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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Fab s3 (talk | contribs) at 16:19, 28 June 2015 (→‎About the article image: new section). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

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    Media copyright questions
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    Welcome to the Media Copyright Questions page, a place for help with image copyrights, tagging, non-free content, and related questions. For all other questions please see Wikipedia:Questions.

    How to add a copyright tag to an existing image
    1. On the description page of the image (the one whose name starts File:), click Edit this page.
    2. From the page Wikipedia:File copyright tags, choose the appropriate tag:
      • For work you created yourself, use one of the ones listed under the heading "For image creators".
      • For a work downloaded from the internet, please understand that the vast majority of images from the internet are not appropriate for use on Wikipedia. Exceptions include images from flickr that have an acceptable license, images that are in the public domain because of their age or because they were created by the United States federal government, or images used under a claim of fair use. If you do not know what you are doing, please post a link to the image here and ask BEFORE uploading it.
      • For an image created by someone else who has licensed their image under an acceptable Creative Commons or other free license, or has released their image into the public domain, this permission must be documented. Please see Requesting copyright permission for more information.
    3. Type the name of the tag (e.g.; {{Cc-by-4.0}}), not forgetting {{ before and }} after, in the edit box on the image's description page.
    4. Remove any existing tag complaining that the image has no tag (for example, {{untagged}})
    5. Hit Publish changes.
    6. If you still have questions, go on to "How to ask a question" below.
    How to ask a question
    1. To ask a new question hit the "Click here to start a new discussion" link below.
    2. Please sign your question by typing ~~~~ at the end.
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    Note for those replying to posted questions

    If a question clearly does not belong on this page, reply to it using the template {{mcq-wrong}} and, if possible, leave a note on the poster's talk page. For copyright issues relevant to Commons where questions arising cannot be answered locally, questions may be directed to Commons:Commons:Village pump/Copyright.

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    Wish to create a Wikipedia page for a deceased but high profile individual who doesn't have one

    Dear Sir/Madam,

    I am in the process of compiling a brief synopsis, following the general Wikipedia format, of details of the life of Dr. Wilson A. Head, author of Life on the Edge: Experiences in Black and White in North America. I note that the person who wrote the forward to this book, the late Lincoln Alexander, has a Wikipedia page dedicated to him, and the person who wrote the epilogue to the book, Madame Rosalie Silberman Abella, also has a Wikipedia page dedicated to her, but Dr. Head has none. I am close to finishing the compilation for Dr. Head and would like to know how to submit it. Do I need a copyright and how do I get one? I will be able to submit a photograph of Dr. Head as well.

    Also, I note that Dr. Head is not mentioned on the notable alumni of the two universities he attended in the U.S., and should be, so I will be submitting details of his graduations as well as a proposal that his name be added to those two pages as notable alumni.

    Yours truly,

    Kathleen O'Neill — Preceding unsigned comment added by Katsheron (talk • contribs) 16:22, 21 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

    Hello Katsheron, and welcome to Wikipedia. To answer your questions on the copyright situation, let me first address the text part of your proposed article. As explained here, "the text of Wikipedia is copyrighted (automatically, under the Berne Convention) by Wikipedia editors and contributors and is formally licensed to the public under one or several liberal licenses." But, at the same time, "permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify Wikipedia's text under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License and, unless otherwise noted, the GNU Free Documentation License." In short, the text you provide will be copyrighted to you, but by adding it to Wikipedia you automatically release it under two free licenses for anyone to edit, share, and modify. This includes also the possibility for commercial exploitation of your text.
    Images on Wikipedia are a special subject, because even if you are in the possession of a physical copy of a photograph, it will not automatically make you the copyright holder. If you intend to add photographs to Wikipedia which you did not take yourself, we will need an email of consent from the original photographer, or other means of proof that these images were never copyrighted in the United States, or are out of copyright (e.g. due to old age).

    Generally, you might want to read this primer for beginners at Wikipedia. It explains how to write a suitable Wikipedia article. E.g. it is important that the notability of a subject is supported by verifiable, secondary references. Once you think, your text is ready for submission, I suggest you first post it at Draft:Wilson Head instead of using the live article space. This will enable other editors to provide feedback to you, and you can improve the text without risking an early deletion for formal reasons that could be avoided. To insert your text, click the red "Draft" link, insert your text into the editor window and click "save page".

