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File: Seal of Massachusetts.svg

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Original file ‎(SVG file, nominally 448 × 448 pixels, file size: 450 KB)

This file is from Wikimedia Commons and may be used by other projects. The description on its file description page there is shown below.

 
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Summary

Description
English: Seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Date Basic design adopted by Governor John Hancock and the Council on December 13, 1780 [1], present design adopted in 1901, rendered by E.H. Garrett
Source

Typeface and layout derived from 950 CMR 34.00: Commonwealth of Massachusetts Flags, Arms, and Seal Specifications,
Coat of arms rendered from original artwork by E. H. Garrett, published in-
(1901). "The Coat of Arms and Great Seal of Massachusetts". The New England Magazine XXIII (6): 623-635. Boston: Warren F. Kellogg.

 
This W3C-unspecified vector image was created with Inkscape .
 
This vector image includes elements that have been taken or adapted from this file:
 Flag of Massachusetts.svg.
Author Adaptation by User:Sagredo / E.H. Garrett
Other versions

Licensing

Public domain
Public domain
 This image from the Xrmap flag collection (source: flags-2.6-src.tar.bz2).
The README file in that collection says of the SVG flags "We release them in the public domain".
Public domain This work has been released into the public domain by its copyright holder, Xrmap. This applies worldwide.
In some countries this may not be legally possible; if so:
Xrmap grants anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was a Commonwealth of Massachusetts public record disseminated by a Commonwealth agency or the Massachusetts Archives. Massachusetts' Secretary of the Commonwealth has stated that such works can be copied and used for any purpose. This copyright does not extend to those records created, received, or under the custody of municipalities by M. G. L. c. 66, § 7, unless otherwise stated, nor does this apply to copy-written materials for commercial purposes received by employees of the Commonwealth.
Language describing permissions

A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, Published by William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Division of Public Records, (Updated January 2017) can be found at https://www.mass.gov/files/2017-06/Public%20Records%20Law.pdf and page 7 says:

"With the exception of situations in which a records custodian is withholding records pursuant to Exemption (n), inquiries into a requester's status or motivation for seeking information are expressly prohibited. [2] Consequently, all requests for public records, even if made for a commercial purpose or to assist the requester in a lawsuit against the holder of the records, must be honored in accordance with the Public Records Law."

  1. ↑ http://www.mass.gov/Aosc/docs/reports_audits/CAFR/2007/page_188.pdf
  2. ↑ See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a) (public records are to be provided to “any person”); see also 950 CMR 32.05(5) (custodian prohibited from inquiring into a requester’s status or motivation); but see G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(n) (a records custodian may ask the requester to voluntarily provide additional information in order to reach a “reasonable judgment” regarding disclosure of responsive records).
Definition of "public record"

Public records are defined in A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, Published by William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Division of Public Records, (Updated January 2017) at https://www.mass.gov/files/2017-06/Public%20Records%20Law.pdf on page 40, under M. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26) as:

all books, papers, maps, photographs, recorded tapes, financial statements, statistical tabulations, or other documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any agency, executive office, department, board, commission, bureau, division or authority of the commonwealth, or of any political subdivision thereof, or of any authority established by the general court to serve a public purpose, or any person, corporation, association, partnership or other legal entity which receives or expends public funds for the payment or administration of pensions for any current or former employees of the commonwealth or any political subdivision as defined in section 1 of chapter 32, unless such materials or data fall within the following exemptions found on page 40

Limitations of template usage
Warning Concerned wikipedia editors have noticed that the Commonwealth may make unfounded allegations that copyright protections exist for state regulations based on technical codes developed and copyrighted by private organizations. Where such works/allegations are concerned, {{PD-EdictGov}} and {{PD-US-Codes-and-Standards-as-Statutory-Law}} may be appropriate.
Warning This template is based on official statements by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, which are not definitive in the way a statute or a court ruling is. This formal statement only speaks to public records held by the Massachusetts Archives, so the use of this template for public records of the Commonwealth sourced from individuals or groups not affiliated therewith is not encouraged.

This is consistent with the statement at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ARC/arcres/residx.htm:

"Those records created by Massachusetts government agencies and institutions held by the Massachusetts Archives are not copyrighted and are available for public use. Copyright for materials submitted to state agencies may be held by the person or organization that created the document."

Note: Works that are considered "public records" but were not created by a state or municipal government agency may be copyrighted by their author; the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution prevents state law from overriding the author's right to copyright protection that is granted by federal law. For example, a state agency may post images online of the final appearance of a building under construction; while the images may be "public records", their creator (eg. architecture/construction firm) retains copyright rights to the image unless the contract with the agency says otherwise. See: Government-in-the-Sunshine Manual: To what extent does federal law preempt state law regarding public inspection of records?.
Disclaimer: The information provided, especially the list of agencies permitted to claim copyright, may not be complete. Wikimedia Commons makes no guarantee of the adequacy or validity of this information in this template (see disclaimer).

Massachusetts seal
Insignia This image shows a flag, a coat of arms, a seal or some other official insignia. The use of such symbols is restricted in many countries. These restrictions are independent of the copyright status.

References


Original upload log

date/time username size edit summary
00:30, 21 April 2009 User:Svgalbertian 353 KB Made chain ring more visible.
00:16, 21 April 2009 User:Svgalbertian 355 KB Fixed crop issue.
00:14, 21 April 2009 User:Svgalbertian 355 KB Corrections, clean-up.
00:58, 3 March 2008 User:Sagredo 446 KB {{Information |Description=Seal of the State of Massachusetts |Source= derived from http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cismaf/mf1a.htm |Date=March 2008 |Author=Sagredo |Permission= |other_versions= }} == Licensing == {{self|GFDL|cc-by-3.0}}
00:38, 3 March 2008 User:Sagredo 446 KB {{Information |Description=Seal of the State of Massachusetts |Source= derived from http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cismaf/mf1a.htm |Date=March 2008 |Author=Sagredo |Permission= |other_versions= }} == Licensing == {{self|GFDL|cc-by-3.0}}
00:34, 3 March 2008 User:Sagredo 446 KB {{Information |Description=Seal of the State of Massachusetts |Source= derived from http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cismaf/mf1a.htm |Date=March 2008 |Author=Sagredo |Permission= |other_versions= }}

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Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current18:08, 1 June 2017Thumbnail for version as of 18:08, 1 June 2017448 × 448 (450 KB)wikimediacommons>SimtropolitanFurther adjustment to letters, fixed some width, spacing issues

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