This page presents comprehensive info about image copyright tags - transcluded from subpages on tags for free, PD, US gov't, non-free, deprecated, and other tags.
"WP:TAG" and "WP:TAGS" redirect here. For the essay on tag-teaming to circumvent consensus, see WP:TAGTEAM. For the tags used by the edit filter, see WP:EFTAGS. For cleanup templates, see WP:CLEANUPTAG.
It is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines; rather, its purpose is to explain certain aspects of Wikipedia's norms, customs, technicalities, or practices. It may reflect differing levels of consensus and vetting.
Wikipedia takes copyright law very seriously. File description pages are tagged with the license and the source of the file. This makes it as easy as possible for readers, Wikipedians, IP addresses and creators of derivative works to know what they can and can't do with the files in our encyclopedia.
For a file to be considered "free" under Wikipedia's Image use policy, the license must permit both commercial reuse and derivative works.
Wikipedia (and all Wikimedia projects) strongly prefer "free" files. Where no free file exists, it is sometimes permissible to use a non-free (copyright-protected) file under the "fair use" provision. Fair use, in the United States, is the legal right to use copyright-protected materials under certain conditions. Wikipedia has its own conditions that are more restrictive than what is legally permitted.
Ideally, most free files should be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons instead of Wikipedia. (This enables them to be used for other Wikimedia projects in addition to Wikipedia.) Your account must be at least four days old before uploading is permitted. Commons does not allow fair use material, but non-free can still be used on the English Wikipedia under certain conditions.
All copyright and licensing tags should be put on a line of their own.
Along with a tag, specify the source or copyright holder information. Provide as much detail as possible.
If a file is not licensed under a standard license, please specify what the actual license states.
If you tag a file as requiring attribution, please specify who needs to be attributed.
If multiple categories apply to a file, add all that apply.
Note: A file released under an unnamed license, or under a named license not included in the links above, may still be suitable for Wikipedia. Copyright tags indicating more general usage rights can be found in the
copyright template category to which this page belongs.
Creators of files can choose any acceptable free license. They can multi-license their files under different licenses. The license must not prevent commercial reuseorderivative works.
This is one of several CC licenses. This version permits free use, including commercial use; requires that you be attributed as the creator; and requires that any derivative creator or redistributor of your work use the same license. The desired attribution text should be included as a parameter in the template.
Creators of a new file copyright tag representing a particular licence, should propose the created tag on Wikipedia talk:File copyright tags. Tag creators not familiar with how to create templates which add images to categories, please ask for assistance.
Each template should have a corresponding category that automatically contains all the files tagged with the template. On the description page for the category include the following:
{{File template notice|name-of-the-tag}}
where name-of-the-tag is replaced with the actual name of the tag. In addition, include the template in the category Wikipedia file copyright templates by adding the following:
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.
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.
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.
{{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.
{{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.
Remember that most images you find on the Web are not public domain, even if they list no explicit copyright information. Images only qualify as being in the public domain if they fall under certain specific categories described below – images ineligible for copyright protection, very old works, works by certain government employees, and works where an explicit disclaimer of copyright has been made in writing by the author.
For a simple chart on US Public Domain regulations (Wikipedia servers are located in the US and fall under US guidelines) see the chart here.
{{PD-EU-no author disclosure}}: for images published more than 70 years ago (currently by 1953) without an attached claim of authorship
{{PD-ineligible}}: for images that are inherently ineligible for copyright protection because they are based exclusively on common knowledge with no element of creativity. An example would be Image:F Major key signature.png or things like multiplication tables. If you have any doubts, please ask
{{PD-old-100}}: for images where the author died more than 100 years ago (currently in 1923 or earlier). (Note: not where the work, image, or subject is 100 or more years old)
{{PD-US-expired}}: for images published in the U.S. before 1929
{{PD-URAA}}: for images first published outside of the U.S. from 1929 to 1977 (inclusive), but PD in the foreign source country on January 1, 1996. For the precise rules, see the template text
{{PD-old-70}}: for images where the author (e.g., photographer, painter, graphic artist) died more than 70 years ago (currently by 1953) (Note: not where the work, image, or subject is 70 or more years old.)
