Commons:Help desk/Archive/2008/07

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Still can't upload images

I cannot upload images because I keep getting a message "The file is corrupt or has an incorrect extension. Please check the file and upload again.". I tried different extensions, and still can't get the image to upload. Socal gal at heart (talk) 10:01, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

What kind of extension(s) does the original file(s) have? Finn Rindahl (talk) 11:39, 30 June 2008 (UTC)
PNG. I also tried the other acceptable extensions here and got the same "this file is corrupt" message. Socal gal at heart (talk) 12:48, 30 June 2008 (UTC)
Perhaps it will become readable if you convert to SVG or other format such as GIF or JPG. Jim.henderson (talk) 17:45, 30 June 2008 (UTC)
You have wikimail from me. If you want to, reply to it with the image attached, and I'll take a look at it. —LX (talk, contribs) 19:48, 30 June 2008 (UTC)
You have a new e-mail from me. The problem turned out to be that the file, despite its PNG filname extension, was actually a Windows bitmap (BMP) file. I've opened it in the GIMP image editing program and saved it as a proper PNG. As a result, the file is also 35 times smaller. —LX (talk, contribs) 07:30, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

image copyrights

I'm having a hard time figuring out how put the appropriate licensing on an image that I would like to upload.

I would like to upload pictures that belong to the institution for which I work. This is at the request of the institution. There is no specific copyright, but the photos do belong to the institution.

What's my next step?

Susan

See Commons:Email templates. --EugeneZelenko (talk) 14:54, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

How to upload images from 'local' Wikipedias to Commons

Hi! I have to say that I don't understand absolutely anything  about the license questions and, worse, about technical questions.
I would have liked to edit two series of articles (to begin with, as this problem is the same for many articles), using images which are stored in various Wikipedias, which can't be used in other languages (giving nothing but red links) —

May someone be kind enough to help me solve this question, using daily words, meant for HTML dumbs like me (as I did not understand any of the help sections)? Many thanks forward. ✓ Kanġi Oĥanko (talk) 11:48, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

For the first row of pics: the logo is missing a source to verify the license, because if that one is true, it could be transferred. Picture (the model) has no permission and can't be transferred (will be deleted at the source wiki too). Picture three (KBP) is fair use which is not a free licence, thus also can't be transferred to Commons.
For the second row: All images except the last one have neither author nor source, so no transfer. The last one (Ufalcons.jpg) is once again fair use, so also no transfer possible. -- Cecil (talk) 13:32, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Hello, I'm trying to add a photo which I uploaded to a gallery in the category "Apostle Islands National Lakeshore". I have added that category in the image description. My problem is when I go to "Edit", I can't find the "gallery" tags anywhere. How do I add my image to the gallery for that category? Thanks.

Just add [[Category:Apostle Islands National Lakeshore]] text into image description. Or enable Hot-Cat gadget in Special:Preferences. --EugeneZelenko (talk) 14:48, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

I used a copy of a screenshot from GoogleEarth which I modified using numbers, and their meaning, to designate the age of the buildins in the aerial view of Crookdake Hall, Cumbria.

Why is this not a free license? How can this be a copyright violation? Your definition contains "Wikimedia Commons only accepts free content, that is, images and other media files that can be used by anyone, for any purpose. " Anyone can use GlobalEarth. To it I added several codes to identify pictures in the copy.

RG

No. Google Earth/Maps images are copyrighted. You image is Commons:Derivative works. --EugeneZelenko (talk) 14:48, 3 July 2008 (UTC)
Anyone can use the Google Earth program, but they are not allowed to use it for any purpose. While the program is "free" in that it costs no money to use, it is not "free" in that it can be used for any purpose. We call that the "free-as-in-beer" versus "free-as-in-speech" dichotomy. Google Earth is "free-as-in-beer" but we require our images to be "free-as-in-speech". Powers (talk) 15:19, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Image:Logo_paradiso.jpg

I can't for the life of me find the correct tag to put on this image. There is no way that image was created by the uploader. How do I tag it to say that it is a suspected copyright violation? J.delanoygabsadds 13:59, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Deleted. You could use {{Copyvio}}. --EugeneZelenko (talk) 14:51, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Python licence?

http://www.gnome.org/~jdub/bzr/planet/2.0/examples/output/images/logo.png seems to be covered by http://www.gnome.org/~jdub/bzr/planet/2.0/LICENCE, which is the GPL-compatible Python licence. However, the Python licence does not seem to be an option on uploading. How can I find out 1. if it's been discussed before and rejected for some reason and if not 2. if it's an acceptable licence. http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&q=%22python+license%22+site%3Acommons.wikimedia.org&btnG=Search&meta= only returns one result. Thayvian (talk) 14:09, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

How Can I Upload Companies' Logos?

I having problems to upload the logo of Petrobras, a Brazillian petroleum company. I want to know how to upload this kind of image without breaking its copyright.189.71.252.146 17:30, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

If logo is copyrighted, please don't upload it on Commons. --EugeneZelenko (talk) 15:44, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Author gave permission for wiki use, but no licensing information. What to do?

I'd like to upload the logo here: http://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/rah_images/rosetta_at_home_logo.gif for the Rosetta@home article on Wikipedia(s). I contacted the author asking what kind of license the graphic was under, but he simply responded "I made the logo and I think it should be fine to post it on the wiki so go for it." What should I enter as copyright/licensing information? Emw2012 (talk) 18:52, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

You can't upload yet, as Wiki-only use is not enough. You should contact the copyright owner again and ask for the design to be made freely available under one of the acceptable licences here such as CC-by-sa-3.0 (see Commons:Licensing). The copyright owner should forward details of the permission being granted directly to permissions-commons@wikimedia.org, mentioning by name the image in question and quoting the chosen licence such as CC-by-sa-3.0. A sample email text can be found at Commons:Email templates. Then, once you have uploaded the image one of the OTRS volunteers will stop by and add a note to it confirming that we have received the author's permission. If you want to let me know when that email has been sent, and also tell me the name of the file once you have uploaded it, I'll happily do that myself. Just ask on my talk page. Sorry about the complexity, but we do have to be sure we have proper permission from the designer in this sort of case. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 21:36, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

error code

when i try to install freespire i get a code 505 68.162.173.166 20:58, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

AlbertDPike1865.jpg

I just uploaded an image and gave it the wrong title - Image:AlbertDPike1865.jpg - It is a portrait of Albert Deane Richardson and should be, of course, Image:AlbertDRichardson1865.jpg. I don't see a way to move it to the correct name. Could someone move it for me? Or let me know how? Thank you. BullSqueaker (talk) 21:20, 3 July 2008 (UTC)


You could request a rename replacing Example. jpg with the correct title and reason text with the reason why it should be renamed. {{rename|Example.jpg|reason text}} .--Sandahl (talk) 23:07, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Immediate renaming can occur by reuploading the image with the different name and putting the {{Badname}} template on it. {{Rename}} is an option which sometimes gets the image renamed and sometimes not. -- carol (talk) 23:28, 3 July 2008 (UTC)
Thanks to both of you. BullSqueaker (talk) 00:15, 4 July 2008 (UTC)
Just to clarify, you put {{Badname}} on the file with the bad name, not on the new upload. (But I guess you probably figured that) Hesperian 01:18, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Database locked message

There seems to be a "Database locked" message every time I attempt to add a category to a "Plants of" category. It also seems to be bogus as the database is never actually locked. How is this message to be interpreted and what is the reason it never appears for any other Category editing? -- carol (talk) 01:07, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

King Franz Josef

Dear Gentlemen,

I just received a picture of King Franz Josef. This picture has four coins in each corner. The picture of the king looks like it may been painted. The backround I believe to be cloth with hand embroidery.There is red embrodery with the following {Hadjarati emlk 1914-1915. The kings picture shows him praying. The bottom is embrodery with green (Lrir'alyunk ima'ja}

The orginal owner came over from Hungry with this proud picture. I belive this master to be over 100 years old. I would like to be contacted with any additional information on its value.

