Wikipedia:Media copyright questions

The (frankly horrible) current image used in a bio article (V. C. Wynne-Edwards), contains the following free-use rationale:

• to provide visual identification of one or more specific individual(s), or an identifiable gathering of them,
• where the individual(s) concerned are deceased, or where access would for practical purposes be impossible,
• and for whom there is no known representation under a 'free' license,
• on the English-language Wikipedia, hosted on servers in the United States by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation,

I think these apply also to this one, which is far superior (the current one is virtually unrecognizable, really) and available through CC but only under under an insufficient BY-NC-ND 3.0 license. Mausfield (talk) 12:34, 25 August 2026 (UTC)Reply

@Mausfield I agree, upload the other one correctly and change it in the article. The unused pic will get deleted automatically after awhile, not being used in an article. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 14:53, 25 August 2026 (UTC)Reply

This cannot be done using the basic upload wizard, correct? I don't see an option for non-free licenses Mausfield (talk) 17:01, 25 August 2026 (UTC)Reply

@Mausfield The file upload wizard has an "upload a non-free file" button. Nthep (talk) 18:50, 25 August 2026 (UTC)Reply

Ah, yes it does. I was mistakenly looking at Commons. My bad. Mausfield (talk) 19:32, 25 August 2026 (UTC)Reply

I looked around and still am unsure: do screencaps / recordings of gameplay footage count as:

a) at most fair use, and not something I can claim sole authorship to, or

b) given enough transformation, can become a work of mine and be released under CC 4.0?

p.s. I'm currently at the "I guess it depends on the game's EULA" stage of thought. e.g., does my purchase come with the right to reproduce the software (game)'s features. 海盐沙冰 _{/ aka irisChronomia / Talk / Uploads} 14:15, 29 August 2026 (UTC)Reply

@IrisChronomia: Try taking a look at at c:COM:SCREENSHOT for some general guidance. In principle, a screenshot of a video game is no different than a screenshot of, for example, say a movie or TV program. If the original work itself is still eligible for copyright protection, then pretty much any screenshot taken from it would also be eligible for the same copyright protection. A screenshot of a copyright protecgted work that not been released by its copyright under under a license that meets WP:COPY#Guidelines for images and other media files is going to need to be treated as non-free content. Please note "non-free content" and "fair use" aren't one and the same when it comes to Wikipedia, with Wikipedia policy being much more restrictive. -- Marchjuly (talk) 20:55, 29 August 2026 (UTC)Reply

Thank you - that's much clearer. I guess a recent upload of mine is therefore not free and I just nominated it for deletion. 海盐沙冰 _{/ aka irisChronomia / Talk / Uploads} 10:54, 30 August 2026 (UTC)Reply

@IrisChronomia: Since seven days have not passed since you uploaded that file to Commons, you cuold, if you want, tag it for speedy deletion per c:COM:CSD#G7 by adding the template c:Template:db-author to the file's page. -- Marchjuly (talk) 12:12, 30 August 2026 (UTC)Reply

No, based on what you said, maybe you SHOULDN'T delete it. "Non-free" / "not free" doesn't mean it can't be used, it means that A) it needs a justified correct FAIR USE rationale and must meet requirements https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Non-free_content_criteria in order to be acceptably used B) it's NOT explicitly licensed for free use C) it's still the property of the owner/creator.

Read the criteria policy at that link.

I think it's safe to say that a single frame from a game or movie can often be justified Wikipedia NFCC-abiding IF it meets all the conditions/criteria explained on the wikipedia template and NFCC pages. (If this wasn't true, nobody would be able to talk about anything or depict anything or clearly refer to anything in print.) Now: if the screenshot does not serve any purpose, or is redundant, or could have been replaced by something Free Use but you used it anyway, it stops being justified use. Also, using your user-made screenshot is better than using someone else's, because YOU made it, at least, so you yourself are the one who dictates the license over whatever the aspects that you have rights to (which is fuzzy because it's derivative and reproduces the game-creator's work).RandomEditor6772314 (talk) 23:30, 30 August 2026 (UTC)Reply

I forgot to mention: uploading to COMMONS is completely different from certain other uses. Don't be confused by the Commons screenshot/chart, instead focus on the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Non-free_content_criteria policy and criteria.RandomEditor6772314 (talk) 23:33, 30 August 2026 (UTC)Reply

Commons doesn't accept non-free content of any type, and IrisChronomia was asking about a file he uploaded to Commons as c:File:Games.NoMan'sSky.photomode.C1a1.png. Your suggestion could only work if the file had been uploaded locally to English Wikipedia; it won't work for a file uploaded to Commons. This is why in my previous post I specifically stated since you uploaded that file to Commons. -- Marchjuly (talk) 02:29, 31 August 2026 (UTC)Reply

I discovered that my edit on the executed inmate page was removed because it doesn't meet "Non-free use criteria" although the targeted page of the file was a redirect to "Execution of Charles Rhines". So, I think that the image was removed.

Because of this reason, I have edited the "non-free use rationale template" of the file of Charles Rhines ("Charles Rhines.jpg"):

• {{Non-free use rationale mugshot}} => {{Non-free use rationale biog}} which I changed the informations, you can compare it with the history.

The reason why it happened? I created a new "non-free rationale use" (template) with the help of others' "non-free use rationales" (templates), plus the documentation page. Then, I tested it on my userpage. When the template and the documentation worked. I moved both pages to the "mainspace" as a template.

• Note: I also added two examples on the documentation page of the template to verify if the main template works before using it on "mugshot files".

Also, the template I created: {{Non-free use rationale mugshot}}, is actually used in four files. You can verify it on the transclusions.

Thanks. Manchesterunited1234 (talk) 19:39, 31 August 2026 (UTC)Reply

This picture of the Northern Songs sheet music cover of Dig a Pony only contains the album cover of Let It Be, which is public domain.

If the text accompanying the image is not original enough for the image to resort to Fair Use on the article, is it valid to remove said notice and mark it as public domain (with the art mentioned to be "published in the United States between 1931 and 1977, inclusive, without a copyright notice")? Crafts97 (talk) 03:22, 1 September 2026 (UTC)Reply

Hi Crafts97. I don't think the text on the cover art is anything more than facts related to song; so, I don't see how it would be eligible for copyright protection per se. Someone else, however, might feel differently. FWIW, if this cover art is PD, it should be moved to Wikimedia Commons; so, you might want to ask about it at c:COM:VPC. -- Marchjuly (talk) 06:19, 1 September 2026 (UTC)Reply