Wikipedia:Media copyright questions

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Welcome to the
Media Copyright Questions page

A place for help with image copyrights, tagging, STBotI, non-free content, and related questions.

For all other questions please see Wikipedia:Questions.
Caution If you have a question about a specific image, please be sure to link to it like this: [[:File:Example.jpg]]. Thanks!
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How to add a copyright tag to an existing image
  1. On the description page of the image (the one whose name starts Image:), click Edit this page.
  2. From the page Wikipedia:Image copyright tags, choose the appropriate tag. For work you created yourself, use one of the ones listed under the heading "For image creators".
  3. Type the name of the tag (e.g.; {{GFDL-self}}), 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 Save page.
  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 ask your question" link below.
  2. Please sign your question by typing ~~~~ at the end.
  3. Check this page for updates, or request to be notified on your talk page.
  4. Don't include your email address, for your own privacy. We will respond here and cannot respond by email.

Contents



This page is automatically archived by MiszaBot II. Any sections older than 7 days are automatically archived to Wikipedia:Media copyright questions/Archive. Sections with fewer than two timestamps (no replies) are not archived.


[edit] Verify This Please

I've uploaded the This Week in NASCAR logo and have know Idea of knowing the correct license.

This Week in NASCAR logo --InvisibleYouth1 (talk) 01:40, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

{{non-free logo}}. Remember to include a fair-use rationale. -Seidenstud (talk) 23:01, 14 December 2008 (UTC)
In the future please add questions to the bottom of the page. Ordinarily the top of the page contains old questions that have been answered already. You are lucky that anyone answered it here. —teb728 t c 01:31, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] AAA State

What is an AAA State

Ask general knowledge questions at the Wikipedia:Reference desk. —teb728 t c 01:33, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] PD-lawscourt_-_Public_Court_Records

Looking for an IP expert here: (still!) discussion.--Elvey (talk) 18:18, 25 November 2008 (UTC)

I work in this field; I'll check it out. --MCB (talk) 23:27, 3 December 2008 (UTC)
Did you follow up? I can't find where you did so.--Elvey (talk) 00:34, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Re: Image:GraphiteReactor.jpg

I uploaded this image here some time ago, and it was deleted in April 2008 when it was moved to Commons. Now, although I believe it is a U.S. government photo, it has been deleted from Commons due to an interpretation that its license does not allow commercial use (see this Commons diff). I would like for the deleted image to be restored here, since there is no question that the image can be freely used for noncommercial purposes. --Orlady (talk) 17:01, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia does not accept noncommercial licensing either, as a general matter. To be kept, it must follow our non-free content criteria. Where do you want to use the image, and why? Calliopejen1 (talk) 17:13, 8 December 2008 (UTC)
I originally uploaded the image to illustrate X-10 Graphite Reactor, and it was also used to illustrate List of National Historic Landmarks in Tennessee. The image was downloaded from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory online historical photo library[1]. The current version of the "rights" notice for the entire ORNL website (which was cited as the basis for removing the image from Commons) says:[2] "Documents provided from the web server were sponsored by a contractor of the U.S. Government under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725. Accordingly, the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, royalty-free license to publish or reproduce these documents, or to allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes. These documents may be freely distributed and used for non-commercial, scientific and educational purposes." This image is somewhere between 40 and 65 years old, so it definitely was not produced under the contract cited in that disclaimer; in fact, I believe the photo was by a federal government employee and is now merely being made available on that webserver. Further, since the U.S. government (not the contractor) claims the copyright, I would think that the image qualifies as a free U.S. government image, the same as any other U.S. government image. --Orlady (talk) 23:33, 14 December 2008 (UTC)
I don't understand: If the photo were by a federal government employee, it would be in the public domain, and the U.S. government would not claim copyright. So, if as you say the U.S. government claims copyright, then it could not be by a federal government employee. —teb728 t c 00:30, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Text-book of paleontology

May I use images from this book?

Karl Alfred von Zittel (1839-1904) & Charles Rochester Eastman (ed.) (1868-1918) 1913. Text-book of paleontology. London.

There are written many collaborants at title page and at page. And there are also written collaborants for the first edition (1900) at the page Should I count collaborants for both editions as authors? (There is for example Henry Augustus Pilsbry among collaborants.) May I use any texts from the book as public domain?

