All users of files found on Wikimedia Commons must be given the Four Freedoms:
The freedom to use the media.
The freedom to study the media and use information gained from it.
The freedom to make and distribute copies of the media.
The freedom to make changes to the media and distribute derived versions.
Traditional copyright law does not grant these freedoms, and by default, content you find on the Internet is copyrighted and may not be uploaded here. In addition, claims of fair use are explicitly NOT permitted on Wikimedia Commons. Only upload files that either:
are in the public domain in both the original country (author died more than 70 years ago) and in the United States, or;
are explicitly covered by a license which grants the Four Freedoms.
See the list of acceptable licenses, and note that these licences are irrevocable. Only upload useful files—Wikimedia Commons is for educational or informational content.
Description: Write a descriptive and concise caption.
Source: The URL where you found the file, or write "own work" if it is your own creation.
Date: The creation date, or publication date if creation date is unknown.
Author: The names(s) of the author(s).
Permission (optional): If you're not the original author and the file was not online under a free license, then you may have to forward the author's permission to permissions-commonswikimedia.org. Select the appropriate license from the menu, or write the copyright tag in this field. See also VRT.
other_versions (optional): If the file is a modified or composed version of other file(s) on Wikimedia Commons, you may show them here. For example, in a <gallery> … </gallery> with one filename per line.
Click on the buttons (or the [?] links) to pop-up a help text for the corresponding input field.
If you need multi-line input fields for the source and author information, click the button to the right of the fields.
To add more descriptions in other languages, click the button below the last description field. Select the language in the drop-down menu to the left.
If you select a license in the drop-down menu, a button (normally ) appears to preview the chosen license.
Pop-ups can be closed by clicking their close button , by clicking again the button that opened them, or by hitting the Esc-key.
To see how the description of the file will look after the upload, click the "Preview" button. This will not upload the image yet.
You do not need to add an {{Information}} template; the form will construct one for you.
If you already have an {{Information}} template or similar template ready to copy/paste, use the basic upload form. To always use the old basic form layout uncheck "ImprovedUploadForm" on the "Gadgets" tab of your preferences.
Help people find this file. (We have over 105 million files.)
Use a descriptive filename. Avoid camera filenames like IMAGE1234.jpg.
Write a good description of your media file. This helps search engines find your image.
