Wikipedia:Contributor copyright investigations

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Contributor copyright investigations

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Contributor copyright investigations (CCI) is a process intended to identify users who have repeatedly committed copyright violations in articles or uploaded many copyrighted images (typically over a long period of time), and is intended to systematically remove this infringing material. This process begins with the filing of a CCI by an editor who notices a large-scale pattern of copyright violation by an individual contributor and, if the case is approved, will lead to a complete survey of their contributions, followed by removal of any material suspected to be infringing copyright.

This process is intended for large-scale systematic copyright violations only. Persistent unattributed copying or translation within Wikipedia or from other Wikimedia properties or compatibly licensed sources may also be raised here. To list individual media files or articles for evaluation, see Wikipedia:Copyright problems or Wikipedia:Files for discussion; however, attempting resolution is not required prior to filing a CCI request.

When and how should a CCI be started?

As a rule of thumb, at least five instances of clear copyvios (copy/pasting of unlicensed third party material; clear derivative works) should be required to file a case. There are no other requirements for filing a CCI request.

New cases should be filed by placing the {{subst:CCI-request}} underneath the requests header below.

{{subst:CCI-request
|user = the user subject to the CCI
|evidence = your reasoning for opening the case
}}

Please remember to remain civil. Some contributors violate copyright policies due to a misunderstanding of copyright policies or laws, rather than malicious intent. While it may be necessary to intervene to prevent future copyright issues, it is not helpful to treat individuals listed here discourteously. Good faith requests are welcome even if they should prove mistaken. However, please remember that this is a serious allegation and should not be made without evidence. Requests without evidence may be interpreted as harassment.

After submitting a case, please notify the contributor by adding {{subst:CCI-notice}} ~~~~ to the bottom of their talk page. It is not necessary to notify individuals who are currently blocked for copyright infringement, even if temporarily.

Review of CCI requests

Following a CCI request, a CCI clerk or admins will determine whether concerns are substantiated, based on the evidence presented and the response of the editor who is the subject of the CCI. Non-admin clerks may request that an administrator reviews deleted contributions where necessary. If the evidence does not substantiate the concern, the CCI request will be declined, and then filed in the archive subpage.

If a user has requested evaluation of your contributions here, please remember that the purpose of this process is not to harass or embarrass you, but to ensure that Wikipedia remains compliant with copyright laws. If you believe that your contributions have not constituted a copyright problem under Wikipedia's policies, please succinctly provide your rationale. If it should prove that the contributor who made the request is mistaken, this will be noted and the request archived. However, if concerns are substantiated, you may best demonstrate your willingness to comply with Wikipedia's copyright policies by helping to identify and address the copyright issues you have caused.

Accepted cases

Upon accepting a case, a clerk or uninvolved admin will create the appropriate contributor survey subpage and then populate the contribution data.

If contributors have been proven to have a history of extensive copyright violation, it may be assumed without further evidence that all of their major contributions are copyright violations, and thus removed indiscriminately, in accordance with Wikipedia:Copyright violations. If such indiscriminate removal would be controversial or cause considerable collateral damage, an effort must be made to assemble a volunteer force sufficient to evaluate problematic contributions. If insufficient volunteers are available to manage clean-up, presumptive wholesale removal is allowed.

To participate in cases, follow the link of one of the open cases. All contributors with no history of copyright problems are welcome to contribute to clean up, and users who are listed here are encouraged to help clean up their own materials. The user should not expect to receive individual notices of articles or images that are deleted or blanked for copyright concerns during the course of a CCI.

The Y and N (created with {{y}} and {{n}}) templates are used to confirm whether the edit was a copyright issue. The ? (created with {{?}}) template is used to indicate that the edit has already been either deleted or completely rewritten, and therefore confirming whether the edit contained copyright issues is impossible, or else not worth the effort. Upon completion, the CCI case will be filed on the archive subpage.

Requests

Please add any suspected infringers below, following the format at How should a case be filed? above. A CCI clerk or administrator will review your request according to the instructions, then either open the case or close it.

Communicat

Communicat (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log)
Reported by Nick-D (talk)
As discussed at Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/World War II/Workshop#Request for immediate investigation of COPYVIO Communicat has a history of copying and pasting material from the works of the writer Stan Wiener which are available online at http://www.truth-hertz.net/ and at least one other author. Arbitrator Shell Kinney (talk · contribs) has suggested that a CCI be opened on this: [1]. Please note that Communicat is a party to the arbitration case Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/World War II, as am I. Nick-D (talk) 22:26, 10 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Contribution survey for this user:

Central and Eastern Europe: (3 edits, 3 major, +62933) (+62933)(+7467)(+6801)

Western betrayal: (17 edits, 17 major, +10684) (+1428)(+4842) plagiarized from Winer, page 77,(+10684) plagiarized from Winer, para2=p95, para3=p94, para4=p103,(+151)(+3570) plagiarized from Winer, pages 109-110,(+208)(+137)(+212)(+248)(+160)(+3402) plagiarized from Winer, page 106,(+1958) plagiarized from Winer, page 30,(+873) plagiarized from Winer, page 110,(+375)(+4487) plagiarized from Winer, page 45,(+399)(+6817)

Cold War: (3 edits, 3 major, +10168) (+10168)(+4568) plagiarized from Winer, page 95,(+174)