There is written at preface that some images made Robert Tracy Jackson (1861-1948) but there is written that collaborants made some images too. There is no able to identify authors of certain images in the book. May I use any images from the book as free images? May I use them under {{PD-old-70}} or under {{anonymous-EU}} or under {{PD-UK-unknown}} [3] license? --Snek01 (talk) 20:01, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

If you don't know, who is really author, you must consider listed people as co-authors (Robert Tracy Jackson and collaborants). Image will be free, when all its copyrights expire. If Robert Tracy Jackson died in 1948, copyright will expire first at the end of 2018. --Beren (talk) 13:37, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] University of Tampa page images

Hello ... I am new to Wikipedia and I'm having a hard time understanding all the rules about images. I uploaded some new images last week to the page University of Tampa. I am employed by the University and was tasked with applying their new logo to the Wikipedia page. I also added some photos of the campus to the article to give a more accurate visual depiction of the way the campus looks. The campus images I used came from the University's online image gallery at http://www.ut.edu/gallery/facilities/index.html

Since the University makes these images freely available, I can't imagine their use on Wikipedia should be problematic. Can someone explain to me exactly what information I need to put into the descriptions for the images I uploaded? I am concerned that if I wait too long to apply a source to the images, they will be deleted. Thank you. UTdan06 (talk) 20:37, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

I provided a copyright tag and a non-free use rationale for Image:UT logo notag small web.gif. That should be all you need for that image.
I also provided sources for Image:Vaughn Center.jpg and Image:Sykes College.jpg. Are there other images? You still need to identify the copyright owner of the two photos. Is it the photographer (if so, who) or the university? You also need to say what free license Wikipedia has to use the images. The gallery you link to doesn’t say anything about reuse of the photos. —teb728 t c 21:43, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for your help with the logo. As far as the other two images, the University is the copyright owner, since the images come from the UT Web site. Their legal disclaimer is here: http://www.ut.edu/detail.aspx?id=822 Will it be enough to post the information from the "Authorized Use" portion of the disclaimer under the "Permission" section of each photo? UTdan06 (talk) 22:04, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

That link says, "Users may not print, reproduce, retrieve, or use the information and images contained in these University of Tampa Web pages for non-commercial, personal, or educational purposes unless they (1) do not modify such information, and (2) include both this notice and any copyright notice originally included with such information. If materials are used for other purposes, permission must be obtained from The University of Tampa to use the copyrighted material prior to its use." Sorry, but that is not acceptable to Wikipedia. Wikipedia requires a free licence, meaning a license that allows reuse by anyone for anything, including commercial use and modification. If you think the university will give a free license on these photos, see WP:COPYREQ. Otherwise, I am sorry to say that the photos cannot be used or hosted on Wikipedia. —teb728 t c 22:44, 8 December 2008 (UTC)
What would be far easier would be for you to take your own camera and make your own photo of the buildings. Then you could upload and license your photos under a free license. —teb728 t c 23:03, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Ain't got no camera. UTdan06 (talk) 14:00, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] publishing of images by other web sites

The following pictures of mine uploaded to wikipedia have been used by http://www.tutorgig.com/ed/Chandigarh and http://citybeautifulchandigarh.blogspot.com/ without attribution:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:India_Eiffel.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:IT_Chandigarh.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Punjab_Bus.jpg

Please advise. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.94.242.141 (talk) 04:00, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

This might answer most of your questions. I'd suggest that the simplest thing in the first instance would be to just send the website(s) an e-mail saying something along the lines of "Hello, I'm the copyright holder of this image, and, while I've licensed it under a Creative Commons license, one condition of that license is that I be credited as the photographer, which you don't seem to have done." Sarcasticidealist (talk) 04:43, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

I could sign in with my id this time. I feel there should be a 'report abuse' link available here on wiki to enable wiki to take up such issues with the offending blogger or at least with the site that's used by the blogger. Chandigarh guy (talk) 10:48, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

At the present time, the Wikimedia Foundation won't devote legal resources to resolving its contributors content disputes. Moreover, the Foundation would have no standing to intervene legally in a case where somebody was misusing your copyrighted material. Sarcasticidealist (talk) 11:04, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Please save my pictures!

The barbarian robot (ImageTaggingBot) want to delete my free pictures (Image:Hun corv1.jpg and Image:Hunedoara castle towers.jpg ) What can I do? Can you stop these deletions ? User:Stears56 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Stears56 (talk • contribs) 11:52, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

With regard to Image:Hunedoara castle towers.jpg I am confused: You claim it is your own picture, but User:Roamata uploaded an identical image as Image:Hunedoara castle towers.JPG also claiming it as his own.
In any case you need to provide a license tag, indicating what right Wikipedia has to use the photos. With out such a tag Wikipedia cannot tell if it has any right to use them. As the bot informed you, there is a list of tags at Wikipedia:Image copyright tags/All. —teb728 t c 17:35, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] upload photo's

If I upload, will it be secure? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mikalalee (talk • contribs) 16:27, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

What do you mean by "secure"? —teb728 t c 17:05, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] How Do I Proceed?