{{Stamp-PD-US-1923-abroad}}: for images of postage stamps first published outside of the U.S. before 1929 and therefore PD in the U.S.
{{PD-US-1989}} Works published in the U.S. between 1978 and March 1, 1989, without a copyright notice, and where the copyright was not later registered
{{PD-US-not renewed}}: for images published in the United States prior to 1964 for which copyright was not renewed within 28 years of the date of publication
{{PD-anon-expired}}: for images published anonymously outside the United States prior to 1929. Takes an optional parameter indicating the year of publication.
{{PD-shape}}: for images that only contain one very simple geometric shape
{{PD-simple}}: for images that only consists of typefaces, individual words, slogans, or simple geometric shapes
{{PD-chem}}: for images comprising conventionally drawn chemical structural formulae
{{PD-logo}}: for images of logos that consist of only typefaces, individual words, slogans, or simple geometric shapes
{{PD-link}}: a statement intended to release a contributor's own work into public domain and request an entirely optional link back to Wikipedia from anyone reproducing it
{{PD-self}}: a statement intended to release a contributor's own work into public domain
{{PD-user|username}}: a statement intended to release a particular user's own work into public domain by a Wikipedian. For Wikipedians not on the English Wikipedia, use {{PD-user|username|language code}} where the language code is the two-character ISO 639-2 code (lowercase) that corresponds to the language of the Wikipedia where the user has an account.
{{PD-retouched-user|username}}: remarking that a previous PD work has been digitally enhanced, and re-released into public domain by a Wikipedian.
{{PD-author|name}}: stating that the work is released into the public domain by its author, whose name is given
{{PD-art}}: for images of 2-D (flat) works of art where the artist died more than 100 years ago.
{{PD-art-life-70}}: for images of 2-D (flat) works of art where the artist died more than 70 years ago.
{{PD-art-US}}: for images of 2-D (flat) works of art published prior to January 1, 1929.
{{PD-art-3d}}: for images of 3-D works of art where the artist died more than 100 years ago. This license ONLY covers the work of art. Photographic reproductions of 3-D objects attract their own copyright, therefore the appropriate image licensing tag should be used in addition.
{{PD-USGov}}: For works produced by an employee of the United States federal government in the performance of his or her duties. This blanket exemption does not apply to content published by other American governments, such as state, county, or city governments, who generally hold copyright unless they disclaim it; see Category:United States state public domain copyright templates for information on those that do.
{{PD-CAGov}}: All publicly released documents by agencies of the State of California (per California law)
{{PD-laws}}: There is an exception to the above. Edicts of government, such as judicial opinions, administrative rulings, legislative enactments, public ordinances, and similar official legal documents are not copyrightable for reasons of public policy. This applies to such works whether they are Federal, State, or local as well as to those of foreign governments.
{{PD-US-patent}}: In general, the text and images of United States patents are not copyrighted.[1] In specific cases, patent applicants and holders may claim copyright in portions of those documents. Such applicants are required to identify the portions that are protected under copyright, and are additionally required to state the following within the body of the application and patent:[2][3]
Whenever an image is tagged using one of these tags, the image description page should also contain some rationale as to whether and why the image is presumed to be in the public domain in the U.S. and other countries. See also {{PD-US-1996}}, which can be used to state that the copyright on the image was not restored by the URAA.
{{PD-AR-Photo}}: for photographs first registered in Argentina over 25 years ago. (Law 11.723, Article 34)
{{PD-Albania}}: for works whose author died at least 70 years ago, or for joint works created or published more than 70 years ago.
{{PD-Albania-exempt}}: For works exempt from copyright protection under Albanian law as per tag text.
{{PD-Australia}}: for published photographs whose creator died at least 70 years ago, or photographs taken prior to 1955.
{{PD-AustraliaGov}}: for works published by the Australian government or held under Crown Copyright in Australia more than 50 years ago.
{{PD-Bangladesh}}: for photographs published in Bangladesh over 60 years ago.
{{PD-BrazilGov}}: for "Brazilian official symbols", i.e. flags and symbols.
{{PD-Canada}}: for works that have fallen into the public domain in Canada under the Copyright Act of Canada.
