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Revision as of 14:49, 2 September 2008

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• WP:MCQ
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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 Misplaced Pages: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 Misplaced Pages: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 Misplaced Pages. 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.

If you have a question about a specific image, please be sure to link to it like this: ]. (Please note the ":" just before the word File) Thanks!

Archives

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This page has archives. Sections older than 7 days may be automatically archived by Lowercase sigmabot III.

Image of William Longair

I've just found this image of former Manchester United player William Longair, who played for the club in 1895. I want to upload it to Misplaced Pages to use in the article I'm writing about him, but I'm not sure of its copyright status. Obviously the image was taken more than 70 years ago, which may have some bearing on it, but I'm not sure. Help please. – PeeJay 08:03, 22 August 2008 (UTC)

The problem is that the author probably didn't die 70 years ago. Pictures of early footballers are a problem in this respect.Geni 20:13, 23 August 2008 (UTC)

{{PD-US}} should do it, but the image can't be used on Commons. Stifle (talk) 09:14, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

Photos of artworks that are part of my collection

Can photographs that I have taken of artworks that I personally own be uploaded into Misplaced Pages under creative commons license? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ronaldwei (talk • contribs) 18:53, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Only if the the artworks are old enough to be in the Public Domain. If they are still under copyright, the photos would be derivative works. —teb728 t c 07:37, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

looking for specific event

I have been searching for Butler Field House in Indiana for articles in October 31, 1963 the Holiday on Ice show ther .. I cannot seem to locate anything on this do you have any suggestions

thanks tbrat2900@yahoo.com —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.129.138.13 (talk) 20:31, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

This page is for questions about copyright. See WP:RD for questions on other topics. Calliopejen1 (talk) 23:37, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

But what if you don't know, and can't find out?

I would like to use the image at the bottom left of this website to illustrate a proposed article about Jane Winstone, a New Zealand pilot who was killed in her Spitfire in WW2. The photo is 70-ish years old, no-one knows who the photographer was, no-one knows who possesses the original print or neg (if they still exist) and no-one knows who supplied the image for use on that website. The website manager says that although their site is copyrighted, they don't claim copyright of the image and we are free to use it. Is that enough? Kaiwhakahaere (talk) 23:45, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Not a regular here, and someone else might have better information. I would suggest, however, that if *they* don't know who took the photograph, then actually *they* don't have the right to use it themselves, let alone give permission for someone else to use it. An analogy: If you buy stolen property from a guy who bought it from a fence, in most jurisdictions that is insufficient for you to keep it, because it's still ultimately stolen property. I'd let it go - just because they don't claim copyright doesn't mean copyright doesn't exist on the image, and therefore you should assume someone does have copyright until proven otherwise. Best, LaughingVulcan 11:24, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

You could label it as a non-free image {{Non-free fair use in}} but it would need to meet the requirements of the Misplaced Pages:Non-free content criteria and have a fair use rationale - probably under the grounds of no free equivalent available. MilborneOne (talk) 11:41, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

However, Non-free content criteria specifically states that other usage policies must also be complied with, citing Image Use Policy (IUP) as a specific example that must be complied with. IUP comes right out and says it: "Always tag your image with one of the image copyright tags. When in doubt, do not upload copyrighted images." (Emphasis mine.) In this case Kaiwhakahaere doesn't know: a) Who the actual image copyright holder is (if any) - it isn't the website where it was found it from Kaiwhakahaere's own description, b) If it is actually a copyrighted image, or not, c) if the copyrighted site where he found it, obviously using it from elsewhere, has permission itself to use it or grant license right to it. Seems like doubt to me, and therefore should not be uploaded, period, until and unless the image's copyright holder is understood (which IS a requrirement of using the template you cited, correct?) (BUT, again, I could be wrong.) LaughingVulcan 22:48, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

Um, the bit you emphasised, says When in doubt, do not upload copyrighted images. Note it specifies copyrighted. We don't know that the image is copyrighted at all, despite all of my enquiries, and I'm not sure I need to assume it is, per your earlier statement "and therefore you should assume someone does have copyright until proven otherwise". No matter, its not a big deal, so I won't bother to upload it . Kaiwhakahaere (talk) 23:37, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

