Commons:Deletion requests/Files in Category:Digitized Sky Survey NGC objects

Files in Category:Digitized Sky Survey NGC objects

Copied from Commons:Village pump#Digitized Sky Survey:

Commons hosts many images from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS). According to this page, DSS is copyrighted and only non-commercial use is allowed; in contrast to other data hosted by the same institution (STScI), which is in the public domain. Based on this, individual DSS images are often nominated for deletion. They are also often (re-)uploaded citing an email that gives permission for use on Wikipedia (e.g. here, also quoted below), but this doesn't contradict the non-commercial license terms on the website. Commons requires a license that allows commercial use (Commons:Licensing).

Hi, Thank you for your question. The licenses for SDSS and DSS images are different because there are different contributing organizations to each. However, both are free to use for non-profits for educational purposes, without further restriction. This includes Wikipedia. There is no copyright STScI holds that would prevent using the DSS images on Wikipedia, even though it may not be specifically named in the DSS license.
Referring to https://archive.stsci.edu/publishing/data-use#section-95dab389-f4b4-4a52-8985-dcbfb908d8f2 it appears that use of the color DSS images can be investigated further by contacting archive@stsci.edu
Sincerely, The Office of Public Outreach

This is a subset of the images in question (all in one category); there are many more.

SevenSpheres (talk) 02:08, 28 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]