How do I tag the copyright status of: Campus map 2008.jpg

It was created by the college's Public Information office, for use on their website and in print. I'm allowed to use it for illustrating a Wikipedia page devoted to the college, but I don't know how to proceed - what category to select. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mcwebeditor (talk • contribs) 19:46, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Hello - unfortunately, permission for use in Wikipedia is (counter-intuitively) not sufficient for use in Wikipedia. To be used in Wikipedia, an image must be free to re-use or modify by any person for any purpose. Unless the college is willing to release it under these terms, we can't use it. Sarcasticidealist (talk) 19:54, 9 December 2008 (UTC)
If the college is willing to grant such a free license, see WP:COPYREQ for how to handle it. —teb728 t c 20:04, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Innocents_abroad.jpg due to be deleted December 9, 2008 ... Gutenberg project images, as replacement?

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3176/3176-h/3176-h.htm

Will an image form the gutenberg project serve asa viable replacement for the image that is scheduled for deletion today?

Yes, the cover at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3176/3176-h/images/cover.jpg appears to be in the public domain. But the present image looks like an old cover; if it is from a 1923 or earlier edition, it would also be public domain in the US. —teb728 t c 05:35, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] General question

I have a host of old pictures, all other people's, taken from 1925 backwards. I notice that other contributors have marked similar pictures "PD, copyright expired". I can't find that on the list of options, however. The nearest I can find is that the picture was published in the USA more than 70-odd years ago. Of course, I can't confirm whether that's so or not. They're French or British pictures. What do you advise, please? (p.s. I think on the inquiry page it says the "click here to ask" button is below; didn't I see it above? Can't remember now.) Les woodland (talk) 09:14, 10 December 2008 (UTC)les woodland

To use them, you'll need to be sure that they were first published somewhere prior to January 1, 1923. If that's the case, you should be able to tag them with {{PD-US-1923-abroad}}. In the alternative, if you can establish either that the author died more than 70 years ago or that the picture was taken more than 120 years ago and it's not ascertainable when the author died, you can use {{PD-US}}. Sarcasticidealist (talk) 09:56, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Image:Ann-scott10.jpg

Hi, Image:Ann-scott10.jpg over at wikipedia states "own work by uploader" and then states "Copy from a picture on en: wiki". So that can't quite be. Obviously page is deleted here. Can someone check what it said & either let me know on Commons or add it in the image? Thanks. Deadstar (talk) 11:25, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

I left Deadstar a link to this log on their Commons user talk page. —teb728 t c 20:06, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
Thanks for your help - that's what I needed. So all seems well with image & source. Deadstar (talk) 21:09, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] A Logo, Re-done by me

What would a logo, redone by me in Photoshop, fit under? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Connormah (talk • contribs) 23:04, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

I'm interpreting your question to mean that you took a logo that somebody else created and made your own version of it in Photoshop. If this is indeed the case, then the copyright of the original logo would persist on to your logo, and it would not be usable on Wikipedia (unless the copyright holder of the original logo agreed to release it under a free license). Sarcasticidealist (talk) 01:41, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
If you recreated the logo with the intention of evading the copyright, that doesn’t work. If it is a faithful reproduction of the original, it is under the same copyright as the original. If it is noticeably different, it is probably a copyright violation and maybe a trademark violation; and in any case the difference makes it unsuitable for use in Wikipedia.
But there is no need to evade the copyright. The original logo probably could be tagged {{non-free logo}} and {{logo fur}} and used for identification in the infobox in an article about the entity that the logo represents. —teb728 t c 05:40, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Image:Thorncourtapmts2.JPG

Yes I took this photo, but I find that Wikipedia is very hard to understand regarding the copyright issues and how to get them. The site needs to be made easier to understand and remove the jargon! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Yisraelee (talk • contribs) 03:31, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Unfortunately, intellectual property—especially when there are international dimensions—is a complicated subject, and it's difficult to make it user-friendly. It's why we have this page. With regards to your photo, you've established that you took it and that you own the copyright. That's good, and it's the first step. The next question, though, is are you willing to license it under a free license that allows for it to be reused by anybody for any purpose? Alternatively, are you prepared to release it into the public domain? Sarcasticidealist (talk) 03:36, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] OTRS Permission Emails

