Copyright, Licensing and Reuse

 

Last updated: 28th October 2026
Effective from: 1st January 2023

The Folklore Database brings together traditional narratives, published source texts, scholarly classification data, geographical information and original editorial research. These materials do not all have the same copyright or licensing status.

This page explains which rights apply to each category of material. Individual narrative pages provide a short rights notice identifying the status of the material displayed there.

One point is worth stating at the outset, because it is a common misunderstanding. The Database is not just an English edition of the Berezkin–Duvakin catalogue. That catalogue is one component among several. A substantial part of the corpus — hundreds of thousands of pieces of metadata and narrative data — has been added and prepared by the Database and has no counterpart in it. By default, a search and any map generated from a search, will therefore draw on both, and should not be attributed to the Berezkin/Duvakin catalogue alone.

 

Unless a particular item states otherwise:

 

MaterialRights status
Original editorial material created by Jonathan Fielder-White CC BY 4.0
Original database compilation and enhancement by Jonathan Fielder-White CC BY 4.0, to the extent protected
Berezkin catalogue material and adaptations of it CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Verified public-domain narrative texts Public domain; no Creative Commons licence applied
Underlying myths, traditions, facts, ideas and motifs No copyright claimed
ATU and other third-party catalogue references Credited to their respective authors and publishers
Basemaps and third-party geographical data Their respective licences
Other third-party texts, translations and images Their respective copyright or licence terms

The appearance of material in the Database does not, by itself, place that material under a new copyright or Creative Commons licence.

 

1. Original editorial material

Except where otherwise stated, original material created by Jonathan Fielder-White is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0).

This may include:

  • original summaries and explanatory notes;
  • editorial annotations;
  • mytheme identification and analysis;
  • classification decisions;
  • cross-catalogue relationships;
  • location research and geographical interpretation;
  • bibliographical enhancement;
  • independently created metadata;
  • the selection, organisation and presentation of database material; and
  • other original research and editorial contributions.

CC BY 4.0 permits copying, redistribution, adaptation and commercial use, provided that appropriate attribution is given.

The licence applies only to material in which Jonathan Fielder-White or the Folklore Database holds the relevant rights. It does not create rights over facts, ideas, public-domain material or content belonging to third parties.

Required attribution

When reusing protected editorial material, please provide the following, where reasonably practicable:

  • the name Jonathan Fielder-White;
  • the name Folklore Database;
  • a link or citation to the specific page used;
  • a link to the CC BY 4.0 licence; and
  • an indication of whether the material was changed or adapted.

A recommended attribution is:

Jonathan Fielder-White, “[Title of entry],” Folklore Database, [specific page URL], licensed under CC BY 4.0.

For reuse involving several entries or a substantial dataset, the following may be more appropriate:

Contains editorial and database material by Jonathan Fielder-White, Folklore Database, [URL], licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Attribution must not suggest that Jonathan Fielder-White or the Folklore Database endorses the reuser, publication, product or interpretation.

2. Berezkin catalogue material

Material derived from Yuri Berezkin and Evgeny Duvakin’s Analytical Catalogue of Folklore Motifs is identified on the relevant pages and remains available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

This may include:

  • Berezkin motif descriptions;
  • catalogue narrative summaries;
  • motif classifications;
  • catalogue distribution data, being the record of which traditions attest a given motif;
  • tradition names and their catalogue associations;
  • translations of Berezkin catalogue material; and
  • editorial enhancements that directly adapt protected Berezkin material.

The catalogue supplies tradition names, not their positions on the earth. Every coordinate held by the Database is original research undertaken by Jonathan Fielder-White, for catalogue-derived traditions as much as for any other, and is licensed as set out in section 7. Attributing the geography of a Database map to the catalogue would be inaccurate.

The underlying traditional myths, narrative ideas and motifs are not owned by the Database or brought under this licence. The licence concerns the protected catalogue expression, organisation and data, to the extent that copyright or related rights apply.

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 permits noncommercial copying and adaptation, provided that:

  • Berezkin and Duvakin are appropriately credited;
  • the source and licence are identified;
  • changes are indicated; and
  • adaptations are distributed under the same or a compatible licence.

Commercial use of protected Berezkin material is not authorised by this licence. Anyone wishing to make such use should contact the relevant rights holder.

A recommended citation is:

Berezkin, Yuri E., and Evgeny N. Duvakin. Thematic Classification and Distribution of Folklore and Mythological Motifs: Analytical Catalogue. Available at ruthenia.ru.

Where translation or data enhancement has been undertaken by the Database, the page will also identify:

Translation and data enhancement: Jonathan Fielder-White, Folklore Database.

3. Public-domain narrative texts

Narratives identified as public domain are not subject to either CC BY 4.0 or CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

These may include historical literary works, early folklore collections, religious texts and other works whose copyright has expired or which were never eligible for copyright protection.

The Database does not claim copyright over the original wording of these texts. However, material presented alongside them—including annotations, classifications, mytheme analysis, location research and bibliographical enhancement—may be separately licensed under CC BY 4.0.