Please check out Commons:Licensing and next time, don't place your email address here. -Ianlopez1115 (talk) 14:00, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

looking for a name

Hi, I would like to ask for a name that is used when some "non-free" stuff is in some image, but it is so small that it doesn't affect the overall copyright of the image... I think it is similar to "minimal copyright use" (soo minimal it does not matter, not even legally) or something like that... the problem is that someone wants to delete an image of Xubuntu just because it contains some tiny logos... and I think that some tiny logos fall under that policy, something I once saw on commons or wikipedia, but can't remember the name... does anyone know how it is called? it was not fair-use, and I think it was also not De minimis... SF007 (talk) 23:34, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

See Commons:Screenshots. Are logos really necessary to illustrate Ubuntu work? --EugeneZelenko (talk) 15:31, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Image:Claret jugs00.jpg

Hi, Could someone advise on the licence to use for this image? Thanks Rotational (talk) 06:21, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

That would probably be {{Cc-nc-sa}} and these images do not get to stay here for long because of the non-commerical part of the license. -- carol (talk) 07:11, 5 July 2008 (UTC)


Requesting Image:Sign_first_aid_WolfWings.svg replace Image:Sign_first_aid.svg

I've been a contributer to Wikipedia for a'while, but never knew I had to make a seperate account on Commons as I'd never tried to update a Commons file before. I cleaned up the SVG code on the international First Aid sign extensively, and uploaded my new version with my username as a suffix for now. If someone could replace the existing version with my new version, I'd appreciate it. I left the author tag alone, as I was only adjusting the inner code of the original author's work, I don't feel I added appreciably enough to the work itself to be able to claim any kind of authorship. —Preceding unsigned comment added by WolfWings (talk • contribs) 18:36, July 5, 2008 (UTC)

Need help with screenshots i own

Ok. What if the case is this: I watched a full movie trailer available on YouTube for a film article I'm currently working with. I need pictures to improve my article in Wikipedia and I thought of creating screenshots of the movie trailer I've watched. When done, I was able to create three good photos on three of the actual scenes from the movie. The screenshots are now converted to JPEG images and of course, I now own them. However, I need to know if what I'm doing is right since the photos I now have were created from a video trailer from a free video-provider website. Can I use them in my Wikipedia article? Renanteberon (talk) 09:56, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

You don’t own the screenshots — they are derivative works in creation of which you had no creative part. Thus the images are non-free (unless the trailer including the frames has been published under a free licence by the copyright holder), and are not allowed on Commons. --AVRS (talk) 13:02, 6 July 2008 (UTC)
See Commons:Licensing for more details. Other Wikimedia projects may have different rules. --AVRS (talk) 13:20, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

image move request

Can someone please Unix history-simple 2.svg over Unix history-simple.svg. The software disallowed it because my account is too new. Infinity0 (talk) 21:59, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Done. Can you put the {{Badname}} template on it? -- carol (talk) 00:33, 8 July 2008 (UTC)
Thanks :) and yup someone's done that already Infinity0 (talk) 11:55, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

scope question

Is it an administrative goal to discourage communication and to encourage actual disruptive edits and to discourage harmless edits? -- carol (talk) 00:45, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Some context might be useful. I think you know what the answer to your surface question and you are actually asking a different question in a roundabout way. Powers (talk) 13:40, 8 July 2008 (UTC)
I really am asking exactly that. I suffered an administrative action whose goal seemed to be to discourage communication and encouraged disruptive editing and the administrators involved got all weird about a harmless little editorial thingie I made (and told on myself for making, btw). The question is exactly what I asked: Is it an administrative goal to discourage communication and to encourage actual disruptive edits and to discourage harmless edits? -- carol (talk) 14:49, 8 July 2008 (UTC)
No. Finn Rindahl (talk) 15:21, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Screenshots from PES4

I have screenshots from Pro Evolution Soccer 4 showing their bad graphics. is it copyrighted or free? -SuperJew (talk) 09:07, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Screenshots are considered derivative works and thus under the same copyright as the game. Therefore, unless Konami has specifically released the game under a free license, you cannot upload the screenshots here. Powers (talk) 13:39, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

adding pictures to wikipedia articles

I uploaded a jpg file to wikimedia commons and then tried to add it to a wikipedia article by clicking <edit> and then putting in the text but when i save the page, it shows the image name in a box to the right, but not the actual image. any thoughts?

It needs to have the extension as well ".gif" or ".jpg" (it could be several others) for it to display. -- carol (talk) 18:56, 8 July 2008 (UTC)
Use [[Image:frankb.JPG|right|like this|100px]]. Cheers. Lycaon (talk) 19:11, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Icon...

Does someone know where I can find an icon for a state park? Please give me the image name at my English Wikipedia userpage . Thanks. 71.113.15.145 (aka ComputerGuy890100) 01:30, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

  • It'd help if you gave the name of the park? Then all you'd have to do is search for it or look in the appropriate category. -Nard 01:49, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

Typical administrative actions

Is it typical for an administrator to put themselves into a situation that they were not in before, assume the worst, demand explanations and then ask the others users who were involved? It is a weird situation because until this week, it was not typical here. Also, until this week, I had mostly respect for the administration here. I can post a "diff" where I shared my theories about this recent situation with a regular here (like more than just these last few days) at the Help Desk, if anyone is interested in my theory about the problems lately. -- carol (talk) 13:32, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

Please be more specific. It hard to understand situation and judge without any details. --EugeneZelenko (talk) 15:31, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

HOW TO UNLOCK MOTOROLA MOBILE PHONE MODEL T2288

HI dears ,please could you tell me how to unlcok my motorola mobile phone model T2288 , it is locked with 8 digit number special code. but i don,t know this digits how to nlcok them , please write me your hints at this e-mail , esron2006@yahoo.com thanks .may god bles you .

