Wikipedia:File copyright tags
Please tag images on the wikipedia:image description page with one of the tags below so we can keep track of its status.
Try to provide as much detail as possible:
- When marking an image as one of the vaguer categories (such as CopyrightedFreeUse), try to specify somewhere what the actual license or other permission states.
- If you tag an image as requiring attribution, please specify who needs to be attributed! Note that the GFDL requires attribution.
- If multiple categories apply to an image, add all that apply.
- Along with a tag, it would be nice to submit the source or copyright holder information for users to verify whether its public domain or copyrighted.
For information on where in the image description page to put the tags, see MediaWiki custom messages. The tags should be put on a line of their own.
Tagging options
Public domain
General public domain images
- {{PD}} - for when author has put into the public domain or the author died over 70 years ago (pre-1935). Consider first using the following subtags:
- {{PD-flag}} - for images of national, governmental, or historical flags.
- {{PD-ineligible}} - for images that are inherently ineligible for copyright protection because they are based exclusively on common knowledge. An example would be Image:F Major key signature.png.
- {{PD-old}} - for images where the author died more than 100 years ago (1905). (Note: not where the work or image is 100 or more years old)
- {{PD-release}} - when the creator is known to have released the work to public domain (include evidence of release on image description page)
- {{PD-stamp}} - for postage stamps known to be in the public domain for whatever reason, such as age, or because the issuing authority explicitly puts stamps in the public domain (US before 1978, Faeroes).
Public domain art
- {{PD-art}} - for images of works of art where the artist died more than 100 years ago. But if the person or organization who digitized it has released it under another license, list that other license as well as this one.
- {{PD-art-life-50}} - for images of works of art where the artist died more than 50 years ago. But if the person or organization who digitized it has released it under another license, list that other license as well as this one.
- {{PD-art-life-70}} - for images of works of art where the artist died more than 70 years ago. But if the person or organization who digitized it has released it under another license, list that other license as well as this one.
- {{PD-art-US}} - for images of works of art published in the United States prior to 1923. But if the person or organization who digitized it has released it under another license, list that other license as well as this one.
USA public domain images
- {{money-US}} - for images of the official currency of the United States. These are in the public domain. (See also {{money}}.)
- {{PD-CAGov}} - for images created by the California state government that are ineligible for copyright (example).
- {{PD-KYGov}} - for images created by the Kentucky state government that are ineligible for copyright (example).
- {{PD-MNGov}} - for images created by the Minnesota state government that are ineligible for copyright (example).
- {{PD-US}} - for copyright-expired images in the US (mainly those published pre-1923). Also for works not eligible for copyright under US law.
- {{PD-US-patent}} - for images from descriptions of US patents. These are in the public domain, though the actual inventions depicted might be encumbered by patents. [1]
USA Federal government images
- {{HABS}} - Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) and Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), Library of Congress images
- {{PD-USGov}} - for images created by the US Federal Government that are ineligible for copyright such as Image:George-W-Bush.jpeg.
- {{PD-USGov-Atlas}} - National Atlas
- {{PD-USGov-CIA}} - Central Intelligence Agency
- {{PD-USGov-CIA-WF}} - CIA World Factbook.
- {{PD-USGov-DHS}} - Department of Homeland Security
- {{PD-USGov-DHS-CG}} - Coast Guard
- {{PD-USGov-DOC-NOAA}} - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- {{PD-USGov-DOD}} - Department of Defense - use {{PD-USGov-Military}})
- {{PD-USGov-DOE}} - Department of Energy
- {{PD-USGov-DOJ}} - Department of Justice
- {{PD-USGov-DOT}} - Department of Transportation
- {{PD-USGov-Education}} - Department of Education
- {{PD-USGov-EPA}} - Environmental Protection Agency
- {{PD-USGov-FBI}} - Federal Bureau of Investigation
- {{PD-USGov-FDA}} - Food and Drug Administration
- {{PD-USGov-HHS}} - Department of Health and Human Services
- {{PD-USGov-HHS-NIH}} - National Institutes of Health
- {{PD-USGov-Interior}} - Department of the Interior
- {{PD-USGov-Interior-BLM}} - Bureau of Land Management
- {{PD-USGov-Interior-FWS}} - Fish and Wildlife Service
- {{PD-USGov-Interior-NPS}} - US National Park Service
- {{PD-USGov-Interior-USGS}} - US Geological Survey
- {{PD-USGov-Interior-USGS-Minerals}} - "Minerals in Your World" project of the United States Geological Survey and the Mineral Information Institute.
