio State Government is attributed, by RS media and funny enough, the actual Ohio State Government to the National Weather Service.

Could this be more or less a case of mass psychosis and mass mis-attribution? Sure. But there comes a point when one has to look at the numbers and really say "is it actually statistically possible?" There are too many instances of RS/government attributions to the National Weather Service for me to say that it could be a case of mass-misattribution. That is why I will remain keep. Deletion on grounds of Commons:PRP is a lot different than deletion on copyright grounds, which is how I see a lot of the subsequent deletion requests going. There is probably enough for deletion as a precaution, but there is no clear evidence (at least for 95% of the photos in deletion requests) that they are indeed copyrighted, given the shear attribution scale. WeatherWriter (talk) 03:07, 16 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think we even need to go to the extent of these sources making "wrong attributions" -- they're simply not making claims about copyright ownership that some folks here insist that they are. There's no reason to assume that these sources are doing anything other than citing their source for the image. Claiming more than that on their behalf is simply putting words into their mouths.

Analogy: Bob publishes a photo and says he got it from Anna. Some time later, Carla, Dave, Edith, and Fred all republish the photo and say they got it from Bob's website. This is not to say that Carla, Dave, Edith, and Fred are making any claim that Bob took the photo or owns the copyright to it.

Determining copyright and licensing status to the degree of certainty that we require it on the Commons is far more expensive in terms of time and effort than the news cycle typically allows (ask me how I know!) This is especially true for media in the US, who are protected by the US's incredibly generous "fair use" provisions when it comes to reporting news.

Finally, if any of those outlets believed that the image was in the public domain, the correct attribution would be "Public domain" or none at all, not claiming or implying that the NWS somehow took or owned the picture.
It's a simple acknowledgement of source, not a claim of ownership. --Rlandmann (talk) 03:39, 16 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Forgive me if this seems like a dumb question, but why would the "correct attribution" for a public domain image would be to either say "public domain" or nothing at all? If that is true, then EN-Wiki/the Commons are hypocrites (saying that for the sake of the question)? Pulling a random PD file out here just as random example (File:SPC Mesoscale Discussion 329 — Rolling Fork EF4 tornado.png). That file is a very clear PD photo made by a U.S. government employee under their official duties, yet the Commons attributes it to "Harry Weinman", the employee who made it, even before saying it is a PD photo. The same can be said for a usage of it on EN-Wiki (on w:2023 Rolling Fork–Silver City tornado), where the first words under the description/caption say "Harry Weinman", then the Storm Prediction Center, then the URl, and then lastly "public domain" at the very bottom right. If only saying "public domain" or no attribution is the "correct" way to do that, then the Commons/Wikipedia should change formats to have "public domain" be the first thing stated, even before the photographer/creators name. I like your analogy, but there is absolutely no difference between those RS media usages and what EN-Wiki/Commons do besides the EN-Wiki/Commons saying "public domain" after saying the photographer and source. So my question is, is the term "public domain" actually needed with every image, even if it is PD, even though PD means you can use it however you want? WeatherWriter (talk) 04:26, 16 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry, WeatherWriter, I was unclear and omitted an important distinction in the course of drafting and re-drafting that comment. What I intended, and ought to have said, is: if those sources believed that the image was in the public domain and their intention was to indicate authorship and/or ownership of the image, not just where they sourced it.

So when one of these fourth parties attributes a third-party image to the NWS, the range of possibilities looks something like this:
They're just telling us where they got the image, not making any assertion about who necessarily created it or owns it (my position, and I'll also appeal to Occam's Razor here)

They intended to tell us who created it or owns it and they're lazy/rushed/incompetent/wrong (possible, from time to time, but unlikely in general for precisely the reasons you give)

They intended to tell us who created it or owns it, they've investigated the ownership of the file, and determined that the NWS is the copyright owner (possible under s.105 of the US Copyright Act, but unlikely because we've never seen any evidence of this kind of arrangement, and being able to ascertain that in the bare hours available to file a news story is essentially impossible, and if this truly was the case, we couldn't keep the file anyway because it would be under a copyright owned by the US government.)

But there's no combination of factors that leads us to an outcome where all of the following intersect:
a competent, trustworthy media outlet

intends their captions to assert authorship and/or ownership of an image

believes an individual or organization relinquished their copyright to an image when they allowed the NWS to publish it

solely credit the NWS (or NWS + the Commons...) with the image

Other than human error occurring from time-to-time, at least one of those things must be untrue in each fourth-party attribution. --Rlandmann (talk) 15:06, 16 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Question for @WeatherWriter -- When you say "RS media attributing NWS as the source", you clearly think that "source" means something far beyond "where they sourced the image".