    Last but not least, I would like to note two things: Please sign your controbutions to noticeboards and talk pages like this one by typing four tilde characters ~~~~. It will automatically add your username and a timestamp for reference (NB: article and draft content is not signed this way). And while Wikipedia editors should always treat each other with respect and civility, there is no need for formal addresses like "Dear Madam and Sir". Feel free to ask any more questions, and happy editing. De728631 (talk) 16:49, 21 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

    From what I was able to glean very quickly.[1] [2] You probably have a good subject for an article. Good luck, and improve other articles, if you would. Thanks. -- Alanscottwalker (talk) 18:14, 21 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

    ILLBLISS ARTICLE

    I created the article "ILLBLISS" about a year ago. The artiste contacted me some weeks ago, requesting that I upload images and finish it up. He sent me files, including photos , which i have tried uploading to the page, but as I am new to Wikipedia in terms of creating articles, I would like to know if there is a way I can prove that I got these images from the artiste to prevent these files I uploaded from being deleted.

    I have used "{{PD-self}}" as the copyright information. I would like to know if this is appropriate or not. Additional information would be very much appreciated too. Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by Deolae (talk • contribs) 12:28, 22 June 2015

    That licence template would be fine if the images were actually your own work to release freely but they are not your work and clearly are still copyright to the creator. To verify the permission you need to get the copyright holder, who is normally the photographer and not the subject of an image, to follow the procedure found at WP:CONSENT when an OTRS team volunteer will communicate with them and determine exactly under what licence they are prepared to licence the images. However, remember that the images provided must be freely licenced which menas that anyone can use them for anything including commercial or derivative purposes and they need to understand that. Perhaps you are talking about File:ILLY.jpg - who took the photo and what copyright licence did they release the image under? BTW, please remember to sign all your talk page posts, but not article edits, by adding four tildes, like this, ~~~~ to such posts. Good luck. ww2censor (talk) 12:03, 22 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

    File:GiveDirectly_logo_2015.png

    This logo was tagged as {{non-free logo}} upon upload by @Rlange87: (And welcome to Wikipedia, Rlange!). It's only coloured text, though - that falls under {{PD-textlogo}}, yes? Jo-Jo Eumerus (talk) 18:36, 22 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

    Being a US logo it is certainly appropriate to use {{PD-textlogo}}. It has only just been uploaded by a new editor, possibly an employee, so they may not realise the more appropriate tag. ww2censor (talk) 18:42, 22 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]
    Just edit the image file and then upload the larger version. ww2censor (talk) 22:48, 22 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

    Licence ?

    Hello, I've recently updated an image to a page I created. The photo is properly cited and the photographer (and website) from whence it came are given credit. However, I am unclear on how to indicate the license status of the image (meaning: I don't know how to figure out what the image's license is/if I'm allowed to use it as per Wiki rules). Could anyone help me out here? Thank you! — Preceding unsigned comment added by DLSF4470 (talk • contribs) 22:56, 22 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

    If you are talking about File:Peterbeck.jpg that you uploaded, then you must get the copyright holder, who appears to be the photographer Doug Davis, to follow the procedure found at WP:CONSENT to verify they are releasing the image as freely licenced. Without that we cannot keep the image. ww2censor (talk) 08:19, 23 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

    Peer review and document improvement request

    This is a Peer review request to seek broader input to improve page: meta:Help:Form I & Affidavit (Customised for relinquishment of copyright as per 'free cultural work' definition) an option available under (Indian) Copyright act 1957 rules.

    Mahitgar (talk) 04:28, 24 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

    Can this image be uploaded to Wikipedia under fair use?

