Wikipedia:Media copyright questions

Media copyright questions
Welcome to the Media Copyright Questions page, a place for help with image copyrights, tagging, non-free content, and related questions. For all other questions please see Wikipedia:Questions. How to add a copyright tag to an existing image On the description page of the image (the one whose name starts File:), click Edit this page. From the page Wikipedia:File copyright tags, choose the appropriate tag: For work you created yourself, use one of the ones listed under the heading "For image creators". For a work downloaded from the internet, please understand that the vast majority of images from the internet are not appropriate for use on Wikipedia. Exceptions include images from flickr that have an acceptable license, images that are in the public domain because of their age or because they were created by the United States federal government, or images used under a claim of fair use. If you do not know what you are doing, please post a link to the image here and ask BEFORE uploading it. For an image created by someone else who has licensed their image under an acceptable Creative Commons or other free license, or has released their image into the public domain, this permission must be documented. Please see Requesting copyright permission for more information. Type the name of the tag (e.g.; {{Cc-by-4.0}}), not forgetting {{ before and }} after, in the edit box on the image's description page. Remove any existing tag complaining that the image has no tag (for example, {{untagged}}) Hit Publish changes. If you still have questions, go on to "How to ask a question" below. How to ask a question To ask a new question hit the "Click here to start a new discussion" link below. Please sign your question by typing ~~~~ at the end. Check this page for updates, or request to be notified on your talk page. Don't include your email address, for your own privacy. We will respond here and cannot respond by email. Note for those replying to posted questions If a question clearly does not belong on this page, reply to it using the template {{mcq-wrong}} and, if possible, leave a note on the poster's talk page. For copyright issues relevant to Commons where questions arising cannot be answered locally, questions may be directed to Commons:Commons:Village pump/Copyright.
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File:Owl WTP.jpg

The image file, File:Owl WTP.jpg, must be uploaded onto either Wikimedia or Wikipedia, preferably Wikimedia, by someone who has an account. Oh, and in case you're wondering, it must be a picture of Owl from the Disney Winnie the Pooh franchise, and it must be this image here. Just click on the link [1]. 2601:401:4300:3720:4EB9:5BA8:5D2C:AEAF (talk) 20:55, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

There are couple of issues with your request. The first one is that it's not clear why it must be that particular image Wikipedia uses when any image of the character could possibly be used to serve the same encyclopedic purpose. If an image is needed, one from the original book itself or as close as possible to when the book was published would be much more preferable than someone's fan art image since it would be likely a much more accurate representation of how the book's author and its illustrator "saw" the character.

The other problem is that the provenance and copyright status of that fan art image is unclear, which most likely means it would need to be treated as non-free content. Wikipedia's non-free content use policy is quite restrictive and non-free images are generally not considered acceptable to use for illustrating individual entries in list articles. This is probably the reason why there are only five images currently being used in that list article, none of which are licensed as non-free content. Since there doesn't seem to be an individual stand-alone article about the character "Owl", the list article is probably the only place to use it on Wikipedia, and given that the book itself seem to now be within the public domain, and images taken from it are also most likely within the public domain; this makes justifying the use of any non-free one in any article is likely going to be quite hard. -- Marchjuly (talk) 00:02, 20 October 2024 (UTC)

There aren't any images of Owl from the Disney Winnie the Pooh franchise on Wikipedia, nor Wikimedia, for that matter. I need it for my draft article I'm working on Owl from "Winnie-the-Pooh". I need an image of Owl from the Disney Version of Winnie the Pooh. 2601:401:4300:3720:E295:6640:4B95:4922 (talk) 22:27, 21 October 2024 (UTC)

1. Such a use in an article is going to be a blatant copyright violation, not fair use; and Disney's copyright lawyers are notoriously merciless and well-funded. The same goes (but even more so) for uploading such an image to the Wikimedia Commons.