Hi. Presently at Images for Upload the owners of images that are copyrighted are instructed to either email a reviewer or the OTRS permissions address with the permission declaration. Is it possible for permission to be accepted on-wiki (eg. a link to a diff) so that this step can be removed? Regards, Matt (Talk) 03:53, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Well, OTRS e-mailing isn't required for images where the copyright is owned by the uploader; it's generally only for situations where the uploader has obtained off-wiki permission from the copyright holder, and in that case the e-mail to OTRS usually comes from an e-mail address that is clearly linkable to the person or organization who holds the copyright. So I'm not really sure in what circumstances OTRS would be replaceable by anything on-wiki. Sarcasticidealist (talk) 04:00, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
WP:IFU is for IPs and new users (who aren't autoconfirmed) to submit images for upload meaning the actual uploader (a registered Wikipedian) won't own the copyright to the image. Matt (Talk) 04:37, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
Oh, I totally missed that, sorry. Yeah, we could probably make a tag that's the equivalent of {{GFDL-self}} that linked to the assertion of ownership by the non-autoconfirmed user ({{[[Template:{{{1}}}|{{{1}}}]]}}? Sarcasticidealist (talk) 04:49, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
Hm. Most templates already provide a parameter to supply the authors name. Permission is only really needed if the website they link to doesn't provide proof that the image is/has been released under the license they say it has. Would it be possible to include a link to the diff where permission is given on-wiki in the image description instead of using the OTRS pending template (and having to get the user to email forms around)? Matt (Talk) 05:34, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] class c power amplifier

How to Derive expression for efficiency, maximum efficiency for a class c power amplifier —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sandeep.mishra.sam (talk • contribs) 16:50, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

This page is for copyright questions only. For any general knowledge questions, you should ask the reference desk. ww2censor (talk) 19:23, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] what is reality about electromagnetic waves?

I am a physics student,and i have some questions concerning the theory of electromagnetic waves,the first question is that.IS THERE ANY THEORETICAL OR PRACTICAL EVIDENCE THAT ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES ARE TRAVELLING WITH ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS(ELECTRICITY)? The second question is that,IF THE ABOVE STATEMENT IS TRUE,THEN,WHY ELECTRICITY OF SUCH HIGH FREQUENCY DOES NOT COURSE AN ELECTROCUTION? SINCE AN ELECTRICITY WITH A FREQUENCY AS LOW AS 50-60HZ CAN CAUSE ELECTROCUTION. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Masnigeria (talk • contribs) 19:27, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

See response to above question. Sarcasticidealist (talk) 19:35, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Photographs from British/U.N. Controlled Palestine

Does anyone know if photographs taken in British and/or U.N. Controlled Palestine in the late 1940s fall under British, Israeli or some other copyright law? Thanks, IronGargoyle (talk) 22:11, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

According to this commons template, 50-years from the date of creation seems to be the law for the British Mandate. There is no mention of the UN controlled territory but the commons UN template may apply. ww2censor (talk) 23:07, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Copyright question

Hi! For the articles Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos and Concepción I would like to use this picture which is found here. The picture caption (German: "in einer historischen Aufnahme vom Beginn des 20. Jahunderts (Bild: E. Kühne)") reads in English: "in a historic photo from the beginning of the 20th century (Picture: E. Kühne)". Can I upload this picture on wikimedia (or en-wikipedia) and, if yes, under which license? E. Kühne = Eckart Kühne (!?) was born in 1954, and is not the author of the original picture. bamse (talk) 00:12, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

If the image was published before 1923, {{PD-US-1923-abroad}} will do. That template's not accepted at Commons, so you'll have to upload the image here. Stifle (talk) 10:11, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Please Help!

Please help, I don't know what Im doing wrong. Im trying to upload this image[4] with this formatting:

Source filename: http://togo.usembassy.gov/ambhoffman.html

Destination filename: KWhoffman.jpg

Summary:{{Information |Description= Ambassador to Togo Karl W. Hofmann |Source=http://togo.usembassy.gov/ambhoffman.html |Date=00:55, 13 December 2008 (UTC) |Author=US government |Permission=Public Domain |other_versions=none }}

{{PD-USGov-State}}

I think it has something to do with the summary. I used [5] also. It is under US Federal Government Public Domain and is Licesned under that, but when I hit Upload file nothing happens at all. Do I have to wait a while or is something wrong?

