A fact from Wisconsin Heights Battlefield appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 20 September 2007. The text of the entry was as follows:
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This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-class status:
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Although the painting may be out of copyright, the image created by the Wisconsin Historical Society is recent, and therefore copyrighted. Their website states:
This image is issued by the Wisconsin Historical Society. Use of the image requires written permission from the staff of the Division of Library-Archives. It may not be sold or redistributed, copied or distributed as a photograph, electronic file, or any other media. The image should not be significantly altered through conventional or electronic means. Images altered beyond standard cropping and resizing require further negotiation with a staff member. The user is responsible for all issues of copyright.
Originality is key, this image has NONE, therefore it is a derivative image. It's copyright is tied to the original work. None of the case law I have read over, and IANAL, would support your assertion. --IvoShandor (talk) 06:12, 25 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Basically, what it comes down to is this statement (and this is the Wikimedia foundation's official position, so take it up with them -empahsis mine (bold)):
"The official position taken by the Wikimedia Foundation is that "faithful reproductions of two-dimensional public domain works of art are public domain, and that claims to the contrary represent an assault on the very concept of a public domain". For details, see Commons:When to use the PD-Art tag.
This photographic reproduction is therefore also considered to be in the public domain."