So, what do you actually mean? Do you think that the journalist is claiming that an on-duty NWS employee created the image? Or that the NWS owns the rights to the image? --Rlandmann (talk) 09:35, 19 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I know I’m not WeatherWriter; but I’m going to put my 2c into one of his statements anyway. They said that the correct attribution would be “to either say ‘public domain’ or nothing at all”. I have to somewhat disagree with the second part. A news media organization failing to attribute is not an indication of PD status; as there are some folks who don’t follow copyright laws as well as Commons do; they’re kinda “gun ho cowboy” when it comes to that; and there are also some malicious actors who will deliberately violate copyright and distribute stuff claiming to be PD. Hurricane Clyde 🌀^{my talk page!} 10:06, 19 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Hurricane Clyde -- "public domain or nothing at all" was my statement of the correct attribution for indicating ownership (if that's what the media source was aiming for, which they're clearly not.) But I don't think that WeatherWriter has ever distinguished whether they think the attribution line is mean to indicate authorship or rights ownership, hence my question. --Rlandmann (talk) 11:42, 19 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Neutral - if a fourth-party source says that the NWS image is in the public domain, that would back up the claim. Hurricanehink (talk) 20:47, 26 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Support As (in my opinion) the disclaimer covers this, and even if they "worded it wrong", it still was worded that way. Sir MemeGod ._. (talk - contribs) 21:26, 26 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Never. This is a form of license laundering. There are a few issues to consider here. The first is that the mere fact that others (even reliable sources) have violated copyright and not been caught doing so does not give Commons the ability to do so. The second is that many people may be willing to allow news media to use their photographs for free in cases of public interest such as weather events, even if advance permission was not obtained (i.e. they may notice the copyright violation but they may choose not to take action on it thus giving the news organization an implicit license to use the image). The third and most important in my view is that if the answer to Q1 above is (as I think it will be) that we cannot trust the NWS to be hosting only public domain images in the first place, we can't trust someone who has relied on that more than we trust the NWS to begin with. Berchanhimez (talk) 06:39, 27 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Would it actually be license laundering since reliable RS sources have been editorially checked/verified? WeatherWriter (talk) 21:35, 27 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Info: In my opinion it still would be if there isn’t proof of its public domain status. 🌀 Hurricane Clyde 🌀 (talk) 22:51, 27 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Comment — Depending on this RFC outcome for this point, if it is determined this is not satisfactory for the Commons, a list of NWS-related violations from third-parties RS should be made to help identify which sources may actually be straight up license laundering sources. WeatherWriter (talk) 23:10, 27 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I would be okay with that. But I still think that this (the status quo) could be considered by at least some people to be a form of license laundering. Hurricane Clyde 🌀^{my talk page!} 17:11, 28 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose as unreliable. — 🇺🇦Jeff G. ツ please ping or talk to me🇺🇦 22:30, 16 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Per Hurricane Clyde. It depends on the particular situation but the licenses for individual files should be confirmed and checked to make there's no license laundering involved. Otherwise they don't belong on Commons. --Adamant1 (talk) 04:19, 17 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
No; once again I agree with Berchanhimez that this is effectively license laundering. It's very common to see what we consider Reliable Sources making mistakes like this, taking an incorrect disclaimer at face value. And it's understandable, given that we here on Commons have been making the same mistake for years. Consigned (talk) 15:47, 22 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Q.3. Is the footer on some NWS pages a free license for any images on that page?

Oppose This isn't even consistent with what the footer itself says! At best, it's permission to use under very limited conditions. --Rlandmann (talk) 11:00, 26 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
~~Support~~ This especially is a huge thing. If this is compounded with the general disclaimer (see my Support reasoning in Q.1) and/or any media usage citing NWS (see my Support reasoning in Q.2), then it seems very clear the photograph would be in the PD. WeatherWriter (talk) 11:53, 26 August 2024 (UTC)}}[reply]

Striking my original support. I oppose this now. WeatherWriter (talk) 03:40, 19 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY NOT! – as @Rlandmann points out; this isn’t even consistent with what the footer itself says! The footer only implies permission to the news media. 🌀 Hurricane Clyde 🌀 (talk) 15:49, 26 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose, I would err on the side of caution and limit tags/claims of PD to when they are explicit, such as identifying a NWS employee taking the image. Hurricanehink (talk) 20:47, 26 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose, This I would definitely take cautiously, and as HurricaneHink said, the note has to be explicit. Sir MemeGod ._. (talk - contribs) 21:28, 26 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
No. Not a sufficiently free, nor sufficiently explicit, licensure/release. Berchanhimez (talk) 06:39, 27 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose as unreliable. — 🇺🇦Jeff G. ツ please ping or talk to me🇺🇦 22:31, 16 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose No, at least from my reading of the footer it seems like more like a general statement that wasn't specifically tailored to any given image. There's a lot of websites with similar licenses that exist purely to cover their own asses, but the licenses should be taken with a grain of salt outside of that. The fact is that most websites that reuse other people work don't have the staff or legal team to check and confirm the license of everything they post on their site. So there's no reason to assume general licenses like this one are valid. --Adamant1 (talk) 04:24, 17 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
No, this would not be considered a valid copyright statement or license on any website. Consigned (talk) 15:47, 22 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Definitely no. This is now actually a moot point now that the NWS has removed the disclaimer. Ixfd64 (talk) 22:46, 3 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Did you typo @Ixfd64? Because you forgot the “n” in “no”. Hurricane Clyde 🌀^{my talk page!} 22:50, 3 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Ok you fixed it. Hurricane Clyde 🌀^{my talk page!} 22:51, 3 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Ixfd64: For reference, it is not a moot point. It still exists at the bottom of several NWS webpages including: [24][25]. WeatherWriter (talk) 00:06, 4 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Commons:Requests for comment/Third-party images published by the National Weather Service

Contents

Summary

Background

Q.1. Is the NWS general disclaimer evidence of permission?

Q.2. Are fourth-party image attributions evidence of permission?

Q.3. Is the footer on some NWS pages a free license for any images on that page?

Discussion

Q.1. Is the NWS general disclaimer evidence of permission?

Q.2. Are fourth-party image attributions evidence of permission?

Q.3. Is the footer on some NWS pages a free license for any images on that page?

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Commons:Requests for comment/Third-party images published by the National Weather Service

Summary

Background

Q.1. Is the NWS general disclaimer evidence of permission?

Q.2. Are fourth-party image attributions evidence of permission?

Q.3. Is the footer on some NWS pages a free license for any images on that page?

Discussion

Q.1. Is the NWS general disclaimer evidence of permission?

Q.2. Are fourth-party image attributions evidence of permission?

Q.3. Is the footer on some NWS pages a free license for any images on that page?

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