- {{PD-USGov-Interior-USBR}} - Bureau of Reclamation
- {{PD-USGov-NASA}} - for public domain images from NASA as described on Category:NASA images.
- {{PD-USGov-NRO}} - The National Reconnaissance Office
- {{PD-USGov-NSA}} - The National Security Agency
- {{PD-USGov-POTUS}} - Executive Office of the President images
- {{PD-USGov-State}} - State Department images
- {{PD-USGov-Treasury}} - Department of the Treasury
- {{PD-USGov-USDA}} - Department of Agriculture
- {{PD-USGov-USDA-ARS}} - USDA Agricultural Research Service.
- {{PD-USGov-USDA-FS}} - USDA Forest Service
- {{PD-USGov-USDA-NRCS}} - USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
USA military public domain images
- {{AbuGhraibPic}} - Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse images
- {{PD-USGov-Military}} - general US military
- {{PD-USGov-Military-Air Force}} - US Air Force images
- {{PD-USGov-Military-Army}} - US Army images
- {{PD-USGov-Military-Army-USACE}} - United States Army Corps of Engineers
- {{PD-USGov-Military-Award}} - for military medals
- {{PD-USGov-Military-Badge}} - US military badges and insignia
- {{PD-USGov-Military-Marines}} - US Marine Corps images
- {{PD-USGov-Military-Navy}} - US Navy images
Other countries' public domain images
- {{Iraqcopyright}} - for works first published in Iraq before Iraq signed a copyright treaty with the United States.
- {{PD-BritishGov}} - for images created by the British Government and published prior to 1955.
- {{PD-China}} - for photographs taken in China over 50 years ago, or for non-photographic images where the author died more than 50 years ago.
- {{PD-Germany}} - for photographs taken in Germany and first published over 50 years ago.
- {{PD-Poland}} - for Polish photographs published in Poland without a copyright notice prior to May 23, 1994.
- {{PD-PolishGov}} - for Polish government documents, materials, signs and symbols.
- {{PD-USSR}} - for works published by the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics before 27 May 1973.
Other public domain images
- {{Gray's Anatomy plate}} - illustrations from the online edition of Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body, 20th U.S. edition, originally published in 1918.
- {{PD-8BS}} - for Acorn/BBC images from http://www.8BS.com
- {{PD-GWPDA}} - images from public domain source scanned by the Great War Primary Documents Archive
- {{PD-Meyers}} - image comes from the 4th edition of Meyers Konversationslexikon (1888)
- {{PD-PCL}} - a map from the map collection [2] of the Perry-Castañeda Library (PCL) of the University of Texas at Austin.
- {{PD-PDphoto.org}} - for images from http://www.PDphoto.org
- {{PD-Vardion}} - for maps by User:Vardion.
Free licenses
"Any-purpose" copyright
- {{ABr}} - A photo copyrighted by Agência Brasil, that can be freely reproduced as long as credit is given to the source and the reporter.
- {{Attribution}} - For images that require attribution.
- {{CACTVSGIF}} - For images of chemical structures created with the GIF/PNG-Creator for 2D Plots of Chemical Structures, a product of the NIH/University of Erlangen-Nuremberg CACTVS collaboration.
- {{CopyrightedFreeUse}} - The image is copyrighted, but is free to use for any purpose.
- {{CopyrightedFreeUseProvidedThat|...}} - Eg. provided that credit is given and copyright is attributed. Note that non-commercial or educational use restrictions are not allowed as provisions in this tag.