I have personal experience with throwing cellphones at the wall -- it doesn't work to repair anything about it. If this is suggested to you, I advise to try something else. -- carol (talk) 06:31, 9 July 2008 (UTC)
A locksmith might be able to pick the lock for you. -Nard 10:41, 9 July 2008 (UTC)
You must call the mobile phone carrier that you have service with and provide them with your account number to get that info.--Paloma Walker (talk) 01:50, 13 July 2008 (UTC)

clueless

i have a photo of a rapper, he's my friend, the photo was taken by a profeesional photographer and sold to him, therefore it is now his. I'm doing the uploading, distributing and managing of all his media. Can someone please tell me what copyright etc i must use so that it won't be deleted...im clueless..thanx Swindler305 (talk) 16:20, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

I tried to make "Silkroad Online" article (Portuguese Wikipedia) using some screenshots from game but images were deleted. I know there are many games screenshots in many articles in Wikipedia (e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_64), even in "Silkroad Online" article there is a screenshot that was not deleted. How can I get some images to use in "Silkroad Online" article? Is there any difference between English and Portuguese Wikipedia about images? Regards

If you friend own copyrights on this image, you could use Commons:Email templates.
English Wikipedia allow usage of copyrighted images under en:Fair use.
EugeneZelenko (talk) 15:37, 12 July 2008 (UTC)

Using Images in English and Portuguese Wikipedia

I tried to make "Silkroad Online" article (Portuguese Wikipedia) using some screenshots from game but images were deleted. I know there are many games screenshots in many articles in Wikipedia (e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_64), even in "Silkroad Online" article there is a screenshot that was not deleted. How can I get some images to use in "Silkroad Online" article? Is there any difference between English and Portuguese Wikipedia about images? Regards— Preceding unsigned comment added by Wellington Gomes (talk • contribs)

  • Hi, The English Wikipedia has a thing called fair use, which means copyrighted pictures (like game screenshots) can be used for the purposes of commenting on the game. There is no fair use at Commons. Please see Commons:Licensing. Commons only accepts totally free, that is libre content, not just gratis content. I have found the last image you say has not been deleted. It will be deleted soon. So I guess you can't have copyrighted pictures in your article, since the Portuguese Wikipedia has uploading disabled. Sorry. -Nard the Bard 12:59, 13 July 2008 (UTC)

Technical problem

re: Image:Water_Level_Route_on_US_map.png

This map page is generating the message:
   "Error creating thumbnail: Invalid thumbnail parameters or PNG file with more than 12.5 million pixels"

That is how the wiki software handles pngs. It is either something that was decided on at metawiki or something that a volunteer needs to fix. I think if it bothers you too much that asking there or poking around the archives at metawiki should fill in the rest of the information regarding this behavior. The behavior has caused me to upload jpeg versions of the same images here and I have found at least one instance where a smaller version of a png was uploaded into the namespace so it would display. The really large png still exists in the upload history so if that is needed it can still be retrieved. -- carol (talk) 04:29, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

User space / "sandbox" for images?

Is there a way to upload images temporarily or with the ability of the uploader to delete them? Something like a user space or "sandbox" for image files? Specifically, I'm learning how to create useful maps, and I'd like to be able to put multiple temporary versions up for comment from more experienced authors. I know it would be possible to simply upload all the files separately, and then request deletions later, but that would seem to presume upon the patience of the commons admins. Is there a better way? --Amble (talk) 06:34, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

Once the image is licensed, it is kind of a long process to get it removed with no assurance that completing the process will actually end with the deletion of the image. You could perhaps rethink your plan and make images for the namespace you would like the maps to be in. Improvements or different versions are easily uploaded into that namespace (after a four day new user minimum has been met, I read lately). -- carol (talk) 07:10, 14 July 2008 (UTC)
Aha! I had not understood that it's possible to link to old versions of a file. That solves my problem perfectly. I hadn't noticed this because of a quirk in the interface: if I view a historical version of the image page, I always see the current version of the image itself. In order to get the past versions, I have to click on the links under "File history." I suppose it's not possible to show past versions as inline images, but only as html links, like this (version 1) (version 2). --Amble (talk) 08:26, 14 July 2008 (UTC)
If you do not mind having the old versions around, none of what I said has meaning and neither does your question. If the information is the same, just the presentation changes, others might prefer the version that was decided against. They have a "superceded" template but I think that is for bitmap images which had an svg made of them. -- carol (talk) 08:43, 14 July 2008 (UTC)
It's not so much meaningless, as refocused based on better information. The software allows me to do what I wanted to do, just not in the way I initially expected. It's a learning experience. :-) --Amble (talk) 09:21, 14 July 2008 (UTC)
As near as I can determine, that is the second non-templated "Welcome to the Commons" :) -- carol (talk) 09:33, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

Mozambican politician

78.149.168.163 11:02, 14 July 2008 (UTC)Zambez1a Hi, I am writing a biography of a Mozambican politician (who was shot in 1979, so is not around to object/give consent) and would like to illustrate it with a photo from a 1975 Mozambican news magazine article. I am not even sure the magazine "Tempo" is still published. Is a scan of that photo "free"? Or "fair use"?? Thanks.

It is probably fair use. -- carol (talk) 11:36, 14 July 2008 (UTC)
Tempo still exists according to Britannica. The picture should be fair use. They have scanned all editions between 1970 and 1980, but I can't find a release into public domain. Anybody knows about copyright in Mozambique and how long it is active? -- Cecil (talk) 11:45, 14 July 2008 (UTC)
Mozambique is 70 years p.m.a., but the relevant law dates from 2001. I don't know whether it is retroactive. Pruneautalk 15:01, 16 July 2008 (UTC)

Help, thumbnails look rubbish! ;(

I've got a problem that has bedeviled me for some time, and I've now given up all hope of trying to fix it myself. I'm hoping someone here might be able to figure it out.

This, which is a screenshot of this, is what thumbnails look like for me; notice that the edges are all jagged? This is what it looks like when I view the image via en.wikipedia; for some reason, the problem goes away, even though we're looking at the same image. This happens with thumbnails for all filetypes (SVG, JPEG, PNG, even the icon "thumbnail" for a PDF file!). It does not happen when I view the full-size image, nor if I open the thumbnail itself in a new window. It happens whether I am logged in or logged out

For what it's worth, I'm running Firefox 3.0 on Linux (xubuntu). Please help. ;( Lewis Collard! (lol, internet) 02:44, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

  • ✓ Done While I told you over IRC - for anyone that has this same problem. Check your text size. Use Ctrl +/- or Ctrl-Mouse wheel to get the text back to "Normal". Firefox 3.0 scales images with the text & remembers it on a site by site basis, so even if you close FF - you are "Stuck". --ShakataGaNai ^_^ 03:11, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

Renaming image files

Is there an easy way to change the name of a file? I found out that an image I uploaded has the wrong description as part of the file name. Image:Golden eagle in eyrie.jpg is actually an adolescent bald eagle, so I would like to fix the error. Thanks. Leon7 (talk) 21:13, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

You can upload a new version with the correct name and mark the other one for deletion. This should have been implied with that welcome template (if I remember correctly, they mention {{Badname}}. -- carol (talk) 03:13, 16 July 2008 (UTC)
On advice from here in Help, late last month I used Template {{:Rename}} but it took a couple weeks to get accepted as a "trusted user" and have it happen. Jim.henderson (talk) 04:44, 17 July 2008 (UTC)

Naming conventions for football club categories

I am a member of Wikipedia's Wikiproject on Sheffield Wednesday F.C. and would like to organise a Category:Sheffield Wednesday F.C. here on the Commons. I have just noticed however that it is already located at Category:Sheffield Wednesday FC. Meanwhile, Category:Association football clubs of England contains a mixture of "F.C." and "FC".

