Wikipedia:Requesting copyright permission

This page is about editors who would like to get permission to use other people's work in Wikipedia. For information on granting permission to Wikipedia to use your own previously published work, please see Wikipedia:Donating copyrighted materials. For information on using Wikipedia content in your own work, please see Reusing Wikipedia content.

For information on requesting user permissions, please see Requests for permissions.

To use copyrighted material on Wikipedia, it is not enough that we have permission to use it on Wikipedia alone. That's because Wikipedia itself states all its material may be used by anyone, for any purpose. So we have to be sure all material is in fact licensed for that purpose, whoever provided it.

To do this, we must often email or contact the copyright holders and ask them to allow us to use it under the GFDL or a GFDL-compatible license, which would be compatible with how we want to use it. See Wikipedia:Copyrights for more.

The main legal thing that is important to explain to potential contributors: they would be agreeing that their picture (or text) can be used freely by Wikipedia AND its downstream users, and that such use might include commercial use, for which the contributor is not entitled to royalties or compensation. Wikimedia itself is a non-profit organization, and any money it raised from the re-use of Wikimedia content would go to furthering our aims—buying new servers to keep the websites running efficiently, producing print runs, making Wikipedia available on CD/DVD for schools and developing countries. However, not all of those who re-use our content are so high-minded.

This means that a contributor's work might appear in print or digital versions of this encyclopedia that are sold in stores. It might appear in WikiReaders, or other specialized subsets of the full text—teacher curriculum packets, publicity brochures, other uses we haven't thought of yet. It will certainly be used by other websites that legally copy our content.

About half the people we ask say yes, especially if it's explained that the license terms mean it is more widely appreciated and that we do not want to use all their material, but just one image or item. See Wikipedia:Example requests for permission for more.

This page explains what must be done, if you want to use content that's copyrighted, whether you know who produced it or you don't.

More

It sometimes happens that users post text from other websites claiming to have permission to do so. Sometimes, images from other websites are uploaded and claimed to be under a free license (GFDL, public domain, {{No rights reserved}}, or others.) If the external website does not have any indication that such claims are well-founded, it sometimes is a good idea to try to verify such claims by contacting a representative of that website directly. You should, however, basically assume good faith and judge for yourself whether a claim made appears credible or indeed does warrant following up with an attempt to have it confirmed.

If the poster or uploader claims to be the copyright holder and website owner him- or herself, leave them a message on-Wiki telling them to include a license statement on their website that says that the text or image in question is indeed published under the claimed license. That's the easiest way to confirm such a claim. If they don't do that, or claim to have permission from some third party (usually the original author or photographer), contact them or the third party via e-mail.

If you yourself have found an image and want to contact the photographer or copyright holder up-front to secure permission before uploading the image, you should also follow these guidelines.

The main legal thing that is important to explain to potential contributors: they would be agreeing that their picture (or text) can be used freely by Wikipedia AND its downstream users, and that such use might include commercial use, for which the contributor is not entitled to royalties or compensation

How to ask for permission

See also: Wikipedia:Example requests for permission

Search the external website and try to find a contact address. Most websites give an e-mail address of the webmaster; if the author of the text or the photographer of an image is known, try to contact the author or photographer directly. In general, do not send an inquiry to an e-mail address you find posted on Wikipedia: if you have reason to question a license claim made on Wikipedia, you also have reason to wonder whether contact data given on Wikipedia is correct. Try to find a contact address from a source other than the Wiki. Send them an e-mail explaining the situation and asking for their permission. If authorship is unclear, ask them to confirm that the text or image is indeed theirs.

For text

Text in Wikipedia articles must be licensed under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. When asking for permission, you should explain that this means that

1. The text or image may be freely redistributed and used.
2. It may be freely modified, and modified versions may also be freely redistributed and used.
3. Any redistribution must include the full text of the GFDL itself.
4. In all cases, the GFDL requires proper attribution of the author(s).
5. The GFDL allows commercial re-uses provided such re-use is also under the GFDL.

You may also choose to explain that the author does not give up any of his or her rights to use the text: he or she is still free to publish the text elsewhere or to license the same text to other parties under any other license. You may also want to mention that the requirement to include the full text of the GFDL with any redistribution makes stand-alone commercial reuse of the item unlikely in practice.

Due to a future transition to Creative Commons licenses allowable by an exemption in version 1.3, it is recommended that you attempt to obtain dual-licensing for text under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license as well, which uses similar ideologies to the GFDL, but is incompatible with the GFDL unless dual-licensed (because the clause allowing Wikipedia to transition to this license in the GFDL only allows "Massive Multiauthor Collaboration Sites", and content originally published on one under version 1.3 of the GFDL to be transitioned to the new license, with any external non-MMCS content added after a specific date not being allowed to be transitioned).