The problem is that all images are copyrighted by default. If this image was published in New Zealand (which we aren't even certain of), copyright doesn't expire until 50 years after the death of the author. (See {{PD-NZ}}.) The uploader bears the burden of showing an image is not copyrighted, but all the evidence suggests that this one is. Calliopejen1 (talk) 23:53, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

business proposal

please i would love to have an eassy on business proposal —Preceding unsigned comment added by Michaelnaboh (talk • contribs) 01:39, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

Hello. I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over two million articles, and thought that we were directly affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Misplaced Pages, the online 💕 that anyone can edit, and this page is a help desk for asking questions related to using the encyclopedia. Thus, we have no inside track on the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the left hand side of your screen. If that is not fruitful, we have a reference desk, divided into various subjects areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. Stifle (talk) 09:05, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

Image copyright problem with Image:Lou 1955 di Guido Ruzzier.jpg

Hello! I am Guido Ruzzier - caroguru@gmail.com - and I am the author of the photograph of Louis E. Sauer which is discussed in page

http://en.wikipedia.org/User_talk:Yvonnert#Image_copyright_problem_with_Image:Lou_1955_di_Guido_Ruzzier.jpg

Free publication of the photo was originally granted by me to the owner of the webpage http://www.arc1.uniroma1.it/saggio/Libri/Sauer/SauerIlaud.html

I am quite willing - being a very, very old friend of Louis' (the photo was taken in 1955) - to let anybody else freely use the image, with no restrictions, provided my name is mentioned as the author's.

Unfortunately, I have no idea how to get in touch with "Yvonnert" (who probably does not know how to reach me), but I'm sure you'll find a way to solve this small matter to everybody's satisfaction.

Best regards, Guido Ruzzier, Milano, Italy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.36.119.95 (talk) 13:55, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

Handled at WP:EAR and User talk:Yvonnert. --AndrewHowse (talk) 18:45, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

Why don't you put a link of email this article or reference ?

Why don't you put a link of email this article or reference ? You should have this link to make more of your information. Please do it.

And as I told you before you should have a kind of notification to be checked by the main editors about the articles that are wrong as it is "vandalism" to delete complete articles. I deleted complete articles about my country which were wrong and I had problems (my ip exposed..) and called a vandal for doing it! --166.114.206.90 (talk) 17:25, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

In general, you should be discussing these sorts of things at the help desk - this is the page for questions regarding copyright. As for the email button, I have submitted a feature request for you (see https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=15325). This is something that a fair number of people ask about. I can't answer your question about vandalism because it appears that your IP address has changed since your last contributions. In general, you won't be accused of vandalism if you explain yourself on the talk page. (Click the "discussion" tab at the top of the page.) Articles are deleted not by blanking them but by listing them at WP:AFD. You may need to register an account to nominate an article for deletion. (Side benefit: hides your IP address!) Calliopejen1 (talk) 17:57, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

There is the facility to place an "email this article" link on pages, but it is turned off for performance and anti-spam reasons. Most browsers have a feature to email a page to someone anyway. Stifle (talk) 09:05, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

Use of an Image for living musician

A relatively novice contributor to Misplaced Pages, I have permission, via email, to upload an image of rhythm and blues guitarist Henry McCullough by both the photographer and Henry's management. They have asked me because I am a registered user of Misplaced Pages and they are not. How do I satisfy Misplaced Pages's copyright standards for this upload? Kuan-shih Yin (talk) 19:44, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

Please see WP:COPYREQ --Rat at WikiFur (talk) 20:32, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

GFDL

Good morning, Copyright Gurus! Some content had been marked as copyvio on the Wessex Institute of Technology article. An edit war ensued, but that's tangential to this issue. WIT has apparently released their content under GFDL, but I'm not sure if that page is enough for us to reuse the content (no link to the license, the mention of Misplaced Pages in the page). Is WIT's content GFDL, or would use of such content still be a copyvio? -- Mark Chovain 21:06, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

Well, since they're the presumably copyright holder, they don't have to follow every nuance of the GFDL on their own site, just to make it clear that their content is under the GFDL. That said, it is kind of lacking; exactly what content is licensed? are there any invariant sections, endorsements, disclaimers, or any of the other special sections covered by the GFDL? who exactly should be credited? --Rat at WikiFur (talk) 22:05, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

Public Domain question

There is a picture of Abraham Lincoln I want to upload, and I know the image is in the public domain because of US copyright expiration policies. However, the website gives no indication of the source (although I know who took the photo), or if the image has been altered (although I know it has not been). However, this is the highest rez of the image I can find. Is this an image that is still safe to upload to wikipedia? Thanks. smooth00₇ (talk) 14:12, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

Can you find one of the lower-res images that has a source, show that it's the same image as the higher-res one, so that they have to be from the same original image? --Rat at WikiFur (talk) 17:32, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

I haven't had much luck finding a lower res via an internet source. smooth00₇ (talk) 18:40, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

Questions about selling textbook?