This is very confusuing, surely there should be consistency with these names (I would suggest in line with Wikipedia's naming conventions, i.e. "F.C.")? Something really needs to be done to tidy this up - I appreciate that it is probably a big task to correct all of the categories, but I would at least like to fix the Sheffield Wednesday one. However, I have no idea how to go about doing this. Since you can't "move" a category, I assume that you need to manually change the Category:Sheffield Wednesday FC tags on all of the files, set up the new category page and request the old one to be deleted, but is there an easier way of doing this? Dan1980 (talk) 22:04, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

My experience here so far is this. You will have to find a person who can write software that will accomplish this. Then, have that person upload good images, categorize them or gallery them in the least controversial way possible. Then, request adminship for that user. Once that is accomplished, writing a bot that does anything seems to be allowed. Making unreasonable decisions about users and trust, allowed. Renaming and pasting whatever templates onto whatever category, allowed. This also seems to be modeled on English wikipedia, so perhaps you should find it easy to work with.
If this is not the case, the recently selected admin can show up to show that the experience is not as I have outlined it. -- carol (talk) 03:19, 16 July 2008 (UTC)
Sarcasm isn't helpful here, carol. Dan, yes, generally you would need to retag all the images in the category with the new name, then have the old one deleted. There are bots that can do this, if I'm not mistaken. Powers (talk) 14:06, 16 July 2008 (UTC)
There is a help page at Commons:Rename a category. Pruneautalk 15:06, 16 July 2008 (UTC)
It was a sorrowful summary -- not so much sarcasm. -- carol (talk) 15:06, 16 July 2008 (UTC)
Thanks guys. Dan1980 (talk) 20:26, 16 July 2008 (UTC)

Collaborating with an artist, want to upload an image.

I am collaborating with a sketch artist. She draws on paper, I scan it in. I want to upload an image to my User page. My collaborator and I have discussed this, and she says, sure, you can use that image for that purpose. As a new member of the wiki community, I am not yet allowed to upload images. When I tried, I saw a message that suggested I upload here in Commons.

I then read that content uploaded to Commons is free content as defined (blah, blah). Ok I discussed that with my artist as well, and its OK with her that the image be free according to the 4 freedoms. We thought it would be nice to require attribution.

So what do we do now? I think we need to pick a license that is acceptable to Commons but allows the Attribution requirement. Any suggestions?

Once we know the licence, do we go out and get a lawyer? Does the image have to be registered on some other site somewhere, and available from there? Or is it just a matter of filling out some form at this site when I upload the file.

I am a visual person who really beleives a picture is worth a thousand words. I think our team could start contributing original artwork images to wikipedia, if only we could figure out the mechanics of getting this first image uploaded. I just know this is is so common a question it must be spelling out in simple language somewhere, but I have not been able to find the "howto". This is a learning-curve issue. Where are the step-by-step instructions? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.152.150.161 (talk • contribs) 21:54, 16 July 2008 (UTC)

Yes, contributing original artwork for Wikipedia is great, and will be welcome here in commons. The bad news is that licensing and copyright are complicated because the law is complicated, and different in every country. You can find out a lot here: COM:LICENSING. The good news is that for what you want to do, things are pretty simple.
It's not necessary in general to hire a lawyer or to officially register your work with a copyright office. Wikimedia commons doesn't require you to do any of these things. In the US at least, you automatically own the copyright to your work at the moment it's created. Registering with the copyright office gets you documentation and support if you plan to charge royalties, or foresee the need to sue someone over their use of your work. But you don't have to register or to have a lawyer in order to post your artwork here.
Here's the basic process for uploading your own original work: click on "Upload file" in the panel to the left. Select the option for "It is entirely my own work." There will be a form to fill out with some instructions. Don't be afraid to try it out! Even if you make a mistake, someone can help you fix it later. One of the sections is for "Licensing" and has a menu of free licenses that you can select. You are free to choose which option you like. The "recommended" choice is to allow people to use your work under either of 2 licenses: GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) and Creative commons attribution - share-alike 3.0 (CC-by-sa-3.0).
I hope this helps! --Amble (talk) 03:32, 17 July 2008 (UTC)

is this fair use or free or old enough 1936? from Jordan

I don't know if this image in 1936 in Palestine Jordan is free or fairuse please check for me, the image is in the webpage itself: http://www.newjerseysolidarity.org/resources/roots/chapt05img04.gif

--1936: Palestine revolts against British occupation —the preceding unsigned comment was added by Adnanmuf (talk • contribs) 10:58, February 8, 2008 (UTC)

If it is from Jordan I believe it is in the public domain Use {{PD-Jordan}} when uploading. (This is not legal advice). Thanks, Anonymous101 talk 15:28, 18 July 2008 (UTC)

Converting any files named Cromileptes to Chromileptes

Is there an easier way to change files to the above change(including any species changes) other than hand changing to redirects and creating new files???????? I got lost trying to them all......can someone help????????.......Pvmoutside (talk) 21:17, 17 July 2008 (UTC)

Using the search here, I found two files with that in the name and description. Two other files where it is in the description only. One gallery and two categories. Totaling nine things that need to be changed. Are there more? -- carol (talk) 21:27, 17 July 2008 (UTC)

Need help to upload donated photos from here to Wikipedia

I am hoping that someone here can help me. I'm editing the English Wikipedia, and am fairly new but quite active there. I found two people by browsing Flickr who I contacted via their mail who have photos they took that they'd be quite happy to share to grace the pages of living musicians who've needed individual photo(S), and/or band photo(s). The first is Derek Trucks, who is both a member of the Allman Brothers Band, bandleader of the Derek Trucks Band (which needs it's own page- someone began that band page on his individual page), and he's also married to Susan Tedeschi, who has a band of her own, though sometimes they sharfefAnyway, I got a response from Xopher Smith who has his own pro-shots of them, but I really need somebody to help upload the photos onto the pages (and new Derek Trucks Band page needing a stub, at least.) He uploaded them his self, to Wikicommons and here they are: Photos from Xophersmith.

