Commons:Essential information
(Redirected from Commons:SOURCE)
Each media file available on Wikimedia Commons must be under a free license or in the public domain, and should have as much information about its copyright status as possible. Specifically, besides the licensing template, you should make sure that other people have enough information (source and/or creator data) to verify the claimed copyright status.
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Source
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Where did the file come from?
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In order to make sure that the claimed copyright status is accurate, the file description page needs to mention not only who generated the file/ image (which should already have been provided in the |author= field) but where the file in question came from. This is known as its "source" and it allows others to verify that the licensing is correct and the file meets the licensing criteria to be used by anyone, for any purpose, even commercially. Source information should be provided in the |source= field of the {{Information}} template:
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Licensing
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What is the copyright status of the file?
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A licensing template must be included on the file's description page in order to ensure that the file is freely usable and modifiable under our licensing criteria ("by anyone, for any purpose, even commercially"). If the file's description page doesn't contain a licensing template, then we can't be sure if the file meets our criteria; it might in fact be a copyright violation. Furthermore, it's important for potential reusers to know how to properly reuse the file – some licenses, for example, require one to name the copyright holder of the file ("attribution") and to apply the same license to derivative works ("share-alike"). Licensing templates are usually placed below a == {{int:license-header}} == section header and above any [[Category:]] links.
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Notes
- ↑ For example, a photographer may release a low-resolution version of a photograph under a public domain license, while retaining full copyright protection to a much higher resolution version of the same image.