Wikipedia: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.
![]() | If you have a question about a specific image, please be sure to link to it like this: [[:File:Example.jpg]] . (Please note the ":" just before the word File) Thanks! |
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Can't upload a file
[edit]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
[edit]from
is a copy of
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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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?
[edit]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)
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
[edit]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
[edit]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)