ALSO, I'm editing the Dixie Chicks band and Individual's pages for Martie Maguire, and Emily Robison plus some song pages. There may also be photos of the Chicks, which we need b/c of the amount of information on their pages. PLEASE, will someone help me? --Leahtwosaints (talk) 21:56, 17 July 2008 (UTC)

Give the wiki search a try. Spell the names correctly, use the button that says "search" (and not "go") and see what images and other appear in the list of the results. -- carol (talk) 22:12, 17 July 2008 (UTC)

Uploading someone elses photos

I would like to upload a photo taken by someone else for use in a Wikipedia article. I found the photo on Facebook and contacted the user who uploaded it to there. The photo is his and he agreed to let me upload it using the an appropriate CC license. My question is - When/if I upload the file, do I need to be able to prove that the original author gave me permission to do so? If so, how can I do that? Fruv (talk) 05:59, 18 July 2008 (UTC)

Yes. See Commons:Email templates and Commons:OTRS. --EugeneZelenko (talk) 14:57, 18 July 2008 (UTC)

Screenshot of a proprietary command-line program

What's the legal situation for a (self-taken) screenshot of a proprietary command-line (non-graphical) program? The program in point is Windows NT's chkdsk.exe.

Which license should I use?

Brownie Points question: what about German Wikipedia?

Many TIA, Maikel (talk) 17:46, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

The software is presumably still under copyright, and thus so is any graphical representation of its output. There is thus no license valid on Commons unless the software has been released with a free-use license. I believe the German Wikipedia has similar restrictions. Powers (talk) 14:08, 16 July 2008 (UTC)
If the program runs under Windows, some parts of the image might be copyrighted. From experience I'd say, the german Wikipedia could rather accept such images since they do not deal that severely with images as Commons has to do. Regards, →Christian.И 14:18, 16 July 2008 (UTC)
It's a command line program, as long as you show only the command shell, there are no Windows portions that may be shown. As for the copyrightability of the command output: I am pretty sure that it does not cross the threshold of originality, unless it is different from the command-line chkdsk that I know. Therefore, I'd say upload it with the tag {{PD-ineligible}}. --rimshottalk 21:12, 16 July 2008 (UTC)
Thanks, people.
You surprise me, I was under the impression that copyright restrictions were more severe on German Wikipedia rather than on Wikimedia Commons? Maikel (talk) 22:06, 17 July 2008 (UTC)
Well...I believe they have a higher threshold of originality than most, but they also don't accept shorter terms than pma+70 for simple photographs, like {{PD-Denmark50}} -Nard the Bard 22:15, 17 July 2008 (UTC)
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Chkdsk_screenshot.png
Oll klear? Maikel (talk) 17:24, 19 July 2008 (UTC)

RUSH REQUEST - Photo Permission

208.57.231.68 20:08, 18 July 2008 (UTC)I found an old photo of Margaret Mead on your site and wanted to get permission to use it low res for a poster and calendar project I am putting together for my Women's Council group. How may I obtain permission to use this photo?

  • The only one of her I could find was Image:Margaret Mead NYWTS.jpg. That image is public domain and available from the Library of Congress by clicking the link from the photo page. Since it is public domain you are free whatever you want with it, within the limits of legality (can't use it for defamation, etc). You have no need to ask permission and indeed we cannot grant it. If you have any questions about the legality of the image you should refer them to the Library of Congress. -Nard the Bard 20:14, 18 July 2008 (UTC)

Is it possible to use "Random file" on a specific search string?

I have been looking for a random image/word of the day for a website I'm working on (Ottawa Deaf Centre). I'd be interested in, for example, a random American Sign Language (ASL) image from the Commons that I could link/embed in our organization's site.

Let me know,

Jack jrloucks@sympatico.ca

Hi Jack,
Unfortunately I don't think any capability like that is available just yet. Also, I don't think we have many ASL images - Category:American Sign Language has just four members... thanks, pfctdayelise (说什么?) 20:05, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

Please rename Data_stack_tidy.svg to Data_stack.svg

I tidied up some of Data_stack.svg (Clean up the arrows and removed un-needed transparency from the arrowheads). It wouldnt let me upload a new version directly so can you move Data_stack_tidy.svg to Data_stack.svg.

Thanks

✓ Done, thanks for helping us improve our quality --pfctdayelise (说什么?) 20:02, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

MsTopeka says "oops"

I am new to Commons and I am writing an article on Akiane. My name is the same on the encylopedia. I need some pictures and I put a question on the licnesing section. Can someone look and help me? MsTopeka (talk) 04:57, 19 July 2008 (UTC)

Hi MsTopeka,
I had a look on your English Wikipedia user page and the article w:Akiane Kramarik, but I couldn't find where you had put your licensing question. Could you repeat it here, or link to it so we can help you? thanks, pfctdayelise (说什么?) 19:56, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

Image:En-us-spirits-proper.ogg

Image:En-us-spirits.ogg had pronunciations of "spirits" and "established" so I edited the file and removed the latter word. I couldn't however replace the existing file and it was suggested that I should ask here for someone to do that.

Link that appears under the File History
There is a link that says "upload a new version of this file" on the image page, under the File History section. (You can only replace other people's files if your account is > 4 days old.) Otherwise, just upload the file with exactly the same file name (but no Image: prefix) and ignore the warning that you are overwriting someone else's file. Let us know if you need more assistance. --pfctdayelise (说什么?) 19:46, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

Including a thumbnail to an image from my wiki gallery in an article edit

I recently uploaded a (self created) image to the wiki commons gallery (http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Image:Wiki_Mandel_zoom_03_seehorse_3D.jpg) to add to the article on the Mandelbrot set.

I'd like to add a paragraph to the article, including an in-line titled thumbnail to the image. I can't figure out what HTML to use to get a titled thumbnail in the edited article. Instead, I get a text-only link. Can you let me know what HTML to add so that I get a clickable thumbnail that links to a reduced sized version of the image, then to the full sized image?


Thanks --— Preceding unsigned comment added by D Champney (talk • contribs) 00:51, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

This is a caption.
To include an image as a thumb nail. Simple use [[Image:Wiki_Mandel_zoom_03_seehorse_3D.jpg|thumb|This is a caption.]]. You can see the results to the right here. --ShakataGaNai ^_^ 01:06, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

Moving files

Where would I go to make a request for files to be moved to a new name? Commons:Requested moves doesn't exist.Jeff02 (talk) 02:15, 22 July 2008 (UTC)

You normally don't (yet)—move and see what happens. A request page, similar to CFD, may be a good idea though --O (谈 • висчвын) 02:44, 22 July 2008 (GMT)
Well, I asked because there are some files that I've been asked to rename and commons doesn't have a move button at the top of the page. Is there any way to move a file on commons other than downloading and reuploading?Jeff02 (talk) 03:57, 22 July 2008 (UTC)
There is a bot, but it only runs once a month. Until the proposed schema change that allows two-click moving is implemented for media, downloading and re-uploading is your best bet. --O (谈 • висчвын) 04:27, 22 July 2008 (GMT)
You can download the images and reupload them with the correct name then use {{Badname}} to get the images with the wrong names deleted. Or, an even better option would be to upload the correct image into the existing namespaces (after four days there is a link on each image page that allows the "Upload a new version of this file") from the other wiki and mark them there for deletion according to their policies. -- carol (talk) 05:52, 22 July 2008 (UTC)
Thanks for the info, O. Do you know why it doesn't run more often? I like to use {{Rename}}. Samulili (talk) 07:53, 22 July 2008 (UTC)

Painting of El Greco

It took a screenshot of El Greco called "Maria Magdalena". Can I upload this?

cu Richard

The painting itself is in the public domain. If I understand you correctly, you took a screenshot of a photo of the painting. It is possible that the photo is copyrighted, even though the painting is not. You should find all the information you need at Commons:When to use the PD-Art tag. Pruneautalk 14:41, 22 July 2008 (UTC)

Corporate Logos

I would like to include our corporate logo on our wikipedia page. I do not think our logo should be uploaded to Commons, so where should I upload it?