Please help ASAP; contact me by hitting 'mate1'. Thanks RoyalMate1 00:55, 13 December 2008 (UTC) Partly Resolved. I get this message:

The file is corrupt or has an incorrect extension. Please check the file and upload again.

What does this mean? RoyalMate1 02:48, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

It could mean a lot of things, depending on what you were trying to do. For example, it could mean you were uploading a file with a .jpg extension, but it was not a jpg file. Or it could mean you were uploading a jpg file but you did not give it a .jpg or .JPG extension. Were you perhaps trying to upload a whole .html page instead of a .jpg file? —teb728 t c 22:39, 13 December 2008 (UTC)
(ec)Hi there. You're trying to upload a HTML file. You need to link directly to the image in the 'Source Filename' box, which is probably http://togo.usembassy.gov/uploads/images/T0q__c4u9wNUfBiUE6YRtA/AmbHofmann.jpg. Good luck, Matt (Talk) 22:41, 13 December 2008 (UTC)
Can he upload it directly from the internet? Doesn't he need to download the jpg to his harddrive first? —teb728 t c 22:54, 13 December 2008 (UTC)
True, my mistake. Royalmate1, right click the image you wish to upload and save it to your computer, then click browse by the Source Filename box and select the image. Matt (Talk) 01:22, 14 December 2008 (UTC)
In some browsers you can enter the URL in the 'file upload' box and it will download it into cache and select the local copy for upload. --NE2 13:01, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Watermark images, general procedure on handling

I've come across a series of images in the user created PD category (File:001-remedioscircle.jpg, File:001-pacoparkrizal.jpg, File:001-quiapochurch.jpg) and others, all uploaded by User:Adinemb. It appears to be a valid match to the user and not be a copyright violation, but when a user has uploaded images with watermarks on them what is the general procedure for images with watermarks on them by a wikipedia user. If the user was active I would lean towards contacting them on their talk page, but this user hasn't edited regularly in several months. Is IFD the next step? -Optigan13 (talk) 01:58, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

IfD should not be necessary at least for the 3 files you cite. You could just crop off the watermarks. —teb728 t c 03:50, 13 December 2008 (UTC)
Would it be acceptable to move the images to commons, and then crop and reupload once there? -Optigan13 (talk) 03:54, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Tarzan[2003 T V]

Why was this series cancelled.????? Where can I find a DVD of that particular TV series.??? thank you in advance.!!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 196.209.66.162 (talk) 17:24, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

Hi, this page is for copyright-related questions about media (usually images) uploaded to Wikipedia. For answers to your question try asking at the Reference Desk. -- Hux (talk) 19:38, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] old paintings?

hello

i'd like to upload my own photos of some paintings that were created in the 1910s-1930s. the artist died in 1955, and has no estate or surviving heirs which manage his work. how should i categorize these photos?

Peahix (talk) 20:06, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

Is this in the United States? If so, and they were published before 1923, they're public domain now, and can be tagged {{PD-US}} --Rat at WikiFur (talk) 12:45, 14 December 2008 (UTC)
I'm not sure how or if publication applies to paintings that are simply displayed. --NE2 12:59, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] File:Ananse Ntontan Adinkra symbol.gif

In uploading this image I indicated the source. What sort of copyright tag should it have, or is it an inadmissable image?--Annielogue (talk) 20:31, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

Sorry but Wikipedia does not accept permission for non-commercial use because limits the commercial reusability of articles. —teb728 t c 23:02, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Help on adding pics. with copyrights.

I need help adding pictures to some Wikipedia pages with no picture. When I added all the pictures they almost automatically took them off but two of them still stayed on. I don't know where to find the copyright info. and where they say that the picture has a copyright for it. Thanks and I hope you can help me. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Brittflick 1994 (talk • contribs) 23:10, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

How do you know if the picture is good for putting on a page. I found my pics. on google but some of them were fine to put on the pages and I want to know how you would know if they are safe to add. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Brittflick 1994 (talk • contribs) 23:30, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

Most of the pictures I added were taken off due to copyright and only 2 of them stayed on so I was wondering why they did? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Brittflick 1994 (talk • contribs) 23:38, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

On my talk page it says "thanks for uploading .... but you didn't say where the image came from, who made it, and what the copyright status is." I was wondering how you could put that information on? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Brittflick 1994 (talk • contribs) 23:46, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

