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

1. On the description page of the image (the one whose name starts File:), click Edit this page.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Remove any existing tag complaining that the image has no tag (for example, {{untagged}})
5. Hit Publish changes.
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 start a new discussion" 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.

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.

Click here to start a new discussion

(For help, see Wikipedia:Purge)

Can't upload a file

So EVERY time I literally try to upload a file, it keeps saying,

File extension ".jpg" does not match the detected MIME type of the file (image/png).

So, is there ANY WHAY you can fix THIS LITTLE PROBLEM????????? User 123409 (talk) 15:07, 15 March 2025 (UTC)

User 123409: Yes, when you overwrite a file you MUST use the same format. Trying to upload a jgp onto an existing png file will not work. Besides which you should just upload the new jpg file under as a different file. If it is appropriate you may want to nominate the png for deletion. ww2censor (talk) 15:14, 15 March 2025 (UTC)

This was a deleted file. Can this still be done? User 123409 (talk) 14:50, 29 March 2025 (UTC)

File:Boldventure.jpg

WP:NOTFREE

File:Boldventure.jpg

from

https://web.archive.org/web/20050119015825/http://www.neylons.com/oldtimeradio/pages/rsz12-The%20Bold%20Venture.html

is a copy of

https://www.alamy.com/humphrey-bogart-and-lauren-bacall-on-their-boat-santana-1946-photo-by-floyd-mccarty-publicity-for-warner-bros-image440357355.html

but unrelated to

Bold Venture a 1951 syndicated radio series starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall

69.181.17.113 (talk) 17:51, 19 March 2025 (UTC)

Non-free images that may be PD

Suppose I find an image being used with a NFUR, and I believe it may be in the public domain by reason of age. Where do I raise a discussion to clarify whether or not it is now PD? Mjroots (talk) 07:00, 21 March 2025 (UTC)

You can ask about it here or start a discussion about it at WP:FFD. You could also possibly asked about it at c:COM:VPC, particularly if it's not an image that was first published in the US. Generally, when an image was first published and not nessarily when it was created is when the countdown to becoming public domain begins; moreover, the countdown can last quite a long time (up to 95 years after first publication or 120 years after creation in some cases under US copyright law). -- Marchjuly (talk) 08:41, 21 March 2025 (UTC)

wrong image on my author webpage

My name is John H. Gibson. I am the author of two books on Amazon. I checked my webpage and you have assigned someone else's picture to my novel, TRACK THREE. This person's name is John Holden Gibson, and he is white. My name is John Henry Gibson, and I am African American. Please remove this person's photo from my book site. Jon3324 (talk) 21:29, 23 March 2025 (UTC)

@Jon3324 please give us a clue which article you're referring to. Nthep (talk) 21:46, 23 March 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia has no article on any novel named 'Track Three'. I can find no evidence on Wikipedia for any biography of any author named John Gibson. If by 'my book site' you mean something other than Wikipedia, we have absolutely no control over what images they use. AndyTheGrump (talk) 22:06, 23 March 2025 (UTC)

File:Walt Disney Animation Studios logo.svg

I once considered exporting the logo to the Commons when seeing File:Walt Disney Animation Studios logo.svg, but it can't because some file revisions were hidden, so I gave up. But now I feel that I should have a try.

The file description stated that the Mickey Mouse is in the public domain by an IP user, but it seems like the user has some issue on their regarding despite the no deletion logs were indicated in the Commons. As far as I know, the 1928 version of Mickey Mouse is in the public domain as of March 2025. Seems like the logo is using the 1928 version. Are there any other copyright issues preventing the export that I haven't noticed? If not, can we request the revisions be undeleted here? Saimmx (talk) 06:47, 25 March 2025 (UTC)

Can I use this?

Hi! Working on my first draft and I don't want to mess up copyright. Can i use this image? https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AZ5WMNWQC2RCK784 Sock-the-guy (talk) 19:40, 26 March 2025 (UTC)

@Sock-the-guy US works from before 1930 are public domain,[1] go for it. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 21:13, 26 March 2025 (UTC)

"Jingle Bells, Batman Smells"

According to 17 U.S.C. § 101, a work is only copyrightable if it is fixed "by or under the authority of the author." Most versions of "Jingle Bells, Batman Smells" have been transmitted orally, and it's unlikely that the author will come forward, nor that any of them were ever written down by the person who first came up with them. If they were only ever written down by other people, then they are in the public domain. And any version that was first fixed by its creator would probably not have sufficient original authorship to be copyrightable. Any thoughts on whether Wikipedia should rely on this assessment? Qzekrom (she/her • talk) 00:21, 31 March 2025 (UTC)

P.S. If it were indeed written down by the first person to come up with it, then it'd be an anonymous orphan work, but it seems implausible that anyone would ever confirm that they were the author. Qzekrom (she/her • talk) 00:28, 31 March 2025 (UTC)

I want to put this image to their women team but I can't. Can you help me out

I want to put this image File:Inter Kashi logo.svg [[:File:Inter Kashi logo.svg]] to their women team Inter Kashi FC (women) but I can't due to copyright issue but I have the permission from the club to upload it. Do guide me of how to Sid Prayag (talk) 16:44, 31 March 2025 (UTC)

You may be able to add it to that page, but you need to add a fair use rationale for each page it's on. Alternatively, the football club can "donate" the logo to Wikipedia, but only if they agree to release it under a free license like CC-BY-SA 4.0. They cannot license it only for use on Wikipedia. Qzekrom (she/her • talk) 16:58, 1 April 2025 (UTC)