2. Fair-use images can't be used in drafts anyway. --Orange Mike | Talk 01:25, 22 October 2024 (UTC)

Doesn't Gopher (Winnie the Pooh), with its fair use image, contradict this? Commander Keane (talk) 05:13, 24 October 2024 (UTC)

Gopher (Winnie the Pooh) isn't a draft so Orangemike's point 2 above (i.e. WP:NFCC#9 and WP:Drafts#Creating and editing drafts) doesn't apply. As for point 1, the Gopher character seems to have been introduced by Disney in 1966 (i.e. it's not a character from the original book); so, it's use for primary identification purposes in a stand-alone article about the character is probably OK per relevant policy. It's use in other articles or in other ways, on the other hand, probably wouldn't be considered to be policy compliant; for example, trying to use in List of Winnie-the-Pooh characters is likely not going to be allowed per WP:NFLISTS and item 6 of WP:NFC#UUI. It's probably not a copyright violation per se (fair use could be argued perhaps) to try to use the file in such a way, but Wikipedia policy is much more restrictive than fair use. What could possibly be a copyright violation per WP:NFC#Meeting the previous publication criterion and WP:COPYLINK, though, is uploading an image posted on an online forum or fandom site, unless it's clear the site is either under the control of Disney or the image was uploaded by Disney. -- Marchjuly (talk) 06:03, 24 October 2024 (UTC)

Hey, I think I found something. Just click on this link right here [2]. 2601:401:4300:3720:ADE:BAB7:7DA:FE5E (talk) 20:44, 8 November 2024 (UTC)

File:Kemal and Magdalena Hemady.webp

I doubt that the file is subject to the NFCC as the file was first published and presumably registered in 1931 per its description and was in the public domain (at least in the Philippines) as early as 1962 per Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Philippines#For works created before 1998. -Ian Lopez @ 08:20, 26 October 2024 (UTC)

I think that is a perfectly reasonable analysis. One might question whether such a family photo were "published" in the sense of US law, a condition for it to be in the public domain in the US, but for that it would have sufficed if a professional photographer took it and sold it to their client. Felix QW (talk) 18:31, 5 November 2024 (UTC)

Internet Archive outage notice: non-free or PD-text?

File:Internet archive website, during DOS attack, 13th October 2024.png was uploaded as a non-free image; however, I don't see it as meeting the threshold of originality, especially the original October 13th upload which consisted of only three sentences of text. Unless anyone here thinks this should remain a non-free image, I intend to propose undeletion of the high-resolution versions and moving to Commons as facts, data, and unoriginal information which is common property without sufficiently creative authorship in a general typeface (from PD-text). Dan Leonard (talk • contribs) 06:05, 29 October 2024 (UTC)

@Dan Leonard: I feel I agree here. Per C:COM:Screenshots, "screenshots must not be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons unless all content in them is under a free license or in the public domain", we have most of the stuff on this file free, including the Archive's logo. Whatever is little, could be considered de minimis. _Regards, Aafi ^(talk) 17:07, 5 November 2024 (UTC)

File:Boutiqaat Company.png

File:Boutiqaat Company.png (the logo for Boutiqaat) seems to be nothing more that text (including the "B") and a flower/start used to dot the "i". Any opinions as to whether this can be converted to at least {{PD-ineligible-USonly}} per c:COM:TOO US even if it's still protected in Kuwait per c:COM:Kuwait? -- Marchjuly (talk) 02:45, 1 November 2024 (UTC)

{{PD-ineligible-USonly}} would be an appropriate tag for this, yes. It is definitely below the threshold of originality in the US, so it doesn't need to be tagged as unfree. IronGargoyle (talk) 00:48, 2 November 2024 (UTC)

File:SM City Caloocan in night.jpeg

I'm not too sure about the licensing of File:SM City Caloocan in night.jpeg given that there's no FOP in the Philippines for building constructed on of after November 14, 1972, per c:COM:FOP Philippines and the snowman imagery. The fireworks imagery per c:COM:CB#Fireworks displays, but not sure about the other stuff. -- Marchjuly (talk) 02:51, 1 November 2024 (UTC)

Regarding FOP, I believe we accept {{FOP-USonly}} for images of buildings, regardless of where they are located. I am not sure about the snowman, though. Felix QW (talk) 13:19, 1 November 2024 (UTC)

Deleted as a blatant copyright violation. The image was taken from Facebook. The freedom of panorama issues are moot. IronGargoyle (talk) 00:42, 2 November 2024 (UTC)