- {{EU image}} - Images from the website of the European Union are copyrighted, but reproduction is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged and unless otherwise stated.
- {{FinnishDefenceForces}} - for media copyrighted by the Finnish Defence Forces. See [3]
- {{Flphoto}} - Images from the Florida Photographic Collection, allowable if credit is given.
- {{Sejm}} - images from the website of Sejm, the lower house of Polish Parliament and is copyrighted. Sejm allows it to be used for any purpose, if the source of the picture [4] is given.
- {{Trainweb}} - Images from TrainWeb, allowable if www.trainweb.com is printed near the photo.[5]
- {{User Friendly}} - Images from UserFriendly are allowable if the following is placed near or under the image (template is wikified). [6]
- <A HREF="http://www.userfriendly.org">From UserFriendly.org</A>
- Copyright © 2004 J.D. "Illiad" Frazer.
- {{WorldCoin}} - for images from the World Coin Gallery (see [7])
- {{XGSC image}} - images from the Xiphophorus Genetic Stock Center. Free use granted with attribution.
GNU licenses
- {{GFDL}} - GNU Free Documentation License
- {{GFDL-small}} - Less obtrusive version of the GFDL template
- {{GFDL 1.2}} - GNU Free Documentation License 1.2
- {{GPL}} - GNU General Public License
- {{LGPL}} - GNU Lesser General Public License - This license is deprecated.
BSD licenses
- {{BSD}} - BSD license
- {{BSDu|~~~}} - BSD license with user variable
Free Art license (License Art Libre)
- {{FAL}} - Free Art license (info)
- {{cc-by}} - Attribution
- {{cc-by-2.0}} - Attribution 2.0
- {{cc-by-2.0-map}} - Attribution 2.0 map
- {{cc-by-2.0-map-of}} - Attribution 2.0 map of _____
- {{cc-sa}} - ShareAlike
- {{cc-by-sa}} - Attribution-Sharealike
- {{cc-by-sa-2.0}} - Attribution-Sharealike 2.0
UK and Canadian federal, provincial, and territorial government copyrights
- {{CrownCopyright}} - This only applies to some content on some web sites. It's not a carte blanche to use anything. See the talk page for a list of web sites that will allow some use - and check the copyright notice first as they are all different. It is the express opinion of HM Stationery Office that Crown Copyright is incompatible with the GFDL — contact the Epopt for details.
The options below are all either for Crown copyright or British Government bodies that claim copyrights in their own right with terms sufficiently different from the norm that they need their own message.
- {{LearningandSkillsCouncilCopyright}} - Learning and Skills Council material
- {{NationalAuditOfficeCopyright}} - National Audit Office material
- {{NHSCopyright}} - National Health Service material
Canadian Crown Copyright requires that the source department be acknowledged as part of the copyright.
- {{CanadaCopyright}} - Items released by the Government of Canada.
- {{OntarioCopyright}} - Items released by the Queen's Printer for Ontario.
Fair use
All material under fair use is copyrighted to begin with. Please review our rationale for fair use.
- {{Fairold}} - For use with images from old sources where copyright may have expired but not quite old enough for this to be certain, but where use would be contended to be fair use if still subject to copyright (eg, advertising from companies that have been out of business for 50 + years).
- {{Fairuse}} - for a copyrighted image which is contended to be fair use.
- {{Albumcover}} - for album covers
- {{Bookcover}} - for book covers
- {{Coatofarms}} - For images of a "Coat of arms" or crest.
- {{DVDcover}} - for DVD covers
- {{Gamecover}} - for video game covers of reduced quality.
- {{Logo}} - for logos
- {{Magazinecover}} - for magazine covers
- {{money}} - for images of the official currency of a country. These may be in the public domain, or they may not. (For specific cases, see the tags for {{money-EU}} and {{money-US}}.)
- {{money-EU}} - for images of the official currency of the EU. These are copyrighted.
- {{Pokeimage}} - for Pokémon images
- {{Poster}} - for poster images of reduced quality.
