User:John Cummings/VRT organization permission

This page explains how organisations – such as GLAM institutions, but also individuals holding the rights to an image collection – can document a general permission to have photographs from their archives uploaded to Wikimedia Commons from a designated Wikimedia user account by sending a formal email to the Wikimedia VRT team, thus giving the Wikimedia community sufficient confidence that these photogaphs can be lawfully hosted on Wikimedia Commons under an appropriate license, and avoiding individual confirmation emails confirming each newly uploaded batch of images.

When seeking to streamline the process of giving Wikimedia Commons permission to host certain photographs from their archives under a suitable license, organisations and individuals may give a general permission to someone with a designated Wikimedia user account to upload content from their archive without needing to send a separate permission email each time that new content is uploaded. This general permission can be useful for organisations or individuals that want to upload a large amount of content to Wikimedia Commons, and when sending repeated permission emails listing all individual image files is impractical. Such a general permission given for a designated Wikimedia user account to upload (and license) content on their behalf can be revoked at any time by sending a follow-up email as described below. Please note: This 'revocation email' will not revoke permissions for the files that have already been uploaded, but only prohibits that Wikimedia user account from uploading (and licensing) more files from their archive in the future.

To grant permission to a designated Wikimedia user account to upload and license images from an organisation's archives, the organisation must

1. send the general permission email as outlined below to the Wikimedia VRT team,
2. receive confirmation from the VRT that the general permission meets the criteria explained above, and
3. all upload files must indicate the VRT permission confirmation number in the image description.

Instructions for the organisation

Granting a general permission

To grant a general permission to a specific Wikimedia user account to upload content from your archives, please send the following email to the designated email address permissions-commonswikimedia.org after filling out the template below. Optionally, you may also designate a specific license for content your designated account will upload on your behalf (you can ask the Commons VRT team to help you choose one). You will receive a reply indicating a "ticket number", which must be used for all uploads and in any related correspondence.

email template for indiviudals to grant a general permission

subject: General account permission

Dear Wikimedia Commons permissions team,

I hereby grant a general permission the Wikimedia user account User:<NAMEOFACCOUNT> to release individual works of mine on my behalf under a <licence name, such as "CC0 (public domain dedication)" or "CC BY-SA 4.0">.

I assert that I have the authority to delegate this legal power on my behalf, asserting that I hold the copyright to these works.

I acknowledge that the permission in question grants anyone the right to use the works, even in a commercial product or otherwise, and to modify them according to their needs (that is, to make derivative works), provided that they abide by the terms of the licence and any other applicable laws.

I am aware that this agreement is not limited to Wikipedia or related sites.

I am aware that I, as the copyright holder, always retain ownership of the copyright, and the right to be attributed by name in accordance with the license chosen. Modifications others make to the works will not be claimed to have been made by the copyright holder.

I acknowledge that the content may or may not be kept permanently on a Wikimedia project.

<YOUR NAME>

email for organisations to grant a general permission

subject: General account permission

Dear Wikimedia Commons permissions team,

I affirm that I represent <NAME OF YOUR ORGANISATION>, which hereby grants a general permission to the Wikimedia user account User:<NAMEOFACCOUNT> to release individual works from our archives under a <licence name, such as "CC0 (public domain dedication)" or "CC BY-SA 4.0">.

I assert that I have the authority to delegate this legal power on behalf of <NAME OF YOUR ORGANISATION>, asserting we hold the copyright to these works.

I acknowledge that the permission in question grants anyone the right to use the works, even in a commercial product or otherwise, and to modify them according to their needs (that is, to make derivative works), provided that they abide by the terms of the licence and any other applicable laws.

I am aware that this agreement is not limited to Wikipedia or related sites.

I am aware that the copyright holder always retains ownership of the copyright, and the right to be attributed by name in accordance with the license chosen. Modifications others make to the works will not be claimed to have been made by the copyright holder.

I acknowledge that the content may or may not be kept permanently on a Wikimedia project.

<YOUR NAME>

<YOUR ROLE WITHIN YOUR ORGANISATION>

Revoking a general permission

If you would like to revoke a general permission from the Wikimedia user account to upload content on your behalf in the future, please send an email with the following text to the designated email address permissions-commonswikimedia.org. You can always reinstate a general permission to this or to a different Wikimedia user account in the future, as needed.

subject: Revocation of general account permission

Dear Wikimedia Commons permissions team,

I affirm that represent <NAME OF YOUR ORGANISATION> and hereby revoke the permission previously given to the Wikimedia user account User:<NAMEOFACCOUNT> (<TICKET NUMBER>) to release individual works from our archives under a Wikimedia compatible licence.

I acknowledge that this revocation only takes effect from the point at which this request is received, and that it cannot be applied retroactively.

<YOUR NAME>

<YOUR ROLE WITHIN YOUR ORGANISATION>

Instructions for the Wikimedia user account using a general permission

Using the general permission

Once a Wikimedia user account has been granted a general permission, they will be given a specific template to be added to all files they upload, including the VRT ticket number. Please add this template to all files uploaded within the scope of the general permission in the 'licensing' section, as well as the license used. If this template is not included, then the files may be deleted.

Instructions for VRT volunteers

Granting a general permission

Please use the standard instructions for assessing permissions on vrtwiki.

Creating a general permission template

Please use the following template to create a template for the organisation to use including the ticket number for the permission. Please change the template to Category:Media produced by NAMEOFORGANIZATION which will be a subcategory of Category:NAMEOFORGANIZATION.

THIS TEMPLATE NEEDS THE AUTO ADDING CATEGORIES FUNCTION ADDED

Media by EXAMPLE, who have granted a general permission to Commons user User:EXAMPLE to upload the content to Wikimedia Commons. This template categorizes files into Category:NAMEOFORGANIZATION {{PermissionTicket|id=TICKETNUMBER}}

Confirming permission

Please send the following reply, including the link to the template which has been created.

Dear Sir or Madam,

Thank you for your message. I have approved your request. I have created a template to indicate that your designated Wikimedia user account has permission to upload files from your archives: URLOFTEMPLATE. Please as the person running your designated Wikimedia user account to add this template to all files uploaded on your behalf in the 'Licensing' section, as well as the license used. If this template is not included, then the files may be deleted. 

For further instructions on using this template correctly, please see the instructions on the template page linked above.
 
Please know that you may withdraw your permission at any time by using the email template described at ADD_THIS_ONCE_THE_PAGE_IS_PUBLISHED. Please note that such a revocation will not apply to files that have already been uploaded, but only bar the user account from uploading additional files. If you have any concerns about this, please respond to this message.

Thank you for your contribution to Wikimedia Commons.

Yours sincerely,

NAME