Removed, mistakenly placed question.

using blocks of information.

how would I go about posting blocks of information on my own website and how would I cite that. thanks 70.41.143.1 (talk) 16:10, 27 August 2008 (UTC) Justin

• See WP:FDL. The policy is laid out pretty clear. smooth00₇ (talk) 17:00, 27 August 2008 (UTC)
• WP:REUSE is a better page to start out at. Calliopejen1 (talk) 06:52, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

Press Kit Images

I assume any images taken from a manufacturer press kit can be used in Misplaced Pages, right? A manufacturer releases a press kit specifically so the images within it can be used by anyone without having to worry about copyright violations. Is there a proper way to state that when using an image from a press kit? Alf rules (talk) 22:01, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

The tag is {{Non-free promotional}}. You'll note that the image still has to meet non-free content criteria in order to be used in Misplaced Pages. --Rat at WikiFur (talk) 01:32, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

Painting's image copyright tags

What image copyright tags is use for painting with a copyright?Aquitania (talk) 03:30, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

{{Non-free 2D art}}, assuming that the artist has not licensed the paining under a free license, and the copyright has not expired. Inasmuch as this is a non-free tag, a non-free use rationale is also required. —teb728 t c 06:43, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

When I want to upload the portrait, there is no {{Non-free 2D art}} for me to choose. How do I choose it to be an image copyright tag?Aquitania (talk) 00:00, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

You might have to add it manually. Though if it's related to the image I'm thinking it is (Image:Lusitania at New York, 1907.jpg), it's likely to be deleted for various other reasons. SchuminWeb (Talk) 00:49, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

antenna theory

which antennqa is used in mobile handsets —Preceding unsigned comment added by 219.91.251.196 (talk) 06:04, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

This page is for media copyright questions. You might get an answer at Misplaced Pages:Reference desk/Science. —teb728 t c 06:27, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

expanding Amharic Misplaced Pages

Greetings, dear sir/madam I want to expand wikipedia in our local language(Amharic- Ethiopia) as my thesis MSc Degree partial fulfilment. Can you guide me on how to do it? Thnaks a lot —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.55.95.61 (talk) 08:58, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

The Amharic Misplaced Pages already exists. Editing would be like here (English Misplaced Pages) Guy0307 (talk) 14:57, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor equivalent circuit

I found a website that has an alternative equivalent circuit for IGBT's, and I would like to mention it on the talk page of the IGBT article, but I cannot find the original. Is it acceptable to upload a new image that I make to illustrate the same concept, as long as I state that I did not devise the idea? Thanks. Ilikefood (talk) 18:23, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

Never mind, it's probably ok simply because it should be mentioned in the article, and i'm not taking credit for the idea. Ilikefood (talk) 17:36, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

Out of copyright because contemporanous portrait painted >200 years ago200_years_ago-2008-08-29T10:16:00.000Z">

what is the appropriate tag? artist unknown. Kittybrewster ☎ 10:16, 29 August 2008 (UTC)200_years_ago"> 200_years_ago">

{{PD-art}}. Fut.Perf. ☼ 19:56, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

Starfleet Ranks and Insignia

In the article "Starfleet ranks and Insignia" there are people trying to remove my images. First they were claiming that I do not own the copyright of the images. Then, they changed their argument to say that I do own the images but that what is in the images I do not own so I can't put them here. I have several rank pins that were used in Star Trek movies that I legally obtained and I now own the pins. I have taken pictures of these pins that I own and have placed them in the article. I am being told that this is derivative work. Can you offer me any assistance?