First, you have not given any links to the images you are talking about.
Secondly, you have found out that copyright is treated very seriously.
So, most images you will find online are copyright of someone else and mostly may not be uploaded by you but some may be tagged as Fair-use, but in general if you familiarise yourself with the image use policy, most of your questions will be answered. You MUST provide an acceptable copyright licence and you MUST state the source of any image you upload. You likely did not do that, so that is why the images were deleted. ww2censor (talk) 00:24, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Adding a Copyright after adding an image

How do you add a copyright for an image after it has been created? Do I need to write where I got the image from? TwinTitans (talk) 11:10, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

If you go to the top of this page, just underneath the boxes, it tells you how to do it. Yes, you do have to write where the image came from; see WP:IUP --Rat at WikiFur (talk) 12:39, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] File: Meet the Press with David Gregory "Title Card"

I recently uploaded the new title card of Meet the Press with the newest permanent moderator David Gregory. I really do want to give credit where credit is due, and make sure this new title card stay permanently on the Meet the Press wikipedia article.

I am having problems however trying to figure out how to do the right thing, and follow copyright procedures. First of all, this is my first time uploading a file. So I’m not familiar with the whole process to being with. Secondly, I cannot find the names of the creator or creators of the latest “Meet the Press with David Gregory” title card. I tried looking at the official Meet the Press website @ msnbc.com. I also try looking at the end credits of the last Meet the Press telecast on Sunday. Both of these sources yield no names of the title card creators.

This title card is the same one used in the actual telecast on NBC, and on the official Meet the Press website. Assistance to this particular matter would be greatly appreciated because I would hate to see this title card deleted. Thank you for your help. S3884h (talk) 20:03, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

Do you mean File:Meet the Press.jpg? You can tag it with {{non-free logo}} and {{logo fur}} and also provide the URL of the original file's location in a similar way to the original Tim Russert logo. ww2censor (talk) 20:31, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Clarification please

Hi, I looked at the image on the right and there is a statement therein that:

  • WGA has given permission for use of images on Wikipedia.

Do I understand that to apply to all images on the entire WGA [6] site? If so, can we use those images in Wikipedia after download? Thank you. History2007 (talk) 00:18, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

That statement that WGA has given permission for use of images on Wikipedia makes no sense at all. Apparently all their artwork is from 1850 and before; so probably it is all in the public domain. But if it is in the public domain, then WGA cannot prevent anyone from using it. If on the other hand a work is not in the public domain, then I would think they would have no right to license it (and perhaps no right to use it them selves). If somehow they had a work that was still under copyright and which they had a right to license, Wikipedia does not accept permission for use only on Wikipedia.
In summary, if, like that Madonna and Child, a work is in the public domain, we can use it. —teb728 t c 00:58, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
Maybe if they had a photo of a sculpture which was not under freedom of panorama, they could have a copyright on the photo and license it for use on Wikipedia. Ironicly we could not use it because Wikipedia does not accept such a license. —teb728 t c 01:07, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, I will start using them. History2007 (talk) 04:17, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Photos I uploaded now PD -- Question

I uploaded two photos that I took on the article about Francis Henney Smith. I allow them to be public domain and made statements to this effect. Yet I am prompted to to write whatever so that they will be known as public domain. The old commands I once knew apparently have changed or I am not remembering the correct command. So, what do I place for the two images to state that they are public domain photos that I myself took? Brother Officer (talk) 00:20, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

I think you're thinking of the {{PD-self}} tag. --Rat at WikiFur (talk) 00:27, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] British Library image

My apologies if this has been asked before. Would this painting from the British Library[7] be in the public domain, since it was painted over 100 years ago? What if I removed the "British Library" logo on the lower right of the image, or found another source for it? Thank you. First Light (talk) 04:50, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

According to {{PD-Art|PD-old-100}}, even though it is from the U.K., where copyright law make say otherwise, it is PD as far as WMF is concerned. It would probably be a good idea to remove the logo or find another source. -Seidenstud (talk) 05:36, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
Thank you, that makes sense, and will do. First Light (talk) 05:47, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Sandra Roelofs photo?

I'm trying to find a suitable photo to include in the article on Sandra Roelofs (wife of Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili). Some photos previously uploaded as File:Sandra Roelofs.jpg were deleted for copyright violation or invalid fair use rationale.

A large photo gallery of Roelofs exists on the official "President of Georgia" web site. Since these photos depict specific events, identified in their captions — see here for an example — it seems to me that they would fall under provision 1(c) of {{PD-GE-exempt}}, which says that Georgia's copyright law does not apply to "information of events and facts", and that these photos should therefore be freely usable in Wikipedia articles. Do others agree? (And if not, what do people feel I am misunderstanding or misinterpreting here?)