If your company logo is not plain text, please use Commons:Email templates. --EugeneZelenko (talk) 14:59, 22 July 2008 (UTC)

replace file

replace Image:95Thesen.jpg with Image:95Thesen-2.jpg ( better crop) -Zahd (talk)

That is done. If you put the {{Badname}} template onto the version you uploaded -- carol (talk) 22:25, 22 July 2008 (UTC)
Doesnt appear done. Badname template added. -Zahd (talk) 22:35, 22 July 2008 (UTC)
Refresh the browser by using shift and the reload or refresh button or option (depending on the browser it might be something different). The wiki caches its thumbnails, and the browser caches images. To the best of my knowledge, so far, the routing system between the wiki computer and you do not cache but the century is still young!!
Then, occasionally even that doesn't work and checking the image in the browser window (not via the page display) is the only thing that works to show that the correct image is there.
With thumbnails in articles or in "other versions" on image pages, occasionally the number of pixels needs to be changed to inspire the wiki software to make a new thumbnail also -- this is kind of along the same problem to a different question you might ask one day. -- carol (talk) 22:52, 22 July 2008 (UTC)

Russian Hermitage

I found a site with a lof of paintings from Russian State Hermitage. Can I upload them here? They seems to be in public domain, cause there is noone holding copyright. Resolution seems to be a very nice one: http://www.arthermitage.org/Henri-Matisse/Red-Room.big.html

Matisse died in 1954, so his paintings are not in the Public Domain yet. Some of the other works are PD, though, for example those by Rubens or van Gogh. However, it is possible that the reproductions are copyrighted as well. I don't know where Russia stands on {{PD-art}}. You could try asking at COM:ART for more details. Pruneautalk 08:38, 23 July 2008 (UTC)


Hi, I am Kasia Sikora. I'm from Poland. I am studying farmacy in Poznań in Poland. I want to edit many things in your portal. There are many errors on your poland sides. I want to change them, but I don't know how. Please, help me, but don't send me links. I just want you to tell me how I schould do it, step by step. I need your help. I know, that I have a lot of knowledge. I want to share it with others. I am looking for your answer. I want to registry in your poland side, but I don't know how. Please, send me an e mail or sth to a man, who can help me with my troubles. I can write And speak in english, but this person is supposed to know how you can help me. I want you reply me on my e mail kasik00-87@tlen.pl Have a good day, Kasia

Dealing with vandalism

While I know how to deal with this sort of thing on my home Wiki of en.Wikipedia, I don't know what to do in this case. The IP address 82.110.220.58 has created the image talk page Image talk:Epsom Coaches 719.JPG‎ however just left a load of random characters. Should the page be deleted again. Thanks for any help!! Arriva436talk 09:08, 24 July 2008 (UTC)

I removed the stuff. If you would like to have the talk page deleted, you can mark it to be. Not that many images have talk pages although some do. If having a talk page exist with nothing on it bothers you, {{Speedydelete}} will probably get it deleted. -- carol (talk) 12:40, 24 July 2008 (UTC)
Thanks for that! Arriva436talk 16:33, 24 July 2008 (UTC)

Kosi River and its shifting courses

I have prepared an autocad version of a sketch not a photo) and converted in to jpg format. It is taken from the book titled "Floods, Flood Plains and Environmental Myths - State of Environment - a Citizens Report 3" published in 1991 by the Centre for Science and Environment. The book clearly states that "Material from this publication may be used without prior permission if the source is properly acknowledged". Considering this note, can I upload the figure cited under Subject/headline with due source referencing. Please advice. I will upload after getting your clearance.--Nvvchar (talk) 15:32, 24 July 2008 (UTC)

Permission by email

Hello. Prof. Bernard Amadei, the founder of "Engineers Without Borders International", have granted me the permission to upload the images in [1] to commons, and I have his agreement by email. What is the correct procedure for this? What should I write in the description/license fields? Thanks, Mintz l (talk) 15:45, 18 July 2008 (UTC)

Please see Commons:OTRS. --O (谈 • висчвын) 15:46, 18 July 2008 (GMT)
Hi. I have sent the required mail to permissions-commons a week ago. What should happen from now? Where can I find the images I specified their links in the email? Thanks, Mintz l (talk) 08:46, 23 July 2008 (UTC)
You should have gotten a response with further information. --O (谈 • висчвын) 02:19, 25 July 2008 (GMT)

so if i take a picture of a video game, is it wrong? if it is then how the hell am i supposed to get a picture from a character from a video game? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Megaman en m (talk • contribs) 04:33, July 24, 2008 (UTC)

It's not "wrong" to take a picture of a video game--we just can't host it here. Commons is a repository of free media, and since a picture of a video game is a derivative work of that video game, it is not free.
Many Wikipedia projects, including English Wikipedia, allow non-free content that fulfills certain criteria. This is called "fair use", and it is the only way to get your image onto Wikipedia. --jonny-mt 11:41, 24 July 2008 (UTC)
This is why I tagged your Chrono Trigger uploads as copyright violations. We cannot host anything else derivative like cover art, toys, posters. Also, the English Wikipedia has a policy that all fair use images (like video game screens/characters/art, etc.) MUST BE USED in article space; this means no personal space (like user pages or userboxes. They are deleted after being "orphaned" for 7 days. BrokenSphere 16:17, 24 July 2008 (UTC)
But I see the cover art on many wikipedia pages about video games?--Megaman en m (talk) 19:38, 24 July 2008 (UTC)
It would be very good for you to make a listing here of the images you see at other wikipedia like that which are hosted here. -- carol (talk) 19:59, 24 July 2008 (UTC)
Video game cover art on the English Wikipedia is fine, because they allow FAIR USE images. Commons does not - the images need to be free use licensed or public domain. Free use and public domain are very different from fair use. I noticed that you never received a welcome message on your talk page, so I've given you one - please take a moment to read through the topics it highlights, especially the licensing section, because your questions about fair use VG artwork here would have been answered there as well. BrokenSphere 23:07, 24 July 2008 (UTC)

Deleting images

Hi, I'd like tu know if it's possible to delete an uploaded image, and released into the public domain. That image also shows an identifiable person, who don't want it to be public. --200.86.52.238 02:56, 24 July 2008 (UTC)