Thank you for taking a look at this IronGargoyle. -- Marchjuly (talk) 03:17, 2 November 2024 (UTC)

PD-Italy file

Does File:Domenico Chirieleison.jpg need to be treated as non-free content for local Wikipedia use even though it's licensed as {{PD-Italy}}? Wikipedia is really only concerned with the copyright status of this under US copyright law, and if it's copyright was restored in the US as of Italy's URAA date, it would seem that this needs to be treated a non-free content here on Wikipedia. If it's PD in both the US and Italy, then it should be moved to Commons. -- Marchjuly (talk) 06:37, 2 November 2024 (UTC)

If this is indeed a "simple photo" in the sense of Italian law, its copyright there expired 20 years after creation. It would therefore be free in the US too. I fixed the tag accordingly. Felix QW (talk) 12:20, 2 November 2024 (UTC)

Thank you for looking at this Felix QW. -- Marchjuly (talk) 21:41, 3 November 2024 (UTC)

Uploading an Image

I'm wondering if my image of Alexander Zverev can be uploaded to replace the one already on his home page, or is it copyrighted and has no excuse to use it. Big4tennis (talk) 21:16, 3 November 2024 (UTC)

Hi @Big4tennis: Did you take the image you want to upload or did you find it somewhere online? If you took it yourself, and you want to release it under an acceptable free license as explained here, you can upload the image to Wikimedia Commons if you want. Whether it ends up being used in Alexander Zverev, however, could depend on whether a consensus is established in favor of doing so. If you didn't take the image yourself and just found it online, then you should assume it's protected by copyright and not OK to use unless it can be clearly shown to either have been already released by its copyright holder under an acceptable free license or you're able to obtain the copyright holder's WP:CONSENT to upload the file. Without either of these two things, any such image would need to be treated as non-free content and would not be allowed because it would be a violation of Wikipedia's non-free content use policy. -- Marchjuly (talk) 22:14, 3 November 2024 (UTC)

If by home page you mean Alexander Zverev, we call that article around here. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 07:06, 4 November 2024 (UTC)

File:CFA-AFC logo.png

File:CFA-AFC logo.png seems simple enough to be {{PD-logo}} per both c:COM:TOO US and c:COM:TOO Canada. The maple leaf imagery is pretty standard, and I don't think it's really eligible for copyright protection; however, there's something in the upper left gray quadrant that I'm unable to quite make out. It's an arc of some type, but it could just be from the low quality of the file. Can anyone determine what this might be? -- Marchjuly (talk) 10:05, 4 November 2024 (UTC)

@Marchjuly, have you checked out the archive link for the stated source? It looks to be a design element (bit of a puzzle piece outline) of the web page, not part of the logo. Commander Keane (talk) 10:25, 4 November 2024 (UTC)

Thanks for checking on this. It seems that you're right in that the element is not part of the logo at all. -- Marchjuly (talk) 10:43, 4 November 2024 (UTC)

File:Richard Sharp Smith.png

Given that Richard Sharp Smith died in 1924, there seems to be a pretty good chance that File:Richard Sharp Smith.png can be relicensed as public domain per c:COM:US. Can this be relicensed as either {{PD-US-expired}}? -- Marchjuly (talk) 10:53, 4 November 2024 (UTC)

I think so, by the same reasoning as in the thread below. Felix QW (talk) 09:26, 5 November 2024 (UTC)

PD-US-expired?

If File:Frederick Baker 1914.jpg dates back to 1914 as its file description states, then it should have already entered the public domain by now, shouldn't it have? Can the file's licensing be changed to {{PD-US-expired}}? -- Marchjuly (talk) 01:19, 5 November 2024 (UTC)

If it was published rather than merely created then, it would certainly be in the public domain. Since it very much looks like a formal portrait and sale to the sitter was generally held to constitute publication, I would support that assumption and would be comfortable with relicensing accordingly. Felix QW (talk) 09:25, 5 November 2024 (UTC)

File:Aspects of twentieth century painting, 1963.pdf

Hi, This is a US publication, in the public domain due to lack of copyright notice, but it contains images of works of art from other countries, which are not in the public domain outside USA. For this reason, it is questioned on Commons. Would it be OK to move it on the English Wikipedia? Thanks, Yann (talk) 16:01, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

