Commons:Structured data/Modeling/Works without Wikidata item

General guidelines: the difference between works and files

The following guidelines apply to all images and other Wikimedia Commons files that show

• creative works: sculptures, paintings, drawings, prints, textile works...
• objects in cultural heritage collections, such as archaeological objects

The difference between a creative work (or, in general, a cultural object), and a file that shows this work or object

Left: Nefertiti Bust (Q582172) (artwork; circa 1350 BC; attributed to the sculptor Thutmose (Q281100)). Right: a photo of this artwork (digital file on Wikimedia Commons, shot in 2009 by photographer Glenn Ashton).
A creative work or cultural heritage object may be hundreds or thousands years old, may have been created by an artist who died centuries ago, can be made of stone, wood, paint...	A digital file that shows this work or object is perhaps a few years old, is made by a photographer who is probably still alive today, and is a piece of digital media that you see as pixels on your computer screen.
Creative works are, if notable enough, preferably described on Wikidata. Less notable cultural items (objects) can also be described on Wikimedia Commons as part of the file's structured data.	The files showing this artwork are stored and described on Wikimedia Commons.
Both have very different kinds of (meta)data!

What is a digital surrogate?

A digital surrogate, or faithful reproduction, of a creative work or object, is a form of 'direct digitization' of that work/object that is meant to show it truthfully and faithfully. Examples of digital surrogates include:

• A photograph or scan of a painting that is produced to faithfully show the painting 'as is', without deformations, shadows, lighting, etc.
• A 3D scan of a sculpture, airplane, tool...
• A scan of a drawing or print
• A scan of a book
• A video file that represents a fully digitized film

This difference has legal implications! In copyright law of many countries around the world (including European countries), it is illegal to claim copyright over the exact digital reproduction of a creative work that is in the public domain. But as soon as someone takes a photograph of a work from a certain distance/angle, and with a specific point of view, then there is some creativity involved; then the photographer can claim copyright.

• 
  A digital surrogate (faithful digital representation) of the Mona Lisa (Q12418). No frame is shown. The image has no distortion or edges.
• 
  A photograph (NOT a digital surrogate) of the Mona Lisa (Q12418). It is taken from an angle, the frame is visible and the painting's image is distorted.
• 
  A photograph (NOT a digital surrogate) of the Mona Lisa (Q12418) from a distance, showing the room in which it is displayed. Here, the photographer certainly made a conscious (creative) decision about the point of view.

When should works and objects have a Wikidata item?

• When the work or object can be considered notable (which is more often than expected)! A work or object very often fits Wikidata's general notability criteria, including the criterium that the "entity must be notable, in the sense that it can be described using serious and publicly available references". In general, it is widely advisable to create a Wikidata item for a painting, a sculpture, a permanent public artwork, or a notable object that has been described in independent sources. Make sure to search Wikidata before creating a new Wikidata item though; the work or object may have an item already!
• If a work or object has more than one image or other file on Wikimedia Commons, that is often also a good indication that a Wikidata item would be useful. The different files can then point to this one Wikidata item.
• That said, it can be convenient (e.g. when performing batch uploads) to only describe the work or object with structured data on Wikimedia Commons.

You can find data modeling guidelines for visual artworks on Wikidata at https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:WikiProject_Visual_arts/Item_structure (this page is work in progress).

Should I also create a Wikidata item for the photograph / image / file that shows the work or object?

In 99.99% of cases: no. You will add metadata about the image here on Wikimedia Commons, and metadata about the artwork either to its Wikidata item, or here on Wikimedia Commons too.

Using SDC to describe files of works/objects without creating Wikidata items for them

Structured data that describes the file, and structured data that describes the work or object, can be distinguished by using appropriate properties, as applicable, (like using publication date (P577) for the work or object and inception (P571) pertaining to the file) or by using qualifiers:

• Qualifier for statements that pertain to the file: applies to part (P518) Wikimedia Commons file (Q51954352)
• Qualifier for statements that pertain to the work or object: applies to part (P518) analog work (Q112134971)

Using these qualifiers, the structured data of the file can contain data about both the file (e.g. its creation date, photographer, source, ...) and the object depicted in the file (e.g. its creation date, collection, inventory number, ...). Both sets of structured data can coexist.

Some relevant properties to be considered for the object depicted in the file:

• publication date (P577)
• published in (P1433)
• part of the series (P179)
• genre (P136)
• contributor to the creative work or subject (P767)
• publisher (P123)

Examples

(Example here)