{{PD-Canada-Crown}}: for works by the government of Canada that have fallen into the public domain in Canada
{{PD-China}}: for photographs taken in China over 50 years ago, or for non-photographic images whose author died more than 50 years ago.
{{PD-Croatia}}: for works whose author died at least 70 years ago, or for joint works created or published more than 70 years ago, or works under the Agreement on Yugoslav succession issues of Vienna of 29 June 2001, see below{{PD-Yugoslavia}}.
{{PD-CzechGov}}: for state symbols and symbols of other self-governing units.
{{PD-Ethiopia}}: for works first published in Ethiopia that have fallen into the public domain in Ethiopia.
{{PD-GermanGov}}: for statutes, ordinances, official decrees or judgments issued by a German federal or state authority, or court
{{PD-GreekGov}}: for official legislative, administrative or judicial documents issued by the Greek Government.
{{PD-HK}} for images and photographs taken in Hong Kong whose author died more than 50 years ago, or works of unknown authorship published over 50 years ago.
{{PD-Japan}}: for works published in Japan where all authors died 50 years ago, or if the authors are not known, where the works were published over 50 years ago.
{{PD-India}}: for photographs, audio and videos first published by Indian citizens or the Indian government (and international organisations, per section 29) more than 60 years prior to January 1 of the current year (i.e., as of 2012[update], published prior to 1 January 1952[needs update]); see Indian Copyright Act, §§ s:Indian Copyright Law#CHAPTER V : TERM OF COPYRIGHT|25-27.
{{PD-Iran}}: for works first published in Iran where all the authors have died more than 30 years ago, or photos or movies first published in Iran and published more than 30 years ago.
{{PD-Iraq}}: for works first published in Iraq that have fallen into the public domain in Iraq.
{{PD-Ireland}}: for works first published in the Republic of Ireland where all the authors died over 70 calendar years ago, or if the authors are not known, where the works were published over 70 calendar years ago.
{{PD-Israel-Photo}}: for photographs taken in Israel or the British Mandate of Palestine over 50 years ago.
{{PD-Italy}}: for photographs taken in Italy over 20 years ago, or artistic photos taken over 70 years ago.
{{PD-Lebanon}}: For a work that is a photographic or cinematographic work and fifty years have elapsed since the end of the year of production, or is another type of work and fifty years have elapsed since the end of the year of the death of the author.
{{PD-LithuaniaGov}}: Republic of Lithuania Law on Copyright and Related Rights says: "Copyright shall not apply to official State symbols and insignia (flags, coat-of-arms, anthems, banknote designs, and other State symbols and insignia)."
works published in the Netherlands, Dutch East Indies, or Netherlands New Guinea over 70 years after the first January 1 following the work's publication and
works published more than 70 years after the first January 1 following the author's death.
{{PD-NZ}}: for works made in New Zealand whose author died more than 50 years ago.
{{PD-Pakistan}}: for photographs published in Pakistan over 50 years ago, or for non-photographic images whose author died more than 50 years ago.
{{PD-Philippines}}: for works whose copyrights have already expired, that have been released into the public domain, or that are ineligible for copyright as stated by Philippine copyright law.
{{PD-PhilippinesPubDoc}}: for official public documents (or portions thereof) made in the Philippines of a legislative, administrative or judicial nature.
{{PD-Poland}}: for Polish photographs published in Poland without a copyright notice prior to May 23 1994.
{{PD-PolishGov}}: for Polish government documents, materials, signs and symbols.
{{PD-ROC-GOV}}: For works of the ROC Government under the terms of Article 9 of the Copyright Act of the Republic of China.
{{PD-RomaniaGov}}: for Romanian state symbols and symbols of public authorities and organisations, and for Romanian currency.
{{PD-RU-exempt}}: exempt from copyright protection under the Russian law as per tag text.
{{PD-SerbiaGov}}: for Serbian government documents, materials, pictures, etc.
{{PD-Serbia}}: for works whose author died before 1954 or, if anonymous, that were published before 1954 (public domain prior to introduction of the new law in 2004).
{{PD-South-Africa}}: For works published in South Africa that are more than 50 years old.
