The depicted text is ineligible for copyright and therefore in the public domain because it is not a “literary work” or other protected type in sense of the local copyright law. Facts, data, and unoriginal information which is common property without sufficiently creative authorship in a general typeface or basic handwriting, and simple geometric shapes are not protected by copyright. This tag does not generally apply to all images of texts. Particular countries can have different legal definition of the “literary work” as the subject of copyright and different courts' interpretation practices. Some countries protect almost every written work, while other countries protect distinctively artistic or scientific texts and databases only. Extent of creativeness, function and length of the text can be relevant. The copyright protection can be limited to the literary form – the included information itself can be excluded from protection.

This work is in the public domain in the U.S. because it is an edict of a government, local or foreign. See § 313.6(C)(2) of the Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices, 3rd ed. 2014 (Compendium (Third)). Such documents include "legislative enactments, judicial decisions, administrative rulings, public ordinances, or similar types of official legal materials." These do not include works first published by the United Nations or any of its specialized agencies, or by the Organization of American States. See Compendium (Third) § 313.6(C)(2) and 17 U.S.C. § 104(b)(5).

A non-American governmental edict may still be copyrighted outside the U.S. Similarly, the above U.S. Copyright Office Practice does not prevent U.S. states or localities from holding copyright abroad, depending on foreign copyright laws and regulations.