Commons:Project scope/Update 2013/Must be an allowable free file format

Scope Review 2013 links: Discuss stage 2 of this review Translation Help your community by translating the review Background Main review page: Background and process FAQ Links to current rules Project Scope Photographs of identifiable people Discussion: Introductory Scope wording Aim of Wikimedia Commons Excluded educational content Discussion: Files Must be a media file Must be an allowable free file format Must be freely licensed or public domain Licensing terms Evidence Precautionary principle 'Realistically useful for an educational purpose' PDF and DjVu formats Discussion: Pages, galleries and categories General pages, galleries and categories User pages, galleries and categories Discussion: Areas of particular concern Censorship "Neutral point of view" Discussion: Identifiable people Lead Legal issues Consent Moral issues Identification Examples Removal requests Other image sources Other proposals Other proposals

Must be an allowable free file format

Only free file formats are allowed. Proprietary formats such as Microsoft Word and Excel documents, AAC, WMA, MPEG, AVI, Flash and the like are not permitted. More generally, any file that requires an unfree program (or patent-encumbered codec) in order to access its content is prohibited.

A list of currently allowed file formats can be found at /Allowable file types.