For images

For images, you are not limited to the GFDL: any free license will do. If the photographer's identity is unclear (for instance, if an image was uploaded stating the photographer's name and claiming a free license, but the image cannot be found on the web), ask them to confirm that the image is theirs. In any case, ask them to confirm the claimed license. For the GFDL, point out the points mentioned above. Any free license must allow all of the following, for both the image itself as well as any modified versions based on it:

1. Modification
2. Redistribution
3. Use for any purpose, including commercial purposes.

The only restrictions allowable are proper attribution of the creator and the requirement that derivative works are similarly licensed.

Persons who are the subject of a Wikipedia biography may also use Wikipedia:Contact us/Photo submission.

Declaration of consent for all enquiries

Donate copyrighted images for use on Wikipedia by clicking here. For text, see below.

In most cases, people who donate images and other non-text media should do so at Wikimedia Commons, which is the media repository serving Wikipedia and its sister projects. If you are donating images or other non-text media, it is highly preferred that you follow Wikimedia Commons' media donation instructions. The following set of instructions should only be used if something on the Commons site does not suit you.

Many people give Wikipedia permission to reuse their content (text, images, video, audio, etc.). We are grateful for this. However, we receive many unclear or ambiguous statements of permission (such as "I allow Wikipedia to reuse my photos"). There is a certain way to upload media that protects both the uploader and Wikipedia users by making clear to both how shared content can be used.

We cannot use your content on the basis of such statements. This is because such statements do not tell us who may use your content under which conditions and for which purpose. For this reason, your statement of permission must tell us under which set of rules (called a "copyright license") you make your content available. We also need to know that you are authorized to release the content to us.

To do so, please copy the text below into the email from an address associated with the original publication or provide proof of identity (depending on circumstances; see below), by which you grant us permission to use your content.

I hereby affirm that CHOOSE ONE: [I, (name), am] OR [I represent (copyright holder's name), ] the creator and/or sole owner of the exclusive copyright of CHOOSE ONE: [URLs of the content] OR [attached images/text] as used here: [Exact URL of the page or file on Wikipedia], and have legal authority in my capacity to release the copyright of that work.

I agree to publish the above-mentioned content under the free license: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International and GNU Free Documentation License (unversioned, with no invariant sections, front-cover texts, or back-cover texts). (THIS IS THE STANDARD CHOICE; YOU MAY CHOOSE ANOTHER ACCEPTABLE FREE LICENSE, IF YOU WISH TO)

I acknowledge that by doing so I grant anyone the right to use the work in a commercial product or otherwise, and to modify it according to their needs, provided that they abide by the terms of the license and any other applicable laws.

I am aware that this agreement is not limited to Wikipedia or related sites.

I am aware that I always retain the copyright of my work, and retain the right to be attributed in accordance with the license chosen. Modifications others make to the work will not be claimed to have been made by me.

I acknowledge that I cannot withdraw this agreement and that the content may or may not be kept permanently on a Wikimedia project.

[Sender's name]
[Sender's authority (If applicable. For example, "Copyright holder", "Director", "Appointed representative of", etc.)]
[Date]

---

Note:

• Before you send the email, ensure that you've removed all the comments from the above template.
• Replace the template text (such as name) with your own details.
• You must clearly identify the content that you're permitting us to use. Something like "I am creator of the images used on XYZ page" is NOT sufficient. You must provide the exact URL link(s) to the content or attach the content with the email. For images, we prefer that you upload them to Wikimedia Commons with the {{permission pending}} template, and provide the URLs of the uploaded images in your email.

Type of license

In the above example, the license granted is dual: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License and GNU Free Documentation license. Under some circumstances, you may choose another license and substitute its exact name in the statement of permission:

• For images, you may choose at least one type of license from our list of free licenses. All licenses we use have similar intentions. You must state the specific license: CC-BY-SA version 4.0 or Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike 4.0 are acceptably specific, just stating Creative Commons license or Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (without the version number) is not. You are not required to use dual licenses for images.
• For text, you must select a license compatible with Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (such as those listed in our copyright FAQ). It is strongly recommended that you use that particular license, as subtle nuances in other licenses may make them incompatible and create problems with your consent. If you are the contributor of the text to Wikipedia and the sole copyright holder, you must co-license the text under the GNU Free Documentation License. Otherwise, the dual license may be omitted.
• IMPORTANT: YOU MUST STATE A TYPE OF LICENSE WE CAN USE; OTHERWISE THIS DECLARATION IS NOT VALID.