A typical public-domain narrative page therefore contains two distinct rights categories:

Narrative text: Public domain.
Editorial annotations and database enhancements: © Jonathan Fielder-White, CC BY 4.0.

Although the Database’s licence does not require attribution for public-domain material, users are strongly encouraged to cite the original author, collector, translator, edition and source. Accurate source citation is an important part of responsible historical and folkloristic research.

Jurisdictional differences

Copyright duration differs between countries. A work may be public domain in one jurisdiction while remaining protected in another.

Project Gutenberg, for example, ordinarily assesses public-domain status under United States law. Users outside the United States are responsible for determining whether the material is also public domain in the country where it will be reused.

Where public-domain status has not been independently confirmed, the Database may use wording such as:

This source text is reported as public domain in its source jurisdiction. Copyright restrictions may differ elsewhere.

4. Underlying myths, folklore and religious traditions

The Folklore Database does not claim ownership of:

  • myths and mythological traditions;
  • folktales and legends;
  • religious narratives and beliefs;
  • orally transmitted traditions;
  • customary narrative patterns;
  • historical events and facts;
  • story ideas, themes and motifs;
  • deities, heroes and traditional characters; or
  • the cultural heritage of any community.

Discovering a traditional story through the Database does not, by itself, make a new novel, film, game, artwork or other independent creation subject to the Database’s Creative Commons licences.

Licence conditions become relevant only where protected wording, editorial material, catalogue data or a protected portion of the database is reproduced or adapted.

Legal public-domain status should not be interpreted as removing all ethical responsibilities. Some traditions may concern sacred, restricted or culturally sensitive knowledge. Reusers should consider appropriate attribution, consultation and the customs and wishes of the communities from which the material originates.

5. ATU tale-type references

The Database may refer to the Aarne–Thompson–Uther international tale-type classification using entries such as:

ATU 510A — Cinderella

ATU numbers and short identifying titles are presented as scholarly classification references. The Database does not claim ownership of the ATU system or represent ATU catalogue material as its own.

The application of an ATU classification to a particular Database narrative may constitute an editorial judgement by Jonathan Fielder-White. That editorial classification and its database arrangement are made available under CC BY 4.0, but the ATU identifier itself remains attributable to the ATU system.

The standard reference is:

Uther, Hans-Jörg. The Types of International Folktales: A Classification and Bibliography, Based on the System of Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson. 3 vols. Folklore Fellows’ Communications 284–286. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 2004.

Unless expressly stated otherwise, the Database does not license or authorise reproduction of Uther’s full tale-type descriptions, summaries, bibliographies or catalogue entries. Those materials remain subject to the rights of their respective authors and publishers.

6. Other catalogues and classification systems

The Database may contain references to other scholarly catalogues, motif indexes and classification systems.

A reference to a catalogue number or title does not indicate that the Database owns or licenses the referenced catalogue. Extended descriptions or other protected material from third-party catalogues are included only where their copyright status, licence or permitted use allows it.

The Database’s independent decision to associate a narrative with a particular classification may be an original editorial contribution licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Users wishing to reproduce material from a referenced catalogue should consult the catalogue’s publisher or rights holder.

7. Maps and geographical information

Maps displayed by the Database may combine several elements:

  • narrative and tradition locations researched and assigned by Jonathan Fielder-White;
  • original editorial interpretation and map overlays;
  • coordinates and other factual geographical information;
  • OpenStreetMap data;
  • third-party basemap tiles; and
  • cartography supplied by providers such as OpenTopoMap, CARTO or OpenFreeMap.

Every coordinate in the Database is original work. None are taken from the Berezkin–Duvakin catalogue, which records tradition names rather than positions. The Database’s location research, annotations and narrative overlays are available under CC BY 4.0 to the extent that they are protected by copyright or database rights, and that licence permits commercial use.

Underlying basemaps, tiles and geographical datasets retain their respective licences. Required provider attribution is displayed within or immediately beside the map and must be preserved when the map is reproduced.

The inclusion of a place or coordinate represents the Database’s best available interpretation of the narrative’s cultural or geographical association. It should not necessarily be understood as the exact location at which a narrative originated.

Citing a map generated by the Database

Every map on the site carries a Cite this map panel beneath it, which produces a complete caption for the map as displayed, including the search or motif it represents, the number of locations plotted, the corpus release and the current basemap credit. Copying that caption is the simplest way to cite a figure correctly, and it saves guessing at wording.

Two requirements apply whichever route is taken. The basemap provider attribution shown on the map must remain legible in any reproduction of the image, and both the catalogue and the Database should be credited where each has contributed, since they contribute different things.

For a map generated from a search, the selection of narratives is produced by the search itself, running across the whole corpus:

Distribution of narrative locations returned by the search “…” in the Folklore Database, release 1.261028.1 (28 October 2026) (3,412 locations). Map and underlying geolocation by Jonathan Fielder-White, Folklore Database, https://www.folkloredatabase.com/db_search.php (accessed 28 October 2026). The corpus incorporates the Berezkin–Duvakin Analytical Catalogue of Folklore Motifs alongside other collections and material compiled by the Folklore Database. Basemap © OpenStreetMap contributors; tiles © OpenTopoMap (CC BY-SA 3.0).