I would be grateful for copies of any comments on this question to be posted to my talk page if possible. Thanks. Richwales (talk) 04:56, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

I'm not so sure. I'm no expert, but your reading of template:PD-GE-exempt seems a bit broad. The way I read it seems to imply that it is referring to verbal descriptions of events and facts. Otherwise, almost every photo could be claimed as information of a fact ("the cat is sitting on the rug" is a fact, after all) - if not an event. -Seidenstud (talk) 05:23, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
On the other hand — as best I could tell from a cursory look — the events being depicted in these photos are all more-or-less official state events, and not merely mundane generic facts. That would seem, to me, to put the photos into the kind of official category that the Georgian copyright exemption was presumably designed for. Richwales (talk) 07:45, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
Yeah. I really don't see it. That's a big presumption that this is what the exemption was designed for. Especially since 1a. and 1b. refer specifically to official documents and symbols of state, whereas 1c. does not mention the state of official things at all. If it referred to state events, why wouldn't it say it like the other clauses? In fact, I would even suggest that it's the opposite of what you suggest, that the exception is for "mundane generic facts," and not for events - official state or otherwise. That makes a lot more sense to me. But, in the end, it's so vaguely worded that it's really difficult to say at all what it was designed for. -Seidenstud (talk) 08:07, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
Understood. (Not sure yet if I agree with you, but I understand what you're saying.) Any additional thoughts on this from others out there? Richwales (talk) 16:05, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Legal document

The article concerns a criminal trial for fraud and other charges. Among the key items of evidence at the main trial were promissory notes, in this case plain typewritten documents with no artwork. Would a scan of one of the promissory notes that was entered into evidence be considered copyrighted, and if so would it be usable as historically significant fair use? ·:· Will Beback ·:· 08:30, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

I'd have to see it to know if it was copyright. If there is no background artwork (i.e. no creative content), then it's probably {{PD-ineligible}}. Megapixie (talk) 09:55, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
Even if there is no copyright problem, what you are talking about does not sound encyclopedic to me. Wikipedia generally does not include primary sources. —teb728 t c 10:30, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
Yes, on further reflection I'm thinking it may be better at Wikisource with a link. ·:· Will Beback ·:· 20:47, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
That's not quite what I was suggesting. If there are reliable secondary sources that discuss the evidence, you should reference them. —teb728 t c 22:08, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Royal Society awards

I've redone a pair of lists (Sylvester Medal and Royal Medal) and they are now up for Featured status. A concern raised is the iffy copyright/fair use status of the images used in the lists; would somebody more knowledgeable about such matters be able to take a look and clear them? Ironholds (talk) 15:10, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

File:Dame Mary Lucy Cartwright.jpg is definitely a problem - there's no source, it's almost certainly copyrighted, and I see no reason to assume the uploader created it himself. The permission statement on File:Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin.jpg is too vague; the message from Pugwash Conferences needs to be forwarded to OTRS for confirmation. Those two look like the biggest problems. Some of the other unsourced ones are the kind of old photograph that, if we're very strict, are questionable, but they often slip under the radar. For example, File:James Joseph Sylvester.jpg lacks a source, and it is possible for works from the 1890s to still be copyrighted, depending on who created it and when & where it was published (and besides copyright, there's no source to even support the claim that it really is a photo of James Joseph Sylvester).
On the fair-use side, my impression is that File:FrancisHarryComptonCrick.jpg is not likely to be allowed in a list article; at the very least, it would need a separate fair-use-rationale. --dave pape (talk) 18:26, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
Alrighty; I haven't really worked with images that much, so I'm not quite sure what to do at this stage. Should I remove the images until such time as someone more experienced with such matters can sort them out? Ironholds (talk) 20:52, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
File:Dame Mary Lucy Cartwright.jpg is now tagged non-free. I removed it from Sylvester Medal because it does not qualify for use in that article under Wikipedia policy. —teb728 t c 22:02, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Recording

I have a recording of Joe Falcon playing "Allons a Lafayette" which was recorded in 1928. One performer in the recording (Joe Falcon) died in 1965 and the other performer died in 1941. The recording was done by Columbia Records. What is the copyright availability for this? Thanks, --Michael miceli (talk) 17:09, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

