Documentations
This page is about the different options of licensing files, the license templates available on this wiki, and how to use them.
For information about how the file description page should be structured and what templates will help to do this, see Project: File info page.
General information
- Copyrights and the licensing of uploaded files may not be the most popular topics, but it is actually an important thing that should not be left aside. This wiki has a bunch of templates to make this an easy as possible task. Beside the license and file source templates collected in Category: Copyright templates, there are also some file page templates which handle everything - file-info, licensing, categorization - by just using one single template.
- More about these and how to use them can be found in the Image Policy and on the article about the file info page.
- The vast majority of files uploaded to this wiki are screenshots from the show or related material. These are usually licensed as "Fair use". However, images from other sources, like Wikimedia Commons, Wikipedia, or any other online sources need to be correctly licensed if reused. Images on the internet are not just generally free to use. Most are actually copyrighted, and using them without permission and/or without crediting and specifically mention the license is actually a copyright infringement.
- Generally, always try to find images and graphics that are free to use with correct licensing and attribution.
Licenses
Creative Commons
Creative Commons has established a set of licenses that make it possible to share content legally and openly. There a 6 types of CC licenses, combined out of 4 license elements, from very permissive to more restrictive.
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| BY | NC | SA | ND |
| Attribution | NonCommercial | ShareAlike | NoDerivatives |
| Must credit the author | No commercial use | Must be released under the same license | No changes allowed |
- See also
Creative Commons licences explained on YouTube
| CC-BY | → | Attribution |
This license enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial use, as long as attribution is given to the creator.
Deed (v4.0) • Legal code • Versions: v3.0 • v3.0 IGO • v2.5 • v2.0 • v1.0
| Template: | {{CC-BY}} |
doc | Default: v.4.0 | Declare older versions with parameter 1: {{CC-BY|3}}
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| CC-BY-SA | → | Attribution-ShareAlike |
This license enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial use, as long as attribution is given to the creator. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms.
Deed (v4.0) • Legal code • Versions: v3.0 • v3.0 IGO • v2.5 • v2.0 • v1.0
| Template: | {{CC-BY-SA}} |
doc | Default: v.4.0 | Declare older versions with parameter 1: {{CC-BY-SA|3}}
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| CC-BY-NC | → | Attribution-NonCommercial |
This license enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only if attribution is given to the creator.
Deed (v4.0) • Legal code • Versions: v3.0 • v3.0 IGO • v2.5 • v2.0 • v1.0
| Template: | {{CC-BY-NC}} |
doc | Default: v.4.0 | Declare older versions with parameter 1: {{CC-BY-NC|3}}
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| CC-BY-ND | → | Attribution-NoDerivs |
This license enables reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, as long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use.
Deed (v4.0) • Legal code • Versions: v3.0 • v3.0 IGO • v2.5 • v2.0 • v1.0
| Template: | {{CC-BY-ND}} |
doc | Default: v.4.0 | Declare older versions with parameter 1: {{CC-BY-ND|3}}
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| CC-BY-NC-SA | → | Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike |
This license enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, as long as attribution is given to the creator. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms.
Deed (v4.0) • Legal code • Versions: v3.0 • v3.0 IGO • v2.5 • v2.0 • v1.0
| Template: | {{CC-BY-NC-SA}} |
doc | Default: v.4.0 | Declare older versions with parameter 1: {{CC-BY-NC-SA|3}}
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| CC-BY-NC-ND | → | Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs |
This license enables reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only as long as attribution is given to the creator.
Deed (v4.0) • Legal code • Versions: v3.0 • v3.0 IGO • v2.5 • v2.0 • v1.0
| Template: | {{CC-BY-NC-ND}} |
doc | Default: v.4.0 | Declare older versions with parameter 1: {{CC-BY-NC-ND|3}}
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Other licenses
Beside Creative Commons, there are dozens of other liceses floating around, some more, some less free, and it's often not easy at all to understand them or the differences between. Luckily, you don't really have to. Just always use images that allow re-use, look up what license they use, and then choose the same license. If there is no template for that license, there are 2 templates where everything can be defined with parameters (see Undefined licenses at the end of this section).