For a map on a motif page the position differs. The set of traditions attesting a motif is the catalogue’s own scholarship, and the catalogue is therefore named first; the coordinates and the cartography remain the Database’s:

Distribution of the traditions attesting motif A5, ‘…’, as recorded in the Berezkin–Duvakin Analytical Catalogue of Folklore Motifs (312 traditions mapped). Geolocation and cartography by Jonathan Fielder-White, Folklore Database, release 1.261028.1(28 October 2026), https://www.folkloredatabase.com/motif/A5 (accessed 28 October 2026). Basemap © OpenStreetMap contributors; tiles © OpenTopoMap (CC BY-SA 3.0).

That difference has a practical consequence. A search map draws on the corpus as a whole and its geography is entirely original work, so the noncommercial restriction described in section 2 will rarely be engaged. A motif map reproduces a specific piece of the catalogue’s distribution data, and anyone contemplating commercial publication of one should consider section 2 before proceeding.

Corpus releases

The corpus changes over time: narratives are added, and existing records, including coordinates, are occasionally revised. Citations show a daily version in the form 1.YYMMDD.1. Today the version is 1.261028.1: the middle element is the current date in year, month and day order, using the Europe/London time zone. The first and final elements are fixed at 1.

This version is generated automatically each day. It records the date of the displayed citation; it does not identify an archived database snapshot or imply that the corpus was changed on that day. Include the access date when citing the Database.

8. Bibliographies, citations and source information

Bibliographical facts—including names, publication dates, titles and page numbers—are not ordinarily protected individually as original literary expression. However, the selection, correction, organisation and presentation of a substantial bibliography or source dataset may be protected as editorial or database material.

Original bibliographical enhancement undertaken by Jonathan Fielder-White is made available under CC BY 4.0.

Copyright remains with the respective rights holders for any protected source text, translation, image, description or substantial quotation referenced by a bibliographical record.

9. Third-party material

Some pages may contain material owned or licensed by third parties. This can include:

  • translations;
  • photographs and illustrations;
  • quotations;
  • maps and map tiles;
  • external catalogue descriptions;
  • digitised source material; and
  • material reproduced with permission.

Such material is excluded from the Database’s general CC BY 4.0 licence unless expressly stated otherwise. Its rights status and attribution should be shown beside the material or in the associated source information.

Nothing on this page should be interpreted as granting rights that the Folklore Database does not possess.

10. Database rights and substantial reuse

The selection, verification, organisation and presentation of the Database may be protected by copyright and, where applicable, database rights.

To the extent that these rights apply:

  • original Database compilation and editorial material is licensed under CC BY 4.0; and
  • Berezkin-derived database material remains subject to CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

The use of individual facts, ideas or public-domain narratives does not automatically engage these rights. Repeated or systematic extraction, or reuse of a substantial protected portion of the Database, may do so.

Anyone planning substantial republication, computational extraction or redistribution is encouraged to contact the Database so that the applicable sources, licences and attribution can be identified correctly.

Text and data mining and AI training

Any reservation of text and data mining, automated extraction, dataset creation or AI training rights on this site applies only to protected material in which the Database holds those rights and which is not offered under a Creative Commons or other reuse licence, to the extent permitted by law. It does not override rights granted by the applicable licence, public-domain status, or statutory exceptions and limitations. Separately identified third-party material retains its own terms.

Reuse of CC BY 4.0 material remains subject to that licence. Reuse of Berezkin–Duvakin-derived material remains subject to CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, including its noncommercial condition and ShareAlike requirements where applicable. No additional restriction is imposed on the exercise of those licensed rights.

11. Exceptions and limitations

Creative Commons licences do not restrict uses already permitted by law, including applicable copyright exceptions and limitations such as quotation, criticism, review, research or fair dealing.

Where a use is legally permitted without the rights holder’s permission, it is not necessary to rely upon a Creative Commons licence. Normal scholarly citation and acknowledgement remain strongly encouraged.


12. Previous licensing

Creative Commons licences are irrevocable. Material previously received under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 may continue to be used under that licence.

From the effective date shown above, qualifying original material created independently by Jonathan Fielder-White is additionally made available under CC BY 4.0, except where otherwise stated. Berezkin-derived material remains under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.


13. Errors, corrections and rights enquiries

The Folklore Database seeks to identify copyright, licensing and public-domain status accurately. Given the age, international origin and complex publication history of many sources, errors or uncertainties may occasionally arise.

If you are a rights holder, community representative, scholar or other interested party and believe that material has been incorrectly attributed or classified, please contact:

Jonathan Fielder-White
Folklore Database

https://www.folkloredatabase.com
folkloredatabase@gmail.com

Please identify the relevant page, material and basis of the request. Legitimate concerns will be investigated and, where appropriate, the material or rights statement will be corrected.


14. Disclaimer

This page provides general information about the licensing and reuse of material contained in the Folklore Database. It is not legal advice and does not provide a definitive determination of copyright status in every jurisdiction.

Users remain responsible for ensuring that their proposed use complies with the laws applicable to them and with any separately identified third-party rights, cultural protocols or ethical responsibilities.