As far as I can tell, according to Wikipedia:Public domain#Sound recordings, the recording is most likely protected by copyright, and therefore would not be in the public domain. So, in order for it to be suitable for non-fair-use inclusion here, it would have to have been released under a free license which extremely unlikely, since the major record labels are absolutely not in the habit of doing so. -Seidenstud (talk) 21:01, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
What is the limiting factor the year of death for the musicians or the year of the recording? For instance, when will this recording be in public domain?--Michael miceli (talk) 23:11, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Editing fair use images

Would it be a copyright violation if I flip/rotate, crop or otherwise enhance a fair-use image by editing it? -Unpopular Opinion (talk · contribs) 22:46, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Usually (though not always), if you can make a reasonable argument that using an image is fair use then a version of the image with minor edits is also likely to be fair use. Please note any changes on the image description. Dragons flight (talk) 23:02, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
Thanks -Unpopular Opinion (talk · contribs) 14:46, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Can I use a school's logo on a page about the school?

I am updating the Australian International School of Singapore's entry and I want to include the school logo. An example of the logo can be found at www.ais.com.sg (logo in the top left).

I believe that the fair use rational might be applicable because the LOGO appears on numerous publically available documents such as newsletters, school uniforms. I also doubt that the logo will ever be available under any type of public license.

Any advice would be welcome.

MiklosGaal (talk) 04:28, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

Sounds like you should be able to do it. Use a {{non-free logo}} copyright tag. And use {{logo fur}} to provide a non-free use rationale. See Template:Logo fur/doc for the rationale parameters. The Article and Use parameters are required. Set the Source parameter too. —teb728 t c 05:17, 16 December 2008 (UTC) Click on Upload file in the sidebar; click on The logo of an Organization; and select Logo from the Licensing dropdown. —teb728 t c 05:25, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] re copyright problem on a photo of a painting

hi sorry to trouble you, but I'm having a bit of a problem getting the right copyright designation for the following image, there will be a few more with the same provenance

File:Sunrise On Cythera 2002 wk.jpg

the image is a photo by the artist of an original artwork, to be used as an example on a page about the artist, copyright is owned by the artist and he's approved the use of the images

could you please advise correct designation & procedure, I have tried to edit the permissions to an acceptable state, but am a total newbie to wikipedia & nothing seems to work though I endeavor to follow the advice of the help docs

thanks david —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cr37s3y (talk • contribs) 04:32, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

The {{GFDL-self}} tag you are trying the put on the image and saying "self-made," both imply that you, the uploader, are the copyright owner; if I understand correctly, you are not. Also, from what you say above, it may be the artist's intention to license the image only for use on Wikipedia. Understand that Wikipedia does not accept images on that basis; Wikipedia requires a license that allows reuse by anyone for anything, including commercial use and modification. {{cc-by-sa-3.0}} and {{GFDL}} are two good license tags. When you decide on a license tag, do not enclose it in nowiki. If I am right that you are not the artist, see also WP:COPYREQ. —teb728 t c 05:09, 16 December 2008 (UTC)


hi, thanks for the info, I've changed to the GFDL tag, rgds david —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cr37s3y (talk • contribs) 01:02, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] JAHFA

A picture Commons:Image:JAHFA2007.JPG has been deleted from the JAHFA article. Please put it back in, as I am tired of going round in circles looking at 'help' pages trying to figure out how to stop a 'bot' needlessly destroying the article, which I have tried to contact without any success. There are no copyright problems, as I took the image, and the reason for several file names is because of the difficulty in downloading/retrieving images - the process is overly complicated and this array of filenames for the same image (picked up by your 'bot' as it happens) simply reflects several attempts at trying to get the thing to stick, and to then have this work reversed with a 'welcome' note attached is a bit beyond a joke... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.26.139.71 (talk) 07:26, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

Assuming you are Brian Long, the attributed author of the image, and you are explicitly releasing the image into the public domain (which means anyone can do anything to it and use it anywhere without giving you credit), as your selected licensing tag says, then you should not have a problem any more. I reinserted into the article, where it should stay, assuming there are no other problems than the licensing tags. -Seidenstud (talk) 20:50, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

Yes, I am Brian Long, aka WheelsFan. Thanks very much for your help... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.26.139.71 (talk) 22:23, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Can I submit my original research if I release it to the public as public domain?

If I conduct private research and make my own discoveries, there is also a risk that someone else has already made the same discovery and staked a claim to it. First of all, can I submit my original work if I give up all claims to it and release it as public domain? Secondly, if some of my work turns out to be a reinvention of the wheel, how should this be handled?--JNLII (talk) 17:22, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

Original research is not allowed; only verifiable information backed by reliable sources is allowed. ww2censor (talk) 17:30, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
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