Thank you, --Flans44 18:29, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

Based on my experiences, as well on reading up at derivative work, I would agree that such imagery would constitute a derivative work of the original copyrighted work. Taking your own high-resolution photos of another entity's copyrighted work does not then confer that copyright to you (if it did, what then would copyright even mean? you could photograph anybody else's work and claim its copyright to then be yours). — pd_THOR | 19:50, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

I guess I am confused on this whole thing. Can you really copyright a pin? If so, then why not a car? There are so many pics of different cars on wikipedia, should those also be removed for copyright infringement? --Flans44 20:31, 29 August 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Flans44 (talk • contribs)

See, this is one of those "confusing" things that makes copyright law so tricky. Cars can indeed be copyrighted -- that's what keeps one car company from exactly copying the designs of another. However, because a car is primarily functional rather than decorative (that is, the creative elements of the car's design cannot be separated from the car and remain recognizable), it falls under an exception in U.S. copyright law for "industrial" design, allowing derivative works to be freely made. Another example would be a chair -- many chairs are very creatively designed, but because their primary function is to be sat on (rather than looked at), derivative works are permissible. Powers 23:12, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

Image constantly removed

I work for the Animal Legal Defense Fund and am obviously by no means a Misplaced Pages expert. I cannot figure out how to appropriately tag our logo for use. Please instruct me on how I can upload our logo and display it on our article page without it being removed. Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Aldf (talk • contribs) 20:37, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

Use the {{non-free logo}} tag. Inasmuch as the image is non-free, it also needs a non-free use rationale; you can use a {{logo fur}} template for that. (You might want to upload it with a more descriptive name than Image:Logo jpeg.jpg.) —teb728 t c 20:57, 29 August 2008 (UTC

Tag for paintings 60 years photographed in Museums or scanned from fliers or textbooks.

I have photos taken from museums public exhibits, or scanned from museum's catalogs or very old textbooks from the 80's. These images wherever they were photograph or scanned are from paintings made by famous painters they are 70+ years old and they can be seen in Galleries and Museums. Say for instance "the jungle" by Cuban painter Wilfredo Lam, taken in Havana's Fine Art Museum, or the same image scanned from a Literature textbook of 6th junior high.

Thank you. --Lezumbalaberenjena (talk) 21:47, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

Our position here is that there is generally no separate copyright on the photograph of the painting, so it doesn't really matter where you got the reproduction from (your own photograph, or a book or catalog et cetera). The only thing that matters is the copyright of the artist on his painting. Now, I don't know what the exact rules in Cuba are, but in most other countries copyright persists something like 70 years after the death of the artist (not 70 years after creation of the painting!), so that would make an image from Wilfredo Lam still copyrighted. If you want to use the image to support some analytical discussion of the artist's style, you could legitimately invoke fair use; in that case, tag it with {{Non-free 2D art}}. Fut.Perf. ☼ 22:21, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

Thank you for the help, I will use the fair use in Lam's case or any other similar to that as suggested. Looking for more info about copyrights in Cuba after reading your comments I found this: http://commons.wikimedia.org/Template_talk:PD-Cuba, it is written in Spanish, but basically it says that under Cuban laws it is: 50 after the dead of the painter, 50 after the creation year of the work if it is anonymous, and 25 years after the dead of the photographer if it is a photo. I have another doubt if you please. If it is then more than that can I put it up without worries? --Lezumbalaberenjena (talk) 00:17, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

Glad to be of help. Yes, if you have a painting older than the copyright times applicable to the country in question, you can upload it without any problems. In that case, you can tag it with {{PD-art}}, perhaps adding a brief note about what the relevant rule is and when the painter died. By the way, you may have noticed that the painting you quoted as an example, the Jungle by Lam, is already included in his article. Fut.Perf. ☼ 00:27, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

'48 massey-harris 20 tractor banner.jpg

Image:'48 massey-harris 20 tractor banner.jpg seems to be a photograph of someone's display info for a tractor display at a fair or some other such venue. The copyright field for the image says, "I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license: This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License." But it seems like the author of the photograph did not make the plaque, but just took a picture of someone else's plaque. So it seems to me that the author of the photograph can't claim to be the copyright holder and thus can't choose the CCA license. Is this correct?

Also, the author of the photograph started Massey Harris Model 20, and the only source for the article is the picture he took of the plaque.   — Chris Capoccia ⁄_C 14:08, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

Promotional still released into the public domain (with possible copyright claim)?