{{PD-South Korea}}: For works published in South Korea whose most recently deceased creator died more than 50 years ago.
{{PD-Sweden}}: for public domain images taken by Swedish photographers before 1944
{{PD-Thailand}}: for works whose copyright has expired in Thailand.
{{PD-TH-exempt}}: for works exempt from copyright protection under Thai law as per tag text.
{{PD-Trinidad-and-Tobago}}: for public domain images fifty years after the death of the photographer as per the Trinidad and Tobago Copyright Act, Part III, Section 19(1).
{{PD-UA-exempt}}: exempt from copyright protection under Ukrainan law as per tag text.
{{PD-UK}}: for works published in the United Kingdom that have fallen into the public domain in the United Kingdom.
{{PD-BritishGov}}: for images created by the British Government and published prior to 1956.
{{PD-VenezuelaGov}}: for "Venezuelan official symbols" i.e. flags and symbols.
{{PD-Yugoslavia}}: exempt from copyright protection by the Agreement on succession issues; Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia, the Republic of Slovenia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, being in sovereign equality the five successor States to the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, have agreed in Vienna on 29th of June 2001. The Agreement came into force on 2004-03-25. [4] Note: must be used in conjunction with {{PD-Croatia}}, see above.
{{CopyrightedFreeUse-Link}}: The image is free to use for any purpose, but requests an entirely optional link back to either Wikipedia or another site.
{{PD-because}}: for public domain images with a special reason. Use the format {{PD-because|reason}}.
{{PD-signature}}: files displaying people's signatures thought to not be copyright in the US or the country of individual concerned.
Publications of the New Zealand government are mostly covered by Crown copyright, which in New Zealand has a 100-year term under Section 26(3)(b) of the Copyright Act 1994. This puts most recent material out of bounds. However, there is an exception to these provisions for some documents:
{{PD-NZSection27}}: for works created by some New Zealandgovernment entities, which are covered by Section 27(1) of the Copyright Act 1994 [5]. The section excludes from copyright protection the following NZ works: Bills, Acts, regulations, municipal bylaws, Hansard, select committee reports, court judgments, Royal commission reports, commission of inquiry reports, ministerial inquiry reports and statutory inquiry reports. Note that sourcing these from a third party provider that, say, annotated Acts, is dangerous – they would have copyright in those annotations, and/or copyright in a new typographical arrangement [6].
New Zealand Crown copyright used to only last 50 years, and copyright has expired for government works from 1944 or earlier. Regular copyright provisions (such as a 50-year term) apply to works by Crown entities and state-owned enterprises, not Crown copyright.
{{PD-Russia}}: Used for works that were public domain under the Russian copyright law of 1993. Obsolete as of 1 January 2008 due to new Russian legislation.
The following copyright tags are among those applicable to photographs and graphic images originating from the United States of America and created by people other than the uploader. Please see the text of each tag for specific disclaimers.
{{PD-art-US}}—for images of two-dimensional (flat) works of art published in the United States prior to 1929.
{{PD-US-expired-abroad}} — for non-US works first published outside the USA prior to 1929 (certain exceptions may apply in 9th District, US Circuit Court)
{{PD-US-patent}} — for text and images of United States patents, which are in general are not copyrighted.[7] In specific cases, patent applicants and holders may claim copyright in portions of those documents. Such applicants are required to identify the portions that are protected under copyright.
{{Non-free historic image}} — for non-free images of historically significant deceased individuals. (Note: Images using this tag must be irreplaceable with a copyright-free image and accompanied by a valid fair use rationale.)
{{PD-USGov}} — for images produced by an employee of the United States government in the performance of his or her duties which do not fit under the following specialized tags:
{{PD-USGov-DOE}}—Department of Energy (NOTE: Some operating units, including some DOE national labs, have separate, non-free copyright policies. See the notice on the template talk page before using.)
{{LOC-image}}—Library of Congress collections (NOTE: This is not a license tag, but a source tag. It must be accompanied by an appropriate license tag.)