World Heritage Site nomination

The application[3] to UNESCO by (it seems) the Canadian government, contains, at a minimum, a very useful map showing the wreck sites of interest in Red Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador. (Search for "27M" or "24M" in the document and you will get to the maps that show the locations of these wrecks, as well as other archaeological sites on land and the proposed heritage site boundary.) The copyright situation here is beyond me. Who would own any copyright, the authors or UNESCO? In whichever case applies, do they assert copyright (I cannot find the word copyright in the document) and if so, how long would that last? The actual entry on the UNESCO site[4] gives me (but perhaps not others) little clue on the copyright status of any of this stuff, though I have spotted the copyright symbol on photos on the UNESCO site. It also seems to give a link in to the pdf file mentioned above ("the application"), but with no copyright statement that I can find. Is this a Canadian government situation? Even if it is, I need a bit of help on this.

Thanks, ThoughtIdRetired _TIR 21:03, 10 November 2024 (UTC)

Sosumi sound file

Sosumi ("so, sue me") is a half-second sound file, once used in Apple OS as a bleep sound. It has been uploaded to Enwiki at File:Sosumi.mp3 with a "Trademark" tag (originally a different tag). The uploader User:Jibblesnark86 and myself would like clarity if this is permissible, and what kind of tag should it have. Thank you. I think the uploader doesn't want to be sued! -- GreenC 15:27, 12 November 2024 (UTC)

File:Karl Marx, The Story of His Life (first edition).jpg

As far as I can see, this file is not copyrighted in any way. Mehring died 1919, the book was published 1918. So this looks like public domain. Am I right?

I can't manage to export it to commons. Can anyone please help me? Thanks, --Dick Bos (talk) 16:57, 12 November 2024 (UTC)

Hi Dick Bos. File:Karl Marx, The Story of His Life (first edition).jpg is going to need to be PD or otherwise freely licensed in both the US (where the Commons servers are located) and Germany (the likely country of first publication) in order for Commons to host this file. Given the publication date of the book, this probably is PD in Germany per c:COM:Germany, but which of the licenses mentioned on the Commons page about Germany should be used is unclear (at least to me). So, you might want to ask about this at c:COM:VPC to try to narrow down which license fits best.

Since you didn't scan the cover yourself, and there's no url provided as the source, you might want to double check via Google Images or something similar that the cover is really the cover of the first edition. The quick check I did shows that the book has been republished several times over the years with different covers, and if even the version uploaded to Wikipedia seems to come in different colors. Unfortunately, the uploader of the file won't be able to help you there; so, you're kind of on your own.

Once you know the cover is correct and which license to use, you can then do one of the following: (1) download this local file to your computer and reupload it to Commons under said license; (2) replace the file's non-free licensing with a PD one, replace the file's non-free use rationale with {{Information}} and tag the file with {{Copy to Wikimedia Commons}} for someone else to move; or (3) find a better cleaner higher resolution of the same cover art, upload that one to Commons, replace the non-free one with it in the article about the book, and then tag the no longer being used non-free one with {{Orfud}} so that it ends up deleted per WP:F5 or with {{Now Commons}} so that it ends up being deleted per WP:F8. If you opt for (2), you could even possibly request that the older originally uploaded version (deleted per WP:F5) be restored via WP:REFUND so that's the one that ends up being moved instead. In addition, since the German copyright licenses used on Commons won't likely work here on Wikipedia, you might need to temporarly use something like {{PD-old-auto}} together with {{PD-US-expired}} when converting the file from non-free to PD until the file has been moved to Commons and then change the licensing to the better German copyright one after the move. -- Marchjuly (talk) 05:25, 13 November 2024 (UTC)

Thanks for your extensive answer! I appreciate this very much. I'll try to find some time soon to work through all your suggestions and advices. For now many greetings, --Dick Bos (talk) 13:50, 13 November 2024 (UTC)

Troom Troom logos

Both File:Troom Troom (main logo).webp and File:Troom Troom (Ukranian version).jpg were uploaded as non-free without non-free use rationales; so, they've been tagged for speedy deletion per WP:F6. Since they're essentially the same logo with just a different color scheme, both files aren't really needed per WP:NFCC#3a. However, the logo design itself seems too simple to be eligible for copyright protection per c:COM:TOO US, and, at least in my opinion, can be converted to a PD license.

