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Wikipedia:File copyright tags/Free licenses

Free content is free as in freedom. This page links to some of the most popular licenses for releasing such content. This page can be reached via http://enwp.org/WP:ICT/FL when forwarding the full URL is not convenient. If an image is available under one of these licenses, it is acceptable to be used in Wikipedia.

• {{BSD}} – BSD licenses

• {{cc-zero}} – Creative commons zero 1.0 license.
• {{Cc-by-1.0}} – Attribution 1.0 license.
• {{cc-by-2.0}} – Attribution 2.0 license.
• {{cc-by-2.5}} – Attribution 2.5 license.
• {{cc-by-3.0}} – Attribution 3.0 license
• {{cc-by-4.0}} – Attribution 4.0 license.
• {{cc-by-sa-1.0}} – Attribution-Sharealike 1.0 license.
• {{cc-by-sa-2.0}} – Attribution-Sharealike 2.0 license.
• {{cc-by-sa-2.5}} – Attribution-Sharealike 2.5 license.
  • {{cc-by-sa-2.5-in}} – Attribution-Sharealike 2.5 India license based on Indian law.
• {{cc-by-sa-3.0}} – Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 license.
• {{cc-by-sa-4.0}} – Attribution-Sharealike 4.0 license. This is suggested as a file licensing tag for image creators.

Generally, a work licensed under a CC tag with more requirements cannot be integrated into a work licensed under a more permissive CC license (such as integrating a CC BY-SA work into a CC BY work), unless the entire target work switches to the less permissive license.

Other Creative Commons licenses exist but are non-free for use in Wikipedia. See Non-free Creative Commons licenses for a full list and explanation.

• {{FAL}} – Free Art license (info)

Note: The licenses in this section require reprinting the entire license text with any reuse of the image. If you created the image yourself, please consider using a different license. If one includes any of the content, the entire book/section goes under GFDL, unlike CC BY-SA.

• {{GFDL}} – GNU Free Documentation License (no invariant sections or cover texts) – from August 2021 these are no longer acceptable for most new uploads, see WP:NOMOREGFDL
  • {{GFDL-self}} – GFDL template, remarking that uploader holds copyright.
  • {{GFDL-user|user}} – user has released this image under the GFDL.

    

  • {{GFDL-retouched}} – GFDL template, remarking that a previous PD work has been digitally enhanced, and re-released under GFDL.
  • {{GFDL-OpenGeoDB}} – GFDL (images from http://opengeodb.de).
  • {{wikipedia-screenshot}} – Screenshots of Wikipedia web pages.
• {{GPL}} – GNU General Public License. This tag is designed for GPL images licensed by others (usually as part of a software package). Do not use it to tag images you created yourself. Use another free license.
  • {{GPL-2}} – GNU General Public License, version 2 only.
• {{LGPL}} – GNU Lesser General Public License. This tag is designed for LGPL images licensed by others (usually as part of a software package). Do not use it to tag images you created yourself. Use another free license.

• {{Expat license}} – MIT License (also known as the Expat license)

• {{MPL}} – Mozilla Public License.

• {{OGL}} – Open Government Licence version 1.0
• {{OGL-2.0}} – Open Government Licence version 2.0
• {{OGL-3.0}} – Open Government Licence version 3.0