Question at RSN about an image

A question has been asked about the reliability of an image at RSN, see WP:RSN#Anti-Babi... It comes from a copyrighted work, but the image itself is over 70 years old (link to image). Is that allowed, can images be copied from copyrighted works if the image itself is no longer copyrighted? I wanted to make sure as the answer could obviously make the rest of the discussion pointless. -- LCU ActivelyDisinterested «@» °∆t° 08:14, 1 April 2025 (UTC)

Yeah, the book, magazine, etc. it came from may be copyrighted as a compilation, or "a work formed by the collection and assembling of preexisting materials" (17 U.S.C. § 101), but the copyright only extends to the new portions added, not the image. Qzekrom (she/her • talk) 17:03, 1 April 2025 (UTC)

Thanks Qzekrom. -- LCU ActivelyDisinterested «@» °∆t° 17:08, 1 April 2025 (UTC)

I noticed that this file is being used under a claim of non-free use. However, I think that the way it is being used fails the first non-free content criterion. This criterion states that files used under claims of non-free use may have no free equivalent; in other words, if the file could be adequately covered by a freely-licensed file or by text alone, then it may not be used on Wikipedia.

I have having this error. I have been uploading a celebrity picture on Wikipedia for their own page. I have already Modified and updated their page successfully and only needed to add their respective photo but its not letting me. I have image from their own Instagram. How can i upload it correctly without this issue. AbdullahSSz (talk) 20:07, 1 April 2025 (UTC)

@AbdullahSSz Both file:Mohit Kumar Og.jpeg and File:Kanikka Kapur.jpeg have the same problem. Wikipedia's image use policy prefers free (as in out of copyright or freely licenced) images over non-free images. So when it comes to images of living people, the policy works on the basis that a free image of the subject can be found or created. Unless you can provide definite, explicit information that the images you uploaded are freely licenced then they are going to fail WP:NFCC#1 and will be deleted. Please note that just because the actors have the images on their Instagram pages is not an explicit statement of freeness. Nthep (talk) 20:31, 1 April 2025 (UTC)

So what's the correct way to do that?. I would be using that image for their own pages AbdullahSSz (talk) 21:06, 1 April 2025 (UTC)

You would have to get a license from the copyright holder of the image you want to use: the photographer, probably, unless somebody bought all rights from the photographer. That person has to then file that image, with the license, at the Wikimedia Commons.

Your other alternative will be to go somewhere where the subject is present, and take a photo yourself. Then license that photo on the Commons. --Orange Mike | Talk 00:16, 2 April 2025 (UTC)

Evaluate fair use vs PD-logo, please?

Someone uploaded the relatively new logo File:HendersonNVlogo.png of the Henderson, Nevada city government. As much as I love my hometown, I'm do not believe that this simple shape with a simple letter constitutes something that can be copyrighted. It appears to be trademarked, which is telling that the city likely knows that it isn't copyrightable as described by Template:PD-logo. So, the tag should be updated, correct? TheYearbookTeacher (talk) 06:04, 2 April 2025 (UTC)

Hi TheYearbookTeacher. I agree with your assessment that this logo is too simple to be eligible for copyright protection under US copyright law. I've changed the licensing to {{PD-logo}}. Trademark protection, however, is different from copyright protection, and it's quite common for logos too simple for copyright protection to still be trademarked. -- Marchjuly (talk) 07:48, 2 April 2025 (UTC)

Removing of free-use rationale and then removing of the logo from a page

So user:Minorax removed the free-use rationale from the file information for using the logo of the 2025 Women's Bandy World Championship in the article 2025 Women's Bandy World Championship and then you removed the logo from the article. I don't get why this was done. Please explain. Is the problem that the same logo was used for the simultanously held men's world championship? Is there some rule that the same logo can only be used in one page?  ; As we see the human society is liquid, we are all just running with the flow (talk) 11:02, 2 April 2025 (UTC)

@As we see the human society is liquid, we are all just running with the flow: There are ten criteria that each use of non-free content must meet, and one of these (or at least one part of one of these) is criterion #10c which requires a separate and specific non-free use rationale be provided for each use of a non-free file. After looking at the page history of File:2025 Bandy World Championship logo.jpg, it looks like you tried to use a single rationale for two separate uses. Such "combo-rationales" aren't really in compliance with criterion #10c, which might be what Minorax saw. There's nothing that states non-free content can only be used in one article; only that it needs to be used in at least one article. However, since a single use of non-free content is already considered to be quite the exception to WP:COPY#Guidelines for images and other media files, additional uses of the same file in other ways or in other articles tend to be harder to justify. If you add a separate and specific non-free use rationale to the file's page for its use in 2025 Women's Bandy World Championship and then re-add the file to the article, it shouldn't be removed again by a bot for #10c reasons. However, providing a non-free use rationale for a use is only WP:JUSTONE of aforementioned ten criteria, and it's possible someone could challenge the file's non-free use for some other reason. So, when you add the non-free use rationale for the women's championship to the file's page, you should make it clear how the file's non-free use meets all ten criteria for that particular use. If someone subsequently disagrees with your assessment, then at least you'll have something that can be discussed. Given that the logo actually states "Men's & Women's Championship", the file's non-free use in both article seems (at least at first glance) to be OK; if, though, the women's championship has another logo specifically intended for its own branding, you might want to use that one instead. -- Marchjuly (talk) 12:25, 2 April 2025 (UTC)

Actually NFCC#3a about minimal use does mean we try to avoid repetition of non-free images across articles. We don't disallow reuse but each use needs to have a rational, and particularly for things like logos, rationales tend to only support use on a few pages related to the organization of that logo. Masem (t) 12:27, 2 April 2025 (UTC)

As mentioned by Marchjuly, every 'use of a file must have a rationale for it. --Min☠︎rax^«¦talk¦» 14:41, 2 April 2025 (UTC)