The "problem", though, is that it's not clear which country should be considered the country of first publication/origin. The article Troom Troom states it is for a "multi-national YouTube channel" but doesn't state where those who created the channel are based out of. Converting this file to {{PD-logo}} would make sense if US is the country of origin, but I don't know how to verify that. Converting the file to {{PD-ineligible-USonly}} would makes sense if a country with a lower TOO than the US is the country of origin, but (once again) I don't know how to verify that. Is it safe to assume that because YouTube itself is based out of the US that the country of first publication should also be the US? -- Marchjuly (talk) 04:43, 13 November 2024 (UTC)

Footage of George Hackenschmidt

Footage of the professional wrestler George Hackenschmidt from 1908 has been discovered: https://www.ngataonga.org.nz/search-use-collection/search/F18094/. Given its age, is this public domain? Could it be uploaded to Commons? It is an important piece of professional wrestling history and would be good to have on Wikipedia if possible. McPhail (talk) 10:18, 13 November 2024 (UTC)

@McPhail presumably this is the match between Hackenschmidt and Rogers fought in London in February 1908? Is there any indication of who made the film, and when and where, if ever, it has ever been shown (published)? Nthep (talk) 10:58, 13 November 2024 (UTC)

There is a bit of a write-up on the origins here. As you say it is the 1908 London match. The filming was done by the "Charles Urban Trading Company". McPhail (talk) 11:05, 13 November 2024 (UTC)

@McPhail ah, great, so we know it's been screened somewhere, contemporaneously. We have an article on Charles Urban from which we know he was based in London. If this became a newsreel that made its way to New Zealand its very likely to have been screened in the UK and is therefore PD in its country of origin. Due to its age its also PD in the US, which is needed for this to be uploaded to Commons. The only fly in the ointment is the presence of the ngatonga logo which is copyrighted. What is needed is an un-logoed copy. If there's no un-logoed copy, there are no problems with linking to the ngatonga copy. Nthep (talk) 13:49, 13 November 2024 (UTC)

I have had a look at English papers and can see that the Bioscope newsreel of the fight was shown as early as March 1908 in the UK, so it's PD in the UK. Nthep (talk) 14:56, 13 November 2024 (UTC)

Member badge

I received a notice from Iruka13 regarding the image of a pin I had scanned, cleaned up, reduced and then uploaded. May I ask that one of the copyright experts help me understand this?

The image in question is File:The badge of the Wolf's Head Society.png. The comment was that it may fail the first non-free content criterion.

I believe this usage is supportable under fair use. Would someone help me clarify the license statement here, or explain how my thinking is wrong? The salient points are:

1. The original gold badge was designed and created circa 1883.
2. By the time this particular badge was made, several hundred had been cast, and distributed to members.
3. The description from the source of the photo of the badge indicates it was awarded to a Yale student and member of this society in 1936. Logically, the badge was made prior to his initiation date.
4. I assume the photo itself was taken in November of 2021, by a local paper, according to the source of the photo.
5. Members of the Fraternity and Sorority Project group have searched for online examples of this pin, and this is the only one we have found. Hence, no free alternative is known at this writing.
6. The badge is discussed within the Symbolism section of the article, as is standard for similar articles where we have uploaded photos of other badges.
7. I have adjusted the color, saturation and contrast of the photo significantly, also cropped the original photo and have reduced it in size by approximately 80% from the original. Do these adjustments take it out of copyright, as the image has been 'artistically adjusted' and made substantially smaller?

Does the copyright concern here have to do with the Original badge, with the specific casting of this badge (1936), or use of the photo from 2021? Jax MN (talk) 08:39, 15 November 2024 (UTC)

The original design of the item is obviously in the public domain. So to get a freely licensed photo, you have to take one. What's stopping you from taking one? — Ирука¹³ 08:57, 15 November 2024 (UTC)