The following additional license templates are available on this wiki:
| GFDL | → | GNU Free Documentation License |
License (v1.3) • Older versions: v1.2 • v1.1
| Template: | {{GFDL}} |
doc | Default: v.1.3 | Declare older versions with parameter 1: {{GFDL|1.2}}
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| GPL | → | GNU General Public License |
License (v3.0) • Older versions: License (v2.0) • License (v1.0)
| Template: | {{GFDL}} |
doc | Default: v.3.0 | Declare older versions with parameter 1: {{GFDL|2}}
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| MPL | → | Mozilla Public License |
| Template: | {{MPL}} |
doc |
| MIT | → | MIT License |
| Template: | {{MIT}} |
doc |
Public Domain
There are 3 templates to release a file into public domain, or mark it as such. For lawyers, there might be some differences, but for common use, just use what you think fits best, or what the file was originally marked with.
| PD | → | Public Domain |
| Template: | {{PD}} |
doc |
| CC-zero | → | No Copyright or No Rights Reserved |
This is the Creative Commons version of Public Domain.
License • Legal code • Wikipedia: CC zero
| Template: | {{CC-zero}} |
doc |
| WTFPL | → | WTF Public License, Version 2 |
This is another license that waves away all and any rights. It literally says that the creator doesn't care at all whatever is done with this file.
| Template: | {{WTFPL}} |
doc |
Permission is granted to do wtf you want to with this file.
Undefined licenses
The following 3 templates can be used if none of the above fit the case. They allow to define details with parameters.
| Permission | → | Used with permission |
This declares the file as copyrighted, but that the author has given permission to use it. A link to the permission can be added in parameter 1.
| Template: | {{Permission}} |
doc |
| Other free | → | Licensed under another free license |
This can be used if the file is released under another free license not covered by any of the other templates. License, details, and icon can be defined with parameters (see documentation).
| Template: | {{Other free}} |
doc |
Example:
| Other license | → | Licensed under another (not free) license |
This can be used if the file is released under another license not covered by any of the other templates. License, details, conditions, and icon can be defined with parameters (see documentation).
The difference to the one above is that this one is better suited for copyrighted material with restricted use, while "Other free" is meant to be used for permissive licenses.
| Template: | {{Other license}} |
doc |
Warning: License & conditions are undefined!Example:
License: Vecteezy License Agreement
Trademark
This is not a license template but should be used to declare that a file containes potentially trademarked signs. This often applies to logos or wordmarks. It should be additionally added after the license template.
| Template: | {{Trademarked}} |
doc |
Source templates
The following template are NOT licenses! They only declare the source the file was taken from. They should always be followed by a proper license template.
| Self | → | Self provided → the uploader (you) made this file |
If this is your work, use this template to indicate you are the author of it. You should think about what license you want to give it and add one of the license templates after it. If you don't know what to use and don't really care, take one of the Public Domain templates, or the most permissive CC license.
| Template: | {{Self}} |
doc |
| From Wikimedia | → | Taken from another wikimedia project |
Use this if the file was taken from Wikimedia Commons, Wikipedia, or another wikimedia source. The source can additionally be defined in parameter 1.
| Template: | {{From Wikimedia}} |
doc |
| From Fandom | → | Taken from another Fandom wiki |
Use this if the file was taken from another Fandom wiki. The source wiki can be defined in parameter 1.
| Template: | {{From Fandom}} |
doc |
| FAM-Wiki screenshot | → | Screenshot taken from this wiki |
This is to be used for screenshots taken from this wiki, like for documentation or help pages.
This template is kind of a hybrid, as it is a source template, but also adds a license (CC-BY-SA 3.0) below it.
| Template: | {{FAM-Wiki screenshot}} |
doc |
The MediaWiki software itself is licensed under the GNU General Public License.
Note: If there are images or graphics on the screenshot, those parts might be licensed under a different license.
Available license graphics
- See also: Category:Copyright graphics
BY.png
CC-zero.png
CC.png
Copyfree.png
Copyleft.png
Copyright.png
Fair use.png
GNU.png
MIT.png
Mozilla-logo.png
NC.png
ND.png
Permission.png
Public domain.png
SA.png
Self.png
Trademark.png
WTFPL-logo.png
By-nc-nd.png
By-nc-sa.png
By-nc.png
By-nd.png
By-sa.png
By.png
CC0.png
Mozilla-badge.png
Publicdomain.png
WTFPL-badge.pngSee also
- This project article uses TemplateStyles: styles.css
- This project article has several subpages: Show subpages