I would like to make off-wiki use of this image which has been released into the public domain, but I'm doubtful of the original claim of ownership, since the image seems to be a promotional still from a German TV show. Additionally, they appear to be asserting copyright: "Mark Bellinghaus owns this image and the copyright to it" despite releasing it into the public domain. Is it safe to consider this a public domain image? Delicious carbuncle (talk) 21:10, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

What are some guidelines to follow when determining whether a image needs permission to reproduce —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.206.142.34 (talk) 00:08, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

The chances of Mr. Bellinghaus owning the copyright to a still from a TV show in which he acted are, I would think, extremely low. I've tagged it as possibly unfree. Regarding guidelines to follow, under US copyright law, in the vast majority of cases the creator of an image (or in some cases their employer) automatically owns the copyright on that image at the moment of its creation. So, absent evidence to the contrary, you have to assume that pretty much any image is under copyright. -- Hux (talk) 00:28, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

There are other images uploaded by User:Mmmovie that may be in the same "possibly non-free" situation: . The question following mine is not from me, and probably unrelated. Thanks for your help. For the more general question, if someone uses the public domain license but, asserts copyright in their comments, has it been released into the public domain? Delicious carbuncle (talk) 02:45, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

The four images you linked to in the last post are most likely all non-free images per Hux's comments. No one can give an image any better copyright than they have themselves, so if you give it a PD tag and you don't have the right to do do, it does not become PD because you don't own the copyright of the image in the first place. Cheers ww2censor (talk) 04:18, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

I agree with Ww2censor that the other images are similarly non-free. Regarding your general question, if the person asserting copyright while using a PD tag really is the copyright holder then I would think it likely that a court would err on the side of caution, assume the owner was mistaken in their understanding of the PD tag, and still regard it as copyrighted. However, since Mr. Bellinghaus is almost certainly not the copyright holder this is likely not relevant to this particular case. -- Hux (talk) 17:00, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, Hux. I was afraid the general question got lost in there, but that seems like a reasonable answer. Delicious carbuncle (talk) 17:31, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

What are you intending to use the image for off-wiki? King of the Fondue (talk) 10:23, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

A project that required a public domain image of this person, and the car wreck image was especially apt as a metaphor. If it's not public domain , I'll do without. Delicious carbuncle (talk) 16:40, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

Deleted Image Possible Restoration

"All of the my three uploaded images here in English Misplaced Pages were deleted; Barangay Bilogo, Batangas City.JPG, Batangas City's Official Flag.GIF and The Maximal Dinobot.JPG."

Could those images that have deleted be restored again here in Misplaced Pages by means of following the correct procedure in uploading images? Below is the specific conditions and example:

When I uploaded the specific image of "The Maximal Dinobot.JPG" here in English Misplaced Pages, I place it as my own work though it was not. Actually it came from the other website.

This all started:

• I'm interested to put an image to the article Dinobot, a fictional Beast Wars Character.
• I decided to surf the Internet, hoping to find an appropriate image for that article.
• I managed to find a good one so I copied it from that host website and place it on my PC, then I uploaded it gradually to Misplaced Pages.
• Things go wrong now with that image. I specified it as "my own work" and afterwards, it was deleted due to the copyright problem.

If I'll try to revive it again, could this be possible. And if it's possible, what kind of image characterization and specific license are appropriate for it. My guess: It is "An Image from a Website" but I'll need an advice. Thanks.Abner S. Hermoso 07:59, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

If it is a screenshot from that film, than the site can't claim copyright, as they don't own the material. However, the photo may qualify for Fair Use. I'm pretty sure an admin is able to restore it. If it isn't a screenshot the site is has full copyright over it, and it will be impossible to use it here (unless they agreed we release it under a free licence.) Guy0307 (talk) 09:20, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. The administrator who deleted those images is going to help me in restoring it under the Fair Use category but he said it will be not as simple. I'm going to look back again that site and view there if the image is copyright or not. Your response greatly helped me.Abner S. Hermoso 12:28, 31 August 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kampfgruppe (talk • contribs)

What I meant is that image licensing is not simple. I have restored 2 images, and added appropriate licenses and blank fair use rationales to both. I see that one of the bots has already tagged them as unused, so they need to go into the articles soon, and have the rationales completed. Kevin (talk) 06:46, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

Photos of game controllers and other commercial products

This is probably more as a doublecheck, but as part of getting a FTC on the Guitar Hero series, I'm looking to use Image:Guitar-hero-controller.jpg as its free image. (The image has been used on a recent FA article and the image itself used when it was featured on the main page in July, so if there's something wrong with it, I would have figured I'd heard something by now) A commenter there wonders if such deserved the free tag.