- {{Promophoto}} - for promotional photos of people, e.g. headshots or posed shots
- {{Screenshot}} - for screenshots of websites, software applications, films, television broadcasts and video games. Currently, no distinction is made between screenshots of proprietary programs and screenshots of free software. If the screenshot is of software showing a web page, then tag it with both {{software-screenshot}} and {{web-screenshot}}.
- {{film-screenshot}} - Screenshots from movies and television programs
- {{game-screenshot}} - Screenshots of computer games and video games
- {{software-screenshot}} - Screenshots of software
- {{web-screenshot}} - Screenshots of web pages
- {{wikipedia-screenshot}} - Screenshots of Wikipedia web pages
- {{Stamp}} - for images of postage stamps which may or may not be in the public domain, depending on country.
- {{USPSstamp}} - for U.S. postage stamps after 1978
- {{Video tape cover}} - for video tape cover images
- {{Fairuseunsure}} - for when use of a unique image that would be public domain unless contended to be fair use depending upon if it is subject to copyright, but the copyright status cannot or is difficult to be determined. A rationale should be provided to support this conclusion of why it cannot be determined and fair use. ie. Public domain unless fair use. [ talk ]
- {{PAphoto}} - For images from PA Photos.
- {{PermissionAndFairUse}} - where we have permission, and US fair use also applies. You should also describe as much as possible about the permission including who from and conditions.
- {{Promotional}} - for an image freely provided to promote an item, as in a promotional photo in a press packet
- {{Verifieduse}} - An approval process for fair use images has been proposed at Wikipedia:Fair use. Images which have gone through that process carry this tag.
Tags for deprecated images
Unfree Images
These tags are used to mark images which are deprecated, and which will eventually be deleted.
On September 20, 2004, Wikipedia:Possibly unfree images began accepting listings for images used in Wikipedia that either do not have a license or are currently listed with a non-free license. The following tags are for use on such images:
- {{PUI}} - used for images that do not currently have a license noted. If an alternative license is not found, these images may be deleted within 30 days.
- {{PUIdisputed}} - used for images where the stated copyright status is disputed. If an alternative license is not found, these images may be deleted within 30 days.
- {{Nonfreedelete}} - used for images with a noted non-free license. If an alternative license is not found, these images may be deleted within 30 days.
Copyright violations
This tag is used to mark images which violate copyright, and which will quickly be deleted.
- {{imagevio}} - for images listed at Wikipedia:Copyright problems. Use the format {{imagevio|url=http://www.Violation_Source_Webiste.com}}
Bad images
These tags are used to mark images which are deprecated, and which will eventually be deleted.
- {{Missing image}} - for images that cannot be deleted using the standard deletion procedure due to bugs in the MediaWiki software. Generally, these images have to be manually deleted by a developer.
- {{Dead-image}} - for an image which has no associated file which may be deleted.
General non-free licenses
Do not upload images for which one of the tags in this section applies.
- {{unverified}} - for an image with no source or license information.
- {{unknown}} - for an image with author information but no notice about licensing information.
- {{copyrighted}} - permission is given for use on Wikipedia only, and does not include third parties.
- {{permission}} - another version of {{copyrighted}}.
- {{noncommercial}} - where there is general non-commercial permission.
- {{noncommercialProvided}} - where there is general non-commercial permission provided that... (e.g.) the photographer is credited. For example, images from IMDb cannot be reproduced for sale and credit must be supplied. However, these images may possibly be used under other categories such as fair use.
- {{CopyrightedNotForProfitUseProvidedThat|...}} - Eg. provided that credit is given and copyright is attributed.
Non-free UK Government licenses
Do not upload images for which one of the tags in this section applies.
- {{QualificationsandCurriculumAuthorityCopyright}} - Qualifications and Curriculum Authority material (view)
- {{LandRegistryCopyright}} - Land Registry material (view)
- {{TeacherTrainingAuthorityCopyright}} - Teacher Training Agency material (view)
- {{Ordnance Survey Copyright}} (view)
Other non-free government copyrights
Do not upload images for which one of the tags in this section applies.
