English: The poster omitted a copyright notice and was published in the United States in 1978 (i.e., between 1978 and 1989) and was not subsequently registered with the U.S. Copyright Office within five years of publication; see the searchable Copyright Catalog (1978 to present). As such, the opportunity for copyright protection expired in 1983 and the poster entered the public domain.
Additional notes:
The poster art is a distinct work from the film it represents and had to carry its own notice and/or be registered as its own separate work to establish copyright protection. The film Gates of Heaven remains copyrighted.
The pre-1989 requirements for copyright notice were highly formalistic and, other than a few enumerated exceptions, required these three elements:
"The name of the copyright owner, or an abbreviation by which the name can be recognized, or a generally known alternative designation of the owner."
Licensing
This image is in the public domain because it is a mere mechanical scan or photocopy of a public domain original, or – from the available evidence – is so similar to such a scan or photocopy that no copyright protection can be expected to arise. The original itself is in the public domain for the following reason:
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
This work is in the public domain because it was published in the United States between 1978 and March 1, 1989 without a copyright notice, and its copyright was not subsequently registered with the U.S. Copyright Office within 5 years.
Unless its author has been dead for several years, it is copyrighted in the countries or areas that do not apply the rule of the shorter term for US works, such as Canada (70 pma), Mainland China (50 pma, not Hong Kong or Macau), Germany (70 pma), Mexico (100 pma), Switzerland (70 pma), and other countries with individual treaties. See this page for further explanation.
This tag is designed for use where there may be a need to assert that any enhancements (eg brightness, contrast, colour-matching, sharpening) are in themselves insufficiently creative to generate a new copyright. It can be used where it is unknown whether any enhancements have been made, as well as when the enhancements are clear but insufficient. For known raw unenhanced scans you can use an appropriate {{PD-old}} tag instead. For usage, see Commons:When to use the PD-scan tag.
Note: This tag applies to scans and photocopies only. For photographs of public domain originals taken from afar, {{PD-Art}} may be applicable. See Commons:When to use the PD-Art tag.
Captions
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== {{int:filedesc}} == {{Information |Description={{en|1=Theatrical release poster for Errol Morris's 1978 documentary film ''Gates of Heaven''.}} |Source={{en|1=Scan via [https://www.artsy.net/artwork/unknown-gates-of-heaven Artsy.net].}} |Date=1978 |Author={{en|1=Photographer unknown. Poster published and distributed by New Yorker Films.}} |Permission={{en|1=The poster omitted a copyright notice and was published in the United...