Wikipedia:Standard GFDL violation letter

The following are general letters that can be used to contact users of Wikipedia content asking them to give Wikipedia credit and/or include a GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) notice. Note: These letters were originally adapted from the text located at User:MyRedDice/Abacci Letter.

Note that while these letters are part of Wikipedia (and thus subject to the GFDL) you may wish to remove the GFDL notice at the bottom of the letter as that notice may be confusing. Alternatively, rather than restating it in the letter, you can make reference to the notice at the bottom being the required notice under the GFDL, thereby (in a rather slick manner) leaving the GFDL notice in, but making it look like it is the required text that one is requesting to put on the web site though, obviously it will be functioning in both capacities (example and license notice).

Some cautionary notes:

Many uses of Wikipedia content will be covered by fair use, remember that wholesale copying is often not covered by fair use.
Sometimes text will be separately submitted by its author to Wikipedia and to another website. Sometimes the other website came first -- check the article's talk page and history.
Only a substantial copyright owner can sue -- be aware that even if you have edited an article this may not mean you.

Letter for website that acknowledges Wikipedia as a source

GFDL Version

Dear {Website owner's name here},

We're delighted to see that your website, {web page here}, uses content from Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org/), the free encyclopedia. This is just the sort of application that we at Wikipedia wish to promote. We're also glad to see that you have included a link back to the source Wikipedia article, as we've suggested on our copyrights page (http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Copyrights).

However, we'd like to point out that to use content from Wikipedia you should also include a GFDL notice. One way of doing this would be to add the text "This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license", and provide a link to a copy of the GFDL on your own site.

Thanks for your assistance,
{Your name here}

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This message is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL), which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.

GFDL: http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html
URL of source: http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Standard_GFDL_violation_letter

PD Version

Dear <WEBSITE OWNER>:

I've noticed that you are making use of English Wikipedia articles as part of your website, <WEBSITE>. One example is <URL>, which includes material from the Wikipedia article <ARTICLE>, which is located at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/<ARTICLE>. Wikipedia encourages the redistribution of our content. We also appreciate you citing Wikipedia as a source. However, it is also necessary to comply with the terms of our license, the GNU Free Documentation License(GFDL). Failure to do so is a copyright violation. The text of the GFDL, the only legally binding document, can be found at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html . However, Wikipedia does offer advice about how to comply with the GFDL. This can be found in detail at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Copyrights . One of the most important steps is to mention the GFDL. At the bottom of every page that uses Wikipedia material, you can include text similar to, "This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article (put article name here); it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL." You should link the text "GNU Free Documentation License" to a copy of the text of the GFDL on your own server. Also, we strongly recommend that you link back to the original Wikipedia article; this is a means to comply with certain GFDL requirements.

Thank you for your cooperation.

<SENDER'S EMAIL>

Letter for website that doesn't acknowledge Wikipedia as a source

Dear {Website owner's name here},

We're delighted to see that your website, {web page here}, uses content from Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org/), the free encyclopedia. This is just the sort of application that we at Wikipedia wish to promote.

However, we'd like to point out that when using content from Wikipedia you should include a link back to the source Wikipedia article ({give link here}), as we've suggested on our copyrights page (http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Copyrights). Additionally, you should also include a GFDL notice. One way of doing this would be to add the text "This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license", and provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html.

Thanks for your assistance,
{Your name here}

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This message is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL), which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.

GFDL: http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html
URL of source: http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Standard_GFDL_violation_letter

Single copy of GFDL notice version

Dear {Website owner's name here},

We're delighted to see that your website, {web page here}, uses content (such as {example page from website}) from Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org/), the free encyclopedia. This is just the sort of application that we at Wikipedia wish to promote.

However, we'd like to point out that when using content from Wikipedia you should include a link back to the source Wikipedia article ({give link here}), as we've suggested on our copyrights page (http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Copyrights). Additionally, you should also include a GFDL notice. One way of doing this would be to add the text included below, and provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html.

Thanks for your assistance,
{Your name here}

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Example GFDL notice text: This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL), which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.