- {{FrenchNavyImage}} - Free for Internet use; non-free for non-Internet use. (view)
- {{Indiancopyright}} - for works first published in India and domains registered in India.
- {{Malaysiancopyright}} - for works first published in Malaysia and domains registered in Malaysia.
Non-free Creative Commons licenses
Do not upload images for which one of the tags in this section applies.
- {{cc-nd}} - NoDerivs
- {{cc-by-nd}} - Attribution-NoDerivs
- {{cc-by-nd-2.0}} - Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0
- {{cc-nc}} - NonCommercial
- {{cc-by-nc}} - Attribution-NonCommercial
- {{cc-by-nc-2.0}} - Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0
- {{cc-nc-sa}} - NonCommercial-ShareAlike
- {{cc-by-nc-sa}} - Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
- {{cc-by-nc-sa-2.0}} - Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0
- {{cc-nd-nc}} - NoDerivs-NonCommercial
- {{cc-by-nd-nc}} - Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial
- {{cc-by-nc-nd-2.0}} - Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial 2.0
Rationale
But why? ... we hear you cry.
Well, it is a few things:
- What's "fair use" in one country may not be "fair use" in another country; this allows people creating derivative works in other countries to extract images which aren't legal in their country.
- It is harder to create decent images than decent text, so the temptation to break copyright is bigger, so we like to be a bit more vigilant. For this very reason, sublicensees of Wikipedia are going to be especially concerned about images, particularly for printed versions.
- Secondly, it's easy to rewrite text that turns out to be copyrighted, but harder (though possible) to do the same for images.
- It is good practice to cite our sources, where we've (legally) copied images from elsewhere. If we give due credit, we're more likely to get permission (and some licenses require due credit anyway).
- Where Wikipedians have created the images, they should have a bit of fame! Putting some text on the image description page that they took it themselves, and they license it under the GFDL, is a good way to do that.
Creating new tags or sub-category
If you are uploading a relatively large collection of images, you should consider creating a new tag and sub-category for them.
- First create the template, for example, Template:Asdf. This can be a quick draft version of a public domain notice, for example.
- Categorize that template to Category:Asdf images.
- Edit this category to put a description.
- Add the template tag {{Image template notice|Asdf}} in this category edit.
- Categorize this category to, for example, Category:Public domain images.
Done. All you need to do is just tag your uploaded images with {{Asdf}}. All those images will be in the Category:Asdf images which in turn would be a sub-category of Category:Public domain images.
Image template notice
Each copyright tag such as {{Fairuse}} should correspond to a Category. Placing such a tag on an image will automatically put it into that category, because that template should already belong to that category. Using {{Fairuse}} as an example, each of such category should have a notice by using the tag {{Image template notice|Fairuse}} of the template Template:Image template notice that renders as:
To place a file in this category, add the tag {{fairuse}} to the bottom of the file's description page. If you are not sure which category a file belongs to, consult the file copyright tag page. If this category is very large, please consider placing your file in a new or existing subcategory. Free files can be moved to the Wikimedia Commons. |
Members
This is a team of Wikipedians who have volunteered to help do this vital work. Are any of these users knowledgeable in copyright law?
- Morwen
- Secretlondon
- Anthony DiPierro
- Imran
- Maximus Rex
- Angela
- Flockmeal
- Quadell
- Ardonik
- David Remahl
- Jimmy Chin
- Lommer | talk
- ugen64
- Bratsche
Tagging status
Note: totals include many other tags not individually shown for clarity.