{{PD-Bain}} — Public domain image from the Library of Congress's George Grantham Bain collection
{{PD-Brady-Handy}} — Public domain image from the Library of Congress's Brady-Handy collection
{{PD-Harris-Ewing}} — Public domain image from the Library of Congress's Harris & Ewing collection
{{PD-Highsmith}} — Public domain image from the Library of Congress's Carol M. Highsmith collection
{{NARA-image}}—National Archives and Records Administration collections (NOTE: This is not a license tag, but a source tag. It must be accompanied by an appropriate license tag.)
{{PD-USGov-Military}} — for images produced by an employee of the United States Armed Forces in the performance of his or her duties which do not fit under the following specialized tags:
Copyrighted media files may be used in Wikipedia articles on a limited basis, provided they satisfy both the legal test for fair use and Wikipedia's own guidelines for non-free content, found at Wikipedia:Non-free content. Each image or audio file has a file page where any fair-use concerns must be addressed.
Please note: Copyrighted images that can reasonably be replaced by free images may not be used on Wikipedia.
For non-free content, each image page must include:
A copyright tag to claim fair use. Wikipedia's file upload function and wizard each help editors choose an appropriate tag. A list is below. Non-free images that meet Wikipedia's policy but do not fit into any of the categories below should use the tag {{Non-free fair use in|Article}}.
A statement describing the source of the media.
A separate "non-free use rationale" for each use in a Wikipedia article. Instructions, guidelines, samples, and templates are available at Wikipedia:Non-free use rationale guideline.
Note: for screenshots of free and open source software, you can use {{free screenshot}} (Warning: you need to indicate the actual license separately, read the template doc first). In this case, consider uploading your file to Wikimedia Commons if possible.
Note that this tag is NOT appropriate for an image on a webpage, EVEN IF the ENTIRE CONTENT of that page is the image. Fair Use is for identification and critical commentary relating only to the website, NOT the image. For identification and critical commentary relating specifically to the image, see "Art" above.
{{Non-free Parliamentary copyright}} - for material under UK Parliamentary copyright. Please note that as commercial distribution is not permitted this license is non-free for the purposes of Wikipedia, hence images uploaded under this template must still specify a rationale.
{{Non-free biog-pic}}—to provide visual identification of a specific individual or group for whom there is no freely-licensed content, and who is deceased, or impossible or impractical to access
{{Non-free Olympics media}}—for Olympic-related images, this contains a set of parameters that convey to logos, posters, mascots, et cetera.
{{Non-free Pan American Games media}}—for Pan American Games-related images, this contains a set of parameters that convey to logos, posters, mascots, et cetera.
{{Non-free Paralympics media}}—for Paralympics-related images, this contains a set of parameters that convey to logos, posters, mascots, et cetera.
These tags cannot be used on their own. Any files using these tags must have one of the previously mentioned tags.
{{Non-free Old-25}}—for media copyrighted in the United States whose author died more than 25 years ago and is in the public domain in a few other countries
{{Non-free Old-30}}—for media copyrighted in the United States whose author died more than 30 years ago and is in the public domain in a few other countries
{{Non-free Old-50}}—for media copyrighted in the United States whose author died more than 50 years ago and is in the public domain in many other countries
{{Non-free Old-60}}—for media copyrighted in the United States whose author died more than 60 years ago and is in the public domain in many other countries
{{Non-free Old-70}}—for media copyrighted in the United States whose author died more than 70 years ago and is in the public domain in most other countries
{{Non-free Old-75}}—for media copyrighted in the United States whose author died more than 75 years ago and is in the public domain in most other countries
{{Non-free Old-80}}—for media copyrighted in the United States whose author died more than 80 years ago and is in the public domain in all other countries except for Mexico and Jamaica
{{Non-free with NC}}—for media with a noncommercial reuse license
{{Non-free with NC and ND}}—for media with a combined noncommercial reuse and no derivative works license
{{Non-free with ND}}—for media with a no derivative works license
{{Non-free with permission}}—for fair use media for which we also have permission to use on Wikipedia
These tags are used to mark images which are deprecated, and which will eventually be deleted.
{{Db-noimage}} — for images that cannot be deleted using the standard deletion procedure due to bugs in the MediaWiki software. Generally, these images have to be manually deleted by a developer.