Now, I've seen game controllers and hardware photographed by users and uploaded with free licenses, as well as guitars themselves. That doesn't necessarily make it correct but it seems that with so many out there that someone would have caught on to this. And I did have a situation in the past where a toy (Image:Crazy Taxi remote control car3.jpg) that was photographed by a user was required to have a non-free "2D photo of 3D art" license and thus became non-free.

Is there some line or definition of "art" here that must be passed that makes a photograph of a commercial product go from free to non-free? If this is the case for the controller picture, we may serious need to consider a sweep of all such commercial product pages to review images for free-ness. But again, the fact that I've not seen anything to this regard suggests that these are not considered "art" and thus are free. --MASEM 13:44, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

A game controller can be photographed and the photo released under a free license (or into the public domain) in the same way that a car can be. While there is certainly artistry and design evident, the product is not considered a piece of art for the purposes of (US) copyright law since its purpose is, fundamentally, utilitarian. -- Hux (talk) 16:22, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

Upload an image

How do you upload an image? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Im all that (talk • contribs) 14:32, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

Read the guide at Misplaced Pages:Uploading images. MilborneOne (talk) 14:48, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

intertitle copyright?

Would Image:WYWO.jpg qualify for {{PD-textlogo}} in the same vein as Commons:Image:Torchwoodtitle.svg or Image:A-Team logo.jpg; the only real difference is the application of several fore- and background colours. Thoughts? — pd_THOR | 19:09, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

The way in which those colors are used, imo, makes it more than just a typeface and, thus, not public domain. As a comparison, checkout the logo for the UK version of the TV show What Not To Wear versus the logo for the US version of the same show.. -- Hux (talk) 16:38, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

Upload qualification

Quite some time ago I've uploaded the Image:De schending van soebadra.jpg. I'm convinded the image qualifies for fair use because it's the front cover of a book of my father. My father has passed away and as his daughter I think I can upload this (my mother agreeing as well). Am I right? Lestari (talk) 07:03, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

The fact that you are a family member doesn’t make it fair use; the thing that makes it fair use is the way it is used in an article. Beside US fair use laws, fair use images on Misplaced Pages must comply with all of Misplaced Pages’s Non-free content criteria. One of those criteria is that an image must have a non-free use rationale which links to the article(s) where the image is used. Image:De schending van soebadra.jpg was deleted because it lacked that. —teb728 t c 07:57, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

Following on from teb's post: copyright typically persists (under current US law) for 70 years after the death of the creator of the work, so it would require a fair use rationale for use on Misplaced Pages just the same as any other non-free image. However, may I suggest investigating who is now the owner of copyright and asking that person to release it to Misplaced Pages under a free license such as the GFDL? Absent the terms of a will dictating otherwise, that person would be generally be the author's next of kin, i.e. your mother. -- Hux (talk) 16:29, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

The copyright on the cover might be owned by the book publisher. You might want to ask them: It's their business to to know about copyright rights. —teb728 t c 19:57, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

Did your father publish the book himself and own the copyright on the design as well as the text? If so and you inherited it, then it had the correct licence {{GFDL-self}}, and was incorrectly deleted. If there was an independent publisher, who owns the copyright, then your original licence was not correct, but {{Non-free book cover}} accompanied by a fair use rationale may be justified, depending where and how the image is to be used. Ty 07:58, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

Copyright question

Is it permissible to continue to claim copyright on an image uploaded (by the creator) with GFDL and CC licenses? Image:Miles city 2008.jpg (yes, it's on Commons, but I assume the same general principles apply) has both licenses, but its source line reads "© 2008 Larry D. Moore". Nyttend (talk) 14:30, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

Yes. Neither license involves an author giving up the copyright on their work and in fact both the GFDL and CC variants explicitly recognize the author's right of attribution. -- Hux (talk) 16:18, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

But of course the copyright holder has given permission for use of images in the way that the licence stipulates and provided its terms are adhered to. If the terms are not followed, then normal copyright is applicable to the image. Ty 07:42, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

Public Domain

Are all history images (black and white) in Maritimequest is Public Domain?Aquitania (talk) 17:28, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

Do you have some reason for believing they would be public domain? I can't think of any reason for thinking that. —teb728 t c 19:50, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

OTRS as license?