    Does anyone know if this image can be uploaded to Wikipedia under fair use for the article Frank E. Beach Memorial Fountain? I found it using this Creative Commons search feature, but it says "Some rights reserved". Also, the "Upload file" wizard found on the lefthand sidebar at Wikipedia does not seem to be working for me. Anyone else? ---Another Believer (Talk) 18:39, 24 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

    • That image is licensed under CC-BY-2.0 which is a compatible license for use here, without Fair Use. Just link to that source page in the upload form to provide the necessary attribution according to the license terms. CrowCaw 18:46, 24 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]
    • But don't images of contemporary works of art have to be used under fair use? I wish this weren't so confusing. I'll see what I can do. Thanks for your help! ---Another Believer (Talk) 22:00, 24 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]
    • Good point, the photog may not have the right to license it as he did. Don't upload it yet! CrowCaw 22:03, 24 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]
    • That's a photo of a 1975 sculpture, so yes it is a derivative work of the sculptor's art, so the photographer was incorrect in applying that license release. I've added some verbiage to the fair use rationale on the image. It looks right otherwise, with the possible exception that the pic should be downsized further. Other MCQ regulars please chime in! CrowCaw 22:15, 24 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]
    • Thank you so much for your assistance. Now that I know how to do this, I will try to find Flickr images for other outdoor sculptures in Portland with unillustrated Wikipedia articles. ---Another Believer (Talk) 22:19, 24 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]
    (edit conflict) Actually @Another Believer: neither of you are quite complete in your thoughts. Being a US sculpture any image of it is a derivative work and usually requires both a copyright licence for the sculpture AND the photo. The photo is freely licenced and according to this SIRIS Smithsonian Art Inventories Catalog Copyright Search the memorial was erected in 1974-5. All such pre-1978 sculptures require a copyright notice on the sculpture, or that the copyright was renewed, to still be in copyright but according to SIRIS it does not appear to have this notice, so you can add the template {{PD-US-no notice}} and substitute a fully completed normal {{information}} template for the non-free one you used. You may want to read c:Commons:Freedom of panorama#United States for further insight to this freedom of panorama topic. ww2censor (talk) 22:29, 24 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

    Thanks WW2C! So many rules and exceptions! Is it really a FoP issue though, since the sculpture is the subject of the photo and not incidentally included? And also doesn't US FoP only extend to buildings? CrowCaw 00:36, 25 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

    No, did you read the link I gave you above? It depends on the county but in the US buildings are free to photograph but monuments and sculptures are not. In France modern buildings are not free to photograph! As I explained a photo of a sculpture is a derivative work and, if still in copyright, requires two copyright tags; one for the sculpture and one for the photo. Derivative works of all sorts come with their own set of problems and need careful consideration. Just ask if you have FoP issues in future. ww2censor (talk) 13:51, 26 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

    Old wanted posters

    I am preparing an article about a 1934 crime, whose main perpetrator escaped from jail in 1936 and was the subject of an intense manhunt for eight months, ending with his 1937 rearrest.

    I would like to use an image of the perp's wanted poster. Last year's discussion about a contemporary wanted poster, for a criminal then on the lam, concerned different issues. In this case, the poster obviously dates from 1936 or 1937. There is no copyright notice, the only date mentioned is the date of escape, and no indication of authorship. There is one contact name, the case's lead detective, and the alternative of contacting the State Police in Harrisburg is mentioned.

    So at this point I assume the author was some state or county agent, but by not being explicit, the original was PD under the old rules, and still is. In particular, I'm not worrying about information on the back of the poster or clipped just past the edge of the reprint image. Choor monster (talk) 14:36, 25 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

    As a possible workaround: are there any FBI posters of this case? As a federal work they would be clearly be PD. De728631 (talk) 22:02, 26 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]
    It was a state crime tried in state court and involved an escape from a state jail, followed by the "largest manhunt in the history of Pennsylvania". I haven't come across any mention of FBI involvement. At the moment I believe it's covered by {{PD-Pre1978}}. Choor monster (talk) 12:56, 28 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

    adding photo and write new biography

    hi how can add photo to my biography — Preceding unsigned comment added by Twinkle Home (talk • contribs) 11:58, 28 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

    About the article image

    the image which is used in Sanjok Acharya is created/clicked by the Sanjok Acharya himself. It is casually taken from smartphone and the image is used in his article by his permission.

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