Other fields

The other fields shown in bold and upper-case need to be filled out if applicable. This also helps clarify to the owner what they are agreeing to. If they are not filled out, the declaration and license will NOT be accepted. Details that you might need to include are:

• Name of the work
• Link to identify the work, if not included in the email
  
• Your name and your authority to sign the declaration (i.e. that you are the copyright holder, a director, their appointed representative, etc).
  
• Name and details of copyright holder, if different or you are acting on someone else's behalf
  
• Date of signing

Identification of material

Make sure to include the URL of the image or text if the work itself is not attached to your email. If the work is not online, you may wish to give ISBN or other details that would identify the specific work.

Email address

Email the permission emails to our email response team ("VRT") at permissions-enwikimedia.org (if you are releasing text) or permissions-commonswikimedia.org (if you are releasing images, audio, or video). Do not send the email to both addresses; this will not make things any faster and will create extra work for volunteers. Please send a copy to the person (if any) you were previously in touch with so they know about it.

The email you send must come from an email address that we can recognize. For instance, if you are releasing a website or images from a website, your email address must be associated with the website or listed on the contact page of the website. If you are releasing a work that is not available online, you may be required to provide proof of your identity. If you are releasing a work where you are acting on the copyright holder's behalf, you may be required to provide proof of authorization to work on the copyright holder's behalf.

Thank you!

See also

• Wikipedia:Donating copyrighted materials
• Commons:Email templates

When permission is confirmed

Once you have received a written/e-mail confirmation granting permission you should:

1. Upload the relevant images, sound recordings or videos to Commons. If you don't have a Commons account, see Commons:First steps for more help.

2. E-Mail the permission e-mails for Commons uploads to "permissions-commons AT wikimedia DOT org" and for text permissions to "permissions-en AT wikimedia DOT org" (both are OTRS addresses). Make sure to include the URL of the relevant page(s), and the release will be securely archived. In this mail include:
-The original request and confirmation answer
-The source Internet URL and the proposed Wikipedia link for the image or article
as this will enable the Wikimedia information team to verify the materials.

3. Add {{OTRS pending}} to the image description page or article talk page (whichever is applicable). This will help an editor with access to OTRS to tag the article or image with {{PermissionOTRS|ticket=http://linktoticket.org }} providing evidence of the received e-mail and clearing the status of the item in question. Providing the link to the OTRS ticket number is essential for easy verification.

See also: Wikipedia:copyrights, Wikipedia:Possible copyright infringements

Typical request letter for confirmation

Main page: Wikipedia:Example requests for permission

Dear [NAME],

I am writing to confirm whether permission is granted to use *[a page/content] from your website under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GFDL ). A user with the *[IP xxx/ username xxx] has pasted in text from your website [WEBSITE ADDRESS] to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text concerns [TOPIC OF PAGE] and the original submission can be viewed at [Address of Pre-copyvio boilerplate version].

This user claims on the talk page [TALK PAGE ADDRESS] to *[have the authority to release this material under the GFDL/ be the original author of the material], but for the page to remain on our site, we need further evidence that this is the case. Please be assured that if you do not grant permission, your content will not be used at Wikipedia; we have a strict policy against copyright violations.

You can read the GNU Free Document License in full at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_GFDL . (To keep things simple, we do not use Invariant Sections, Front-Cover Texts, or Back-Cover Texts.) The license stipulates that any copy of the material, even if modified, must carry the same license. This means that anyone would be licensed to distribute the material, possibly for a fee (we would distribute your work free of charge). Under the license, no distributor (commercial or otherwise) can restrict future distribution, so your work would never become proprietary. In addition, the license does not grant the right to imply your endorsement of a modified version.

Please note that your contributions may not remain intact as submitted; this license and the collaborative nature of our project entitles others to edit, alter, and update content at will, i.e., to keep up with new information, or suit the text to a different purpose. There is more information on our copyright policy at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Copyrights .

The article will be deleted in seven days time if permission is not confirmed, though it can be restored at a later date if you choose to respond later to state that such use is allowed.

Thank you for your time. I look forward to your response.

Yours faithfully,

[NAME]

*delete as appropriate

See also

• User:R. Baley/Acquire a free image — "How-To" guide for acquiring free images (5 steps). More useful for novice editors still gaining experience with copyright licenses and uploading free images.
• User:Videmus Omnia/Requesting free content — Another useful guide.