Tag | 08/28 | 09/04 | 09/14 | 09/17* | 09/20 | 10/10 | 11/26 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
{{GFDL}} | 10373 | 11374 | 12508 | 23394 | 25407 | 31149 | 36179 |
{{GFDL-small}} | 6 | 40 | |||||
{{GPL}} | 56 | 59 | 62 | 64 | 67 | 83 | 86 |
{{LGPL}} | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 9 |
total GFDL-like | 25478 | 31243 | 36356 | ||||
{{PD}} | 5864 | 6314 | 7676 | 8722 | 9090 | 10948 | 14634 |
{{PD-US}} | 391 | 435 | 509 | ||||
{{PD-USGov}} | 2355 | 1866 | 2321 | ||||
{{PD-CAGov}} | 13 | 15 | 25 | ||||
{{polishpd}} | 6 | 13 | |||||
{{Sovietpd}} | 33 | 33 | 66 | 66 | 69 | 95 | 121 |
{{iraqcopyright}} | 69 | 10 | 10 | ||||
{{PD-art}} | 83 | 163 | 430 | ||||
total public domain | 12044 | 13803 | 21445 | ||||
{{PermissionAndFairUse}} | 104 | 102 | 126 | 127 | 129 | 146 | 572 |
{{fairuse}} | 3503 | 3755 | 4107 | 5269 | 5491 | 5779 | 7675 |
{{freefairusein}} | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 10 |
{{verifieduse}} | 18 | 18 | 20 | 26 | 25 | 25 | 30 |
{{logo}} | 355 | 1100 | |||||
{{screenshot}} | 879 | 1525 | |||||
total fair use | 5653 | 7192 | 13607 | ||||
{{permission}} | 22 | 84 | |||||
{{copyrighted}} | 66 | 69 | 82 | 84 | 86 | 105 | 138 |
{{CopyrightedFreeUse}} | 73 | 76 | 124 | 124 | 132 | 174 | 292 |
{{CopyrightedFreeUseProvided}} | 229 | 256 | 298 | 305 | 311 | 352 | 400 |
{{CrownCopyright}} | 13 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 18 | 68 |
total external copyright | 544 | 671 | 983 | ||||
{{cc-by}} | 59 | 66 | 82 | ||||
{{cc-by-2.0}} | 6 | 32 | 181 | ||||
{{cc-by-nc}} | 12 | 52 | 59 | ||||
{{cc-by-nc-2.0}} | 28 | 29 | 30 | ||||
{{cc-by-nc-sa}} | 59 | 59 | 62 | ||||
{{cc-by-nc-sa-2.0}} | 9 | 10 | 34 | ||||
{{cc-by-nd}} | 3 | 4 | 4 | ||||
{{cc-by-nd-nc}} | 216 | 214 | 220 | ||||
{{cc-by-nd-nc-2.0}} | 14 | 14 | 14 | ||||
{{cc-by-sa}} | 922 | 1047 | 1159 | ||||
{{cc-by-sa-2.0}} | 37 | 119 | 285 | ||||
{{cc-nc}} | 22 | 27 | 47 | ||||
{{cc-nc-sa}} | 7 | 7 | 18 | ||||
{{cc-nd}} | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
{{cc-nd-nc}} | 5 | 5 | 5 | ||||
{{cc-sa}} | 175 | 177 | 205 | ||||
total creative commons | 1575 | 1863 | 2406 | ||||
{{noncommercial}} | 253 | 255 | 285 | 301 | 300 | 336 | 365 |
{{noncommercialProvided}} | 137 | 141 | 150 | 156 | 160 | 162 | 167 |
total non commercial | 460 | 498 | 532 | ||||
{{PUI}} | 12 | 108 | |||||
{{PUIdisputed}} | 17 | 7 | |||||
{{nonfreedelete}} | 14 | 23 | |||||
total possibily unfree | 460 | 43 | 138 | ||||
{{unknown}} | 131 | 150 | 192 | 193 | 203 | 246 | 330 |
{{unverified}} | 1984 | 2048 | 2260 | 2266 | 2383 | 2641 | 3104 |
total other | 2586 | 2887 | 3435 | ||||
total tagged | 47460 | 57170 | 77199 | ||||
not tagged | 64568 | 64838 | 65085 | 51965 | 47584 | 43394 | 41656 |
total images | 95044 | 100564 | 118855 |
* = after the script was changed to count old {{msg:...}} too.