If you are logged in and on the image page. Under the "Toolbox" you will find a button that says "Nominate For Deletion", click that and explain WHY you want the image deleted (If that fails, follow the instructions at COM:DR). If you are the original uploader of the image, and you request it to be deleted to protect someones privacy, it will more than likely be deleted. --ShakataGaNai ^_^ 07:56, 24 July 2008 (UTC)
Perfect, thanks! --200.86.56.213 23:53, 25 July 2008 (UTC)

Earl of Athlone

the picture of athlone, churchill, mackenzie king and roosevelt needs to be horizontally flipped. Pharrar (talk) 17:04, 24 July 2008 (UTC)

{{Rotate}} lets the bot know that it needs to be rotated. Add the template and preview it for instructions for telling the bot how far to rotate. -- carol (talk) 17:52, 24 July 2008 (UTC)
Have I done it right? Pharrar (talk) 17:58, 24 July 2008 (UTC)
rotate 180 <> flip. Pharrar (talk) 18:05, 24 July 2008 (UTC)
Oops, I misread the question without looking at the image. It needs to be "flipped" not rotated? I gave the wrong instructions. Rotate will not correct or improve the image. The options that I know of are these:
  1. Download it, flip it and reupload into the same namespace.
  2. Request that this be done at Graphic Lab School
  3. More useful might be to request this be an option that is added to the bots. I am not certain where requesting bots to do things is effective though.
I am going to remove the tag as it was wrong to tell you to use it. Accept my apology for this, please. -- carol (talk) 18:11, 24 July 2008 (UTC)
I just asked if there is a flip bot at another "image repair" commons section, Graphics village pump. I thought I would mention it here since Graphics Lab School seems slow since summer has happened in the northern hemisphere and the aussies school children (and others downunder) seem to be more interested in (or able to) putting "the" into category names than more techinical things like this.... -- carol (talk) 18:38, 24 July 2008 (UTC)
Thank you Carol. You're terrific. Pharrar (talk) 22:15, 24 July 2008 (UTC)
This is not a quick process. Pharrar (talk) 08:47, 25 July 2008 (UTC)
No, it isn't. If I knew for certain that the image needs to be flipped (I don't feel like I have the time to research the original image and all as it is not in the area I am working in right now) it would be quicker to download it, use some software to flip it and then reupload it into the same namespace -- which is allowed after your user name has passed its 4 day "birthdate". Having a bot that can do this is a good request though. -- carol (talk) 00:25, 26 July 2008 (UTC)

A photo taken by my girlfriend

I have a photo that was taken by my girlfriend using my mobile phone. I want to upload it to use it in an article and she agrees, but she doesn't want her name to appear as an author of the photo.

What should I do? What should I put in the Author field?

Chopeen (talk) 19:57, 22 July 2008 (UTC)

Ask your girlfriend. Or use the Olan Mills method and claim that you are the author of all photograph from that phone because you own the camera.... -- carol (talk) 22:55, 22 July 2008 (UTC)
Create a new account “user:xyzäöå”, upload the photo, claim “own work” and put “xyzäöå” in the author field. --Kjetil_r 08:09, 23 July 2008 (UTC)
Authors of photographs do not need to have user accounts here. -- carol (talk) 13:19, 23 July 2008 (UTC)
True, but doing it the way I suggested keeps things simpler. --Kjetil_r 20:39, 26 July 2008 (UTC)
How does simple work that way? Just put self in the author field. Authors of photographs do not need to have user accounts here that is the simple. I suggest that you put "my girlfriend as of <date>" and that is as legitimate of an author name as a wikiuser name is. -- carol (talk) 21:43, 26 July 2008 (UTC)

Uploading from Flickr

When I try to upload the "original size" version of [2] from Flickr, and give that url ([3]) as the source, the Flickr upload interface is telling me that the source must be a URL pointing to the image description at Flickr. Is that link not the image description?Naerii (talk) 11:22, 26 July 2008 (UTC)

Go to this link then take the information from there, and copy it to the upload form, section: Summary. Then you need to give the image file from flickr (Browse) then a destination name of what the image should be called, and you're done! --Kanonkas(talk) 13:58, 26 July 2008 (UTC)
Heya, thanks, but I sorta already knew that. What I wanted to know is why the interface for uploading Flickr images (what you get when you click upload file -> my image is from flickr) isn't working for me. Naerii (talk) 19:43, 26 July 2008 (UTC)
Manual flickr uploading is a pain in the butt; I never do it. Just use one of the automated tools at the bottom of [4]; I prefer Magnus' (which requires a TUSC ID, which is trivially easy to get). —Giggy 23:59, 26 July 2008 (UTC)
Wahoo, thanks. Naerii (talk) 13:40, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

official public documents

can someone tell me what the policy for uploading official public and/or government documents to wikimedia? an example document can be sampled here. --emerson7 | Talk 00:57, 17 July 2008 (UTC)

I am not sure that a living persons birth certificate is free use even though it's a public document because of personality rights and identity theft. This person still alive and very well known according to her Wikipedia bio.--Paloma Walker (talk) 03:03, 17 July 2008 (UTC)
that's actually incorrect. any and all public information is just that. all court documents including certificates of birth and death are available simply for the asking (and a fee) from any courthouse whether the subject is living or not. --emerson7 | Talk 00:16, 18 July 2008 (UTC)
I wouldn't know where that site got their copy, but New York birth certificates are supposed to be private, and only available to the person named on the certificate, their parents, or else by court order. See http://www.health.state.ny.us/vital_records/birth.htm. --dave pape (talk) 02:19, 18 July 2008 (UTC)
Birth certificates (at least in the USA) cannot be obtained by just anyone. In most US states they are not even available at courthouses, they are at the respective state bureau of vital statistics and only the person, parents,family members can obtain them.--Paloma Walker (talk) 22:06, 28 July 2008 (UTC)
provenance and jurisdictional rules and quirks aside, that's really not what i'm asking here. i would like to know under what license official public and/or government documents are covered. --emerson7 | Talk 19:30, 19 July 2008 (UTC)

Please move picture

I was not allowed to upload a new picture for Kyoto_Protocol_participation_map_2005.png (since I am too "new") so instead I uploaded it as Kyoto_Protocol_participation_map_2005_Iraq.png The new image shows Iraq's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol (http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j36Xc3cFAC5MxVU1kzImFlZPv6Mw) - can somebody please move it to its correct location. Thanks. --Krueschan (talk) 21:47, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

photobucket

Can images from photobucket be uploaded to commons? Snowmanradio (talk) 00:01, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