GFDL: http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html
URL of source: http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Standard_GFDL_violation_letter (you would replace this with the URL of the actual page you were putting it on)

PD letter

Dear <WEBSITE OWNER>:

I've noticed that you are making use of English Wikipedia articles as part of your website, <WEBSITE>. One example is <URL>, which includes material from the Wikipedia article <ARTICLE>, which is located at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/<ARTICLE>. Wikipedia encourages the redistribution of our content. However, it is necessary to comply with the terms of our license, the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL). Failure to do so is a copyright violation. The text of the GFDL can be found at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html . That is the only legally binding document. However, Wikipedia does offer advice about how to comply with the GFDL. This can be found in detail at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Copyrights . One of the most important steps is to mention the GFDL. At the bottom of every page that uses Wikipedia material, you can include text similar to, "This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article (put article name here); it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL." You should link the text "GNU Free Documentation License" to a copy of the text of the GFDL on your own server. Also, we strongly recommend that you link back to the original Wikipedia article; this is a means to comply with certain GFDL requirements.

Thank you for your cooperation.

<SENDER'S EMAIL>

PD letter aimed at a specific violation

The following sample letter (based on one I recently sent) is aimed at a mirror that has copied an article which includes text written by the individual sending the letter. It therefore emphasises the infringement of the individual's copyright, and is worded as an individual communication. I hereby release this sample letter to the public domain. DES ^(talk) 23:13, 28 October 2005 (UTC) [reply]

Dear <Site Operator>:

I am pleased to see that your website, <SITE> uses content from Wikipedia (<http://www.wikipedia.org/>), the free encyclopedia. This is the sort of reuse that those who contribute to Wikipedia, as I do, wish to promote.

However, I’d like to point out that when you use content from Wikipedia you ought to include a link back to the source Wikipedia article as is suggested on Wikipedia’s copyrights page, which is located at <http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Copyrights>. Additionally, you should also include a GFDL notice. One way of doing this would be to add the text "This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license", and provide a link to <http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html>. Text such as "This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia" is a good way to acknowledge the general source of the text.

Specifically, your page <Specific Address> uses content from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARTICLE NAME>. I was a contributor to this article, and text that I wrote appears on your site. Since it appears without attribution to me, or a link to the Wikipedia history, or the text of the GFDL under which I released my contributions, the existence of this page violates my copyright, as well as those of all other contributors.

Please add the required links and acknowledgments to all parts of your <Title> site that use Wikipedia content promptly. Thank you.

Sincerely, <Wikipedia User's Name>

GFDL Violation Letter Followup

(To be sent after not less than, but not a lot more than a month after the first - ideally, one month and less than a week after)

Dear {Website owner's name here},

This is in regard with your {web page/site here} which uses Wikipedia content (http://www.wikipedia.org).

As we suggested in a prior message, your use of content from Wikipedia automatically makes you a Licensee of that material, according to the Wikipedia Copyrights page and the international copyright laws. As a Licensee of the GNU Free Documentation Licence (GFDL), you are required to abide by that respective license, which in turn means you must perform the following steps:

You must include links to the article(s) in Wikipedia you copied on the pages containing the copied/modified material;
You must include a visible GFDL notice on every page using Wikipedia content, similar to the one at the bottom of this message.

This is the second message we have sent you; it appears that your violation of our copyright has not changed since we sent our first letter. Please make sure you follow these steps now.

For more information on your rights and obligations as a Licensee of the GNU FDL, see http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html

Thank you,
{Your name here}

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This message is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL), which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.

GFDL: http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html
URL of source: http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Standard_GFDL_violation_letter

GFDL Violation Letter Followup (public domain version)

Dear insert name of site owner,

We've previously contacted you about your web site insert site name and URL here, which uses content licensed to the Wikipedia under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation Licence (GFDL). To use that content without copyright infringement you must either comply with the requirements of the GFDL or use the more convenient approximation described on the Wikipedia Copyrights page by doing both of the following:

Include a readily readable link to the article in the Wikipedia from which the content came.
Include a readily readable link to the GFDL, such as a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html .

A notice of this form is suggested, for the article called Bar:

 This article is licensed under the <a href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html">
 GNU Free Documentation License</a>. It uses material from the 
 <a href="/wiki/Bar">Wikipedia article "Bar"</a>.

Please promptly change your site to comply with the requirements and let us know that you have done so or tell us your schedule for doing so, so that we can let the copyright holders know that no further action is necessary.

Thank you,
{Your name here}