I recently stumbled across Image:Tbpickens.jpg. Under permission it lists, "from Jay Rosser, Public Relations Director of BP Capital, email forwarded OTRS The permission for use of this work has been archived in the Wikimedia OTRS system; it is available here for users with an OTRS account." My understanding is that acceptable images on Misplaced Pages are: under a Free license, in the public domain, or are Fair Use. None of those are claimed (nor do any seem appropriate). Template:PermissionOTRS suggests some other license situation, but I don't understand it. At best I can guess that someone emailed OTRS and said, "Yes, you can use it for Misplaced Pages." But my understanding is that "for Misplaced Pages only" permission is not acceptable. The licensing details are hidden. If it is possible to submit images under other terms, I would like to know, as I've had several people I've contacted about photos offer them under terms I previously thought were unacceptable. Could someone explain to me what the licensing situation on that image, and this OTRS template in general? Thanks. — Alan De Smet | Talk 00:30, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

I left a message on the talk page of person who added the OTRS tag. It seems likely that user that added the OTRS tag, simply forgot to put in the appropriate license tag (which the uploader should have added). {{PermissionOTRS}} doesn't imply any particular license, but merely helps confirm the appropriateness of one. --Rob (talk) 05:31, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

US copyright status trumps everything?

Which takes precedence to consider an image free-use on en:wiki, copyright status in the originating country or status in the US where the servers are? For instance, PD-Canada is determined by this, but at least on Commons the more restrictive US rules apply, summarized here I believe. Depending on the exact image, a 10-20 year difference in PD status can result. Which regime rules the roost here? Thanks. Franamax (talk) 08:50, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

I would assume both US and (if the source country's PD rules differ) the source country. Commons servers are located in the US, but they only accept images as PD if they would be so in the country of origin and the US, lest I am mistaken (if I am, correct me). -Jéské 09:32, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

I think Jeske is correct. If there's any difference at all, it seems to be that Commons would take a stricter approach, insisting on free status in both countries, while en-wiki might look primarily at the US only. No wiki project could possibly ignore the US status. Fut.Perf. ☼ 09:38, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

So if Canada says the image published in Canada is PD, for the purposes of en:wiki we would still consult US law (which in some cases would say it's not free-use on en:wiki), right? Or only consult US law (if the US says it's PD, it's PD no matter what the originating country says)? And on commons, it's whichever is most restrictive? Franamax (talk) 14:49, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

Supplementary comment: I'm not so sure for foreign wikis, wouldn't de:wiki apply their own PD-rules for German images? Not sure at all on that. Franamax (talk) 14:49, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

Images in Bresle article

L.S.,

As an employe of TQC I started to create some articles about widely used test equipment for the coating industrie. One of these aricles is Bresle method Here included the pictures: Image:Breslekit.jpg and Image:Breslepatch.gif

These images where released by TQC an free for use. How can I correct the settings that these Images will stay?

With kind regards,

Nico Frankhuizen NicoFrankhuizen (talk) 10:24, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

You need to follow the procedure at Misplaced Pages:Requesting copyright permission and get an email from the company into OTRS confirming they have released the images into the public domain. Although note that the gif is a poor quality image and probably not suitable, perhaps you could ask the company for a better one. MilborneOne (talk) 11:26, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

Non-copyrighted photos - what licence to state

According to Latvian copyright law any images from pre-WW2 newspapers don't have copyright applied to them. I want to add photos of several pre-war Latvian footballers to their pages on Misplaced Pages, however I have no idea on what licence I should choose them to be. Any suggestions? --Kazhe (talk) 14:06, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

Derivative image in userspace; how to license?

Hi. Image:Mfctext.png seems obviously to incorporate Image:Oreo.jpg. The latter image is released for use, but requires attribution. The derivative image (so I believe) is released into public domain with no attribution. I left a message for the user who created the image noting my concern and requesting that he attribute and repair his release, here, but on checking back to see if he had responded noticed that he is evidently on Wikibreak. (As indicated .) I'm not sure what tags should be used in this case, or I would repair it myself. Can somebody assist, either by telling me what tag to use or by fixing it? :) --Moonriddengirl 14:23, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

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