Wikipedia:File copyright tags

If you clicked this link while uploading a file for the Spoken Wikipedia, see the Spoken Wikipedia uploading guidelines.

"WP:TAG" redirects here. For the essay on tag-teaming to circumvent consensus, see Wikipedia:Tag team.

"WP:TAGS" redirects here. For the tags used by the Abuse Filter, see Wikipedia:Tags.

Wikipedia copyright
Policy
Copyright policy Copyright violation policy Reusing Wikipedia content Text of CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported License Text of the GFDL
Guidelines
Public domain content Non-free content Non-U.S. copyrights Copying within Wikipedia Copyright information index
Processes
Suspected copyright violations Copyright problems Possibly unfree files Contributor copyright investigations
Resources
General help Copyright assistance Media copyright questions Requesting copyright permission File copyright tags Donating copyrighted material Process page for text-related copyright problems

Shortcuts: WP:ICT WP:TAG WP:TAGS WP:IT

Wikipedia takes copyright law very seriously. File description pages are tagged with the license and the source of the file. This makes it as easy as possible for readers, Wikipedians, and creators of derivative works to know what they can and can't do with the files in our encyclopedia.

Guidelines

• For a file to be considered "free" under Wikipedia's Image use policy, the license must permit both commercial reuse and derivative works.
• Wikipedia (and all Wikimedia projects) strongly prefer "free" files, wherever that is possible. Where no free file exists, it is sometimes permissible to use a non-free (copyright-protected) file under the "fair use" provision. Fair use, in the United States, is the legal right to use copyright-protected materials under certain conditions; Wikipedia has its own conditions that are more restrictive than what is legally permitted.
• Ideally, most free files should be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons instead of Wikipedia. (This enables them to be used for other Wikimedia projects in addition to Wikipedia.) Your account must be at least four days old before uploading is permitted. Commons does not allow fair use material, but non-free can still be used on the English Wikipedia under certain conditions.
• All copyright and licensing tags should be put on a line of their own.
• Along with a tag, specify the source or copyright holder information. Provide as much detail as possible.
• If a file is not licensed under a standard license, please specify what the actual license states.
• If you tag a file as requiring attribution, please specify who needs to be attributed.
• If multiple categories apply to a file, add all that apply.

List of file copyright tags

• All file copyright tags
• Copyrighted non-free / fair use
• Deprecated (no longer usable)
• Free licenses
• Other
• Public domain
• USA

For image creators

Shortcut: WP:ICTIC

If you are the creator of a file, you can choose any acceptable free license. You can multi-license your file under different licenses, if you prefer. The license must not prevent commercial reuse or derivative works.

• GNU Free Documentation License - {{GFDL-self}} - Written by the Free Software Foundation. People are required to attribute the work to you, and if they make changes or incorporate your work in their work, they are required to share their changes or work under the same license.
• Creative Commons: Attribution-ShareAlike - {{cc-by-sa-3.0|Attribution details}} - This is one of several CC licenses. This version permits free use, including commercial use; requires that you be attributed as the creator; and requires that any derivative creator or redistributor of your work use the same license. The desired attribution text should be included as a parameter in the template.
  • Creative Commons: Attribution - {{cc-by-3.0|Attribution details}} - Similar to the above, but does not require that derivative works use the same license.
• Free Art license - {{FAL}} - A copyleft license for artwork; modification and commercial use are allowed, provided derivative works carry the same license.
• Attribution - {{Attribution}} - The copyright holder allows anyone to use it for any purpose, provided that the copyright holder is properly attributed.
  • Copyrighted Free Use - {{CopyrightedFreeUse-Link|[http://www.yourwebsite.com/ Your website]}} - Same as above, but attribution is not required. However, as a courtesy, you would appreciate a link back to Your website.
• Public domain - {{PD-self}} - The creator permanently relinquishes all rights to the work.
• For screen shots of Wikipedia pages the following tag may be used: {{Wikipedia-screenshot}}

Creating new tags

If you are uploading many files with the same source and license, you can create a new copyright tag. Please propose the tag on Wikipedia talk:File copyright tags. If you are not familiar with how to create templates which add images to categories, please ask for assistance.

Each template should have a corresponding category that automatically contains all the files tagged with the template. On the description page for the category include the following:

{{File template notice|name-of-the-tag}}

where name-of-the-tag is replaced with the actual name of the tag. In addition, include the template in the category Wikipedia image copyright templates by adding the following:

<noinclude>[[Category:Wikipedia image copyright templates|{{PAGENAME}}]]</noinclude>

See also

• Commons:Copyright tags
• MediaWiki:Licenses - drop-down list displayed on Special:Upload
• The Case for Free Use: Reasons Not to Use a Creative Commons -NC at freedomdefined.org
• Wikipedia:File copyright tags/Comprehensive - comprehensive info about file copyright tags - guidelines and list on one page
• Wikipedia:File copyright tags/Displayed and ranked
• Wikipedia:Image use policy
• Wikipedia:Template messages/File namespace