Aftermath of World War II: (51 edits, 51 major, +4976) (+651)(+318)(+141)(+360)(+893)(+618)(+416)(+3056)(+624)(+836)(+607)(+1265)(+811)(+243)(+2068)(+1056)(+440)(+1730)(+388)(+2077)(+1322)(+100)(+332)(+428)(+697)(+503)(+152)(+141)(+3738)(+584)(+312)(+323)(+484)(+1776)(+4976)(+3563)(+138)(+201)(+772)(+3062)(+1196)(+2423)(+147)(+160)(+786)(+104)(+776)(+1011)(+110)(+185)(+394) First change made by Communicat to Aftermath of World War II [2] includes a nearly verbatim quoting from page 100 of the October 2004 edition of Stan Winer's Between the Lies, where Winer writes
But the armed forces of the Soviet Union, despite their heavy losses sustained during the war against Hitler, were now the world's greatest land power, stronger in men and conventional weapons than the combined forces of the US, Great Britain, Canada and France.26 Stalin had 17 Red Army divisions deployed in Europe, in the Soviet zone of occupation behind the Iron Curtain, whereas the US Army in Germany had been drastically weakened by demobilisation and redeployment since the end of the war. Moreover, neither the British nor the French, heavily committed as they were to colonial wars and policing actions in other parts of the globe, were in a position to contemplate a new ground war in Europe so soon after the last one.

Here's the diff [3] when Communicat added Winer's text on Reinhard Gehlen. Another COPYVIO in [4], Communicat copies Efim Cherniak's Ambient Conflicts, [5] (to get the best look at the duplicate text, enter 'in directive 432/D' in the box).

Psychological torture: (1 edits, 1 major, +3153) (+3153) At [6], Communicat plagiarizes and paraphases closely [7] Y I reverted the article to the last pre-Communicat version to remove the copyright violation; a kindly administrator deleted all of the copyvio revisions. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (talk) 04:37, 12 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Strategic bombing during World War II: (6 edits, 6 major, +2345) (+2345)(+942)(+159)(+193)(+119)(+193) Most of Communicat's additions to the Strategic bombing during World War II article back in April were also lifted from Stan Winer, with some very minor changes (pp. 36-37 of the first volume of 'Between the lies') (Nick-D found this diff)

History of South Africa: (17 edits, 17 major, +2225) (+118)(+2225)(+1017)(+1023)(+656)(+141)(+222)(+533)(+117)(+198)(+201)(+137)(+194)(+300)(+819)(+726)(+1546)

World War II: (4 edits, 4 major, +2219) (+150)(+2219)(+1330)(+444)

Singapore: (1 edits, 1 major, +1249) (+1249)

South Africa: (4 edits, 4 major, +616) (+192)(+310)(+303)(+616)

7 articles have been truncated from this survey as changes to them were similar to this. MER-C 02:59, 11 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

SeanQ01

SeanQ01 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log)
Reported by Magog the Ogre (talk)
Not a huge amount of edits, but his "self-created" images include official-appearing portraits of several former prime ministers of Barbados. Found at least one text vio [8]. Magog the Ogre (talk) 23:30, 24 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]
- I've gone through the images, deleted most, fixed one (logo), AFD'd all but one. Skier Dude (talk 02:13, 27 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Contribution survey for this user:

Dale Marshall: (3 edits, 3 major, +2325) (+929)(+2325)(+176)
Parliament of Barbados: (1 edits, 1 major, +1919) Y
Ilaro Court: (3 edits, 3 major, +1712) (+1712)(+158)(+144)
Clifford Husbands: (4 edits, 4 major, +1710) Y blanked MER-C 02:03, 1 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Barbados Labour Party: (1 edits, 1 major, +691) N MER-C 05:08, 4 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Mia Mottley: (2 edits, 2 major, +566) (+200)(+566)
Lloyd Erskine Sandiford: (1 edits, 1 major, +519) (+519)
David Thompson (Barbadian politician): (1 edits, 1 major, +466) N Edit had been worked out of page. Wizardman _{Operation Big Bear} 13:48, 7 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

MER-C 02:03, 1 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Mibelz

Mibelz (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log)
Reported by NW (Talk)
I was just alerted to a copyright issue last night after an OTRS complaint about Miervaldis Jursevskis. Mikbelz has since recreated the article seemingly without any such issues, but I think a spot check of a few of the many articles he or she has created should be done just to make sure this isn't a wider issue. NW (Talk) 17:55, 13 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I don't have time to go through much right now, but I did find issues with Ruth Kuczynski, though that's not a chess bio so it's probably not representative. Have you checked any others yourself already? VernoWhitney (talk) 23:24, 16 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I haven't had time recently, unfortunately. I can check in a week or so if this one isn't gotten to before then. NW (Talk) 22:14, 17 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I've looked through a bunch more articles, mostly chess bios, and didn't see any other copyvio. Most of them are sourced to a bunch of tournament reports, so there's no creative content to copy in the first place. VernoWhitney (talk)

Tarekmech

Tarekmech (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log)
Reported by Magog the Ogre (talk)
many previous imagevios: [9]; the rest include images that sure don't look self-taken. Magog the Ogre (talk) 21:58, 9 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

See also Wikipedia:Possibly unfree files/2010 November 9#Files by Tarekmech. MER-C 05:02, 11 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Looks like all of them are now deleted. Wizardman _{Operation Big Bear} 19:01, 11 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Onefoory

Onefoory (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log)
Reported by Dre.comandante (talk)
Uploaded many copyrighted images, for example File:Markus_Haris.jpg might be taken from here [10] Dre.comandante (talk) 22:28, 8 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Open investigations

Closed investigations

All closed investigations, as well as requests that were declined, can be found at Wikipedia:Contributor copyright investigations/Archive.

Templates

See Category:CCI templates.

Template:CCI: placed on article talk pages to note cleanup
Template:CCId: placed on article talk pages when it has been tagged presumptively for deletion review in one week
Template:CCI-notice: to notify contributors of a new listing
Template:CCI-project: to notify a project of a CCI with which they may help
Template:CCI-request: to request new investigations
Template:CCI-open: to denote open CCI requests, this template should only be used by a clerk or administrator

Footer

Put new listings under investigation requests, above.

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