I was never able to find any kind of license there. -- carol (talk) 00:02, 27 July 2008 (UTC)
In the basic guidelines and terms of use it says that all the material (except in private folders) can be copied, redistributed, modified, so does this imply that are all suitable for uploading to commons. Snowmanradio (talk) 00:06, 27 July 2008 (UTC)
That is interesting, I will try to remember that. What license are you going to use after having read that? -- carol (talk) 00:09, 27 July 2008 (UTC)
Lots of files on commons from photobucket can be found by a search for photobucket. This one Image:KemeticAltar.PNG has got the licence cc-by-2.0 Is that correct? Snowmanradio (talk) 20:32, 27 July 2008 (UTC)
Photobucket's terms of use seems to explain that all public photos can be copied, modified, and distributed for any legal use. In particular, see under the section "Proprietary Rights in Content on Photobucket". Snowmanradio (talk) 08:48, 28 July 2008 (UTC)
Photobucket is one of those image hosting services where people upload all kinds of copyrighted stuff all the time. And none of the images on the site seem to contain any information about their authors or sources and I have never seen any licenses mentioned anywhere on that site. So I don't think we can use any image from photobucket, unless there's proof that the image was uploaded by its author and there's an explicit license statement. --Kam Solusar (talk) 00:59, 29 July 2008 (UTC)
Photobucket's terms of use covers the license for those who upload their own images. Anything, can also be uploaded to flickr by anyone, the wiki guideline is to check that the author has used the same camera for other images, and so on... So what is the difference between the apparently genuine work on photobucket and apparently genuine work on flickr? Snowmanradio (talk) 18:08, 29 July 2008 (UTC)
On Flickr, users at least have to choose an explicit license (or "all rights reserved") for their uploads. I doubt that many people ever read photobucket's terms of use when creating an account and I also doubt that the majority of users are aware of what they allow others to do with their images. When you upload an image you don't have to enter any information about it and you don't see any further hint about the terms of use and their consequences. So personally, I wouldn't take it for granted that all photobucket users really intended to release their images for free use. --Kam Solusar (talk) 16:23, 31 July 2008 (UTC)
After prolonged thought, it seems that another barrier to use photobucket images on the wiki is the possibility that the photobucket license might change. This is what photobucket says to its uploaders; "After you remove your Content from the Photobucket Website we will cease distribution as soon as practicable, and at such time when distribution ceases, the license to such Content will terminate. If after we have distributed your Content outside the Photobucket Website you change the Content’s privacy setting to "private," we will cease any further distribution of such "private" Content outside the Photobucket Website as soon as practicable." Snowmanradio (talk) 17:43, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

Pictures scanned from advertising literature

What's the copyright status of pictures taken from printed leaflets? The leaflet in question is circa 1986, and does not include a copyright statement. Are such pictures considered to be in the public domain? Can such pictures be uploaded to Commons, or should they be uploaded to Wikipedia under "Fair use"? Ian Fieggen (talk) 01:10, 29 July 2008 (UTC)

If the work was first published in Australia (which I assume it was, based on your userpage), then the copyright is most certainly held by the company or individual that produced the leaflets. Unless you can track down the image and show that they used a public-domain or otherwise free picture in their work, any photographs or scans of their leaflet would constitute a derivative work of protected copyrighted material and thus be unuseable on Commons.
Incidentally, {{PD-Australia}} has more information on applicable PD laws, and COM:L has a solid rundown of free licenses by country. --jonny-mt 01:46, 29 July 2008 (UTC)
The image in question would have copyright assumed. Golden rule of thumb; unless stated otherwise and unless it's old enough for copyright to have expire, it's copyrighted. —Giggy 23:35, 29 July 2008 (UTC)

I've got a few photos of German ships from the pre-WWI period, which are in the possession of the German Federal Archives. My question is, are these photos in the public domain by the nature of their being works of the German government? Parsecboy (talk) 18:07, 29 July 2008 (UTC)

No, there is only de:Amtliches Werk but that does not refer to images made by federal employees like in the US. However, if they are taken such a lone time ago, they might be in the public domain due to their age. --Matt314 (talk) 13:22, 30 July 2008 (UTC)
Thanks; the book that has the photos in them of course doesn't have the specific authors of the images, so I suppose it would take contacting the Archives to properly establish copyright. Thanks again for your reply. Parsecboy (talk) 21:10, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

Finding uploaded Image

I uploaded an image 3 times, because I want to add it to my article in Wikipedia & was instructed that this is the best way to do it. But when I go to upload the image, I can't find it. It is not under my user name, fvlcrvm, my name as author, Tery Fugate-Wilcox or the image name, sana model, or the description San Andreas Fault Sculpture Project. I also tried creating a user page, Fvlcrvm to upload the image there, but everytime I ask for Fvlcrvm It says the page does not exist. fvlcrvm 21:57, 29 July 2008 (UTC)

Use this page history and look for your user name there -- also, there should be a link to on every commons page to your user page while you are logged in. If you use the history of this page (a similar link to that is on this page that occurs on every page you view while logged in) you can get quickly to your contributions and all of the image names and pages you have edited should be displayed there. -- carol (talk) 22:44, 29 July 2008 (UTC)
An easier way to get a list of all your contributions is to click on my contributions at the top of every page. According to that, you uploaded the image to Image:SANA MODEL NOLYRS copy copy.jpg‎. —teb728 t c 00:12, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

trying to download a file urgently

I am desperately trying to download a file (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Rasvapakara.jpg) that is in the public domain. I need this file to be at leaset 300 dpi but cannot seem to figure out how to download it for use.

Please help!

thanks,

Amina amohamed@breakthroughfilms.com 416-366-6588 x 228

As it says below the image, no higher resolution is available. --rimshottalk 06:10, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

Peta logos

There is something wrong with Image:Petalogo.png and Image:Peta.svg For one thing they are both tagged {{PD-self}}, but this is contradicted by the Information blocks which say “Copyright PETA.” For another thing the OTRS tags were set by the uploaders; is that permitted? I thought OTRS tags were supposed to be set by OTRS volunteers. BTW, I notice from User talk:Lhademmor that one of the uploaders has numerous image problems. —teb728 t c 23:24, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

The ticket is valid, and the e-mail from PETA actually states that all material published by the group is not copyrighted and thus free to use (with the exception of excerpts and material sourced from elsewhere). The ticket was an inquiry about an image of a specific individual rather than about PETA images in general--as far as these specific images go, I think {{PD-textlogo}} would actually be more the more appropriate license. --jonny-mt 07:22, 31 July 2008 (UTC)
They probably should also have {{Trademark}} tags too. Since they are PD, should the OTRS tags come off? —teb728 t c 08:13, 31 July 2008 (UTC)
Good idea to keep the OTRS tags. User:Zscout370 (Return fire) 08:58, 31 July 2008 (UTC)
Agreed. I've updated the licenses--we don't need to go so far as to make a {{PD-PETA}} tag or anything, do we? --jonny-mt 09:07, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

will this image survive?

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Rutger_Wolfson_Director_37th_International_Film_Festival_Rotterdam_2008.jpg#filehistory

got it from her http://professionals.filmfestivalrotterdam.com/eng/press/images_presskits/photos_iffr_2008.aspx

it says that Images of the 37th International Film Festival Rotterdam, available for download and free of rights

is that enouf? thank you

Luis magina (talk) 21:15, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

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