I asked some weeks ago about the licenses status of archive.

org magazine rack

collections.

The answer I got was that it is up to me to do research on the license status.

This answer is not satisfactory. A project such as this here would do good to keep
a list of collections that are ok to use. There are several compelling advantages:

1. Entries in the whitelist will be more competently researched. Such an entry will
exist for years, while my own research for one image will last a couple of minutes
or it will not be worth it.

2. It allows work to be done by users that don't want to invest into a crash course
in copyright law. As I understand, commons expects its users to do just that, even
though it would not be necessary.

3. An entry in the whitelist can be referenced by a file. If the entry is found to

be in error, files that were uploaded in error can be tracked down. This list would
then also serve as a service to license holders and it provides a place were they
can go on record with their claim. Nowakki (talk) 09:44, 11 January 2024 (UTC)

It is not possible to produce a whitelist of the copyright status of magazines. A

magazine is a collection of works all potentially subject to their own licensing
and copyright situation. Because Commons policy is that we require files to be
suitably licensed (or out of copyright) in both the country of first publication
and the US, it is not possible to set a universal rule. Sure, you may find that the
September 1940 edition of a US magazine didn't follow copyright registration
correctly and therefore should be PD, but that same magazine could include copies
of photographs first published in London and subject to UK copyright. You must
examine the situation of each file individually and articulate a rationale for
upload. It is not possible to create a shortcut process to absolve uploaders from
having to think. From Hill To Shore (talk) 09:55, 11 January 2024 (UTC)
1. But it is possible to create a whitelist for the first step: determining the
copyright status of the magazine itself.
2. If such a magazine follows the policy of tagging works under copyright
protection where and when they are published, that could be mentioned in the
whitelist and then the list would cover steps one and two. Also true for content
that is clearly an own product of the magazine staff. Nowakki (talk) 10:11, 11
January 2024 (UTC)