Help:Image licenses
| This page is an official policy on OrthodoxWiki. It has wide acceptance among editors and is considered a standard that all users should follow. Please feel free to update this page as needed, but make sure that changes you make to this policy really do reflect OrthodoxWiki's perspective before you make them. |
All images should be tagged with information about their copyright/licensing status and source. It is illegal for us to use images on OrthodoxWiki for which we do not have permission or which are not usable under the fair use provisions of United States copyright law.
Images which do not conform to policy are subject to immediate deletion. Merely noting the image's source is not enough. There must be verifiable permission given for OrthodoxWiki's use of the image. It is your responsibility as the uploader to ensure that the image may be used and is tagged as properly licensed.
How to include the tag
When you upload the image, there is a "Summary" box in which you can put the tags. Additionally, you can go to the image's description page—either by clicking on an image in an entry or by going to the description link included after you upload the image—then click the "edit" tab at the top of the page, and add in the appropriate information.
Here are some tags that can be included for images, followed by the notice that will be included:
License Templates
Public Domain
- {{pd}} for images in the public domain (note that there are specific conditions for declaring a work in the public domain; finding it on the Internet doesn't count!):
This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. This applies worldwide.
GNU FDL
- {{gfdl}} for images released under the GNU Free Documentation License:
| Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. Subject to disclaimers. |
Creative Commons
- {{cc by-nc-sa}} for images released under the Creative Commons License Attribition-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 or later:
| Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the Attribution/Non-Commercial/Share-alike Creative Commons License, Version 2.0 or any later version published; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. Subject to disclaimers. |
- {{cc by-sa}} for images released under the Creative Commons License Attribition-ShareAlike 2.5 or later:
| Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this image or document under the terms of the Attribution/Share-alike Creative Commons License, Version 2.5 or any later version published; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. Subject to disclaimers. |
- {{cc by-nc-nd}} for images released under the Creative Commons License Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 or later:
| Permission is granted to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work under the terms of the Attribution/Non-Commercial/No Derivative Works Creative Commons License, Version 2.0 or any later version published. Subject to disclaimers. |
Unverified
- {{unverified}} for images of unknown source (this should ideally only be used temporarily!):
| This image may not have information on its source and/or licensing information. It may be usable under fair use but this has yet to be verified. It might be public domain or under a license compatible with the GNU FDL. To the uploader: Please provide licensing information as soon as possible. Images without this information may be deleted in the future. If you are the copyright holder and this image has been used without your permission, please contact the site administrators immediately. |
Limited License
- {{limited}} for images with a copyright and limited license (you'll also need to include a copyright notice along with that tag):
| All Rights Reserved. The copyright holder listed above hereby grants a limited license for this image to be used in its unaltered form by OrthodoxWiki's administration and users for inclusion in articles on the website, but not to be copied outside the website or distributed in any other way. |
Fair Use
- {{fairuse}} for images with a copyright whose usage is believed to constitute fair use under United States copyright law:
This work is copyrighted. The individual who uploaded this work and first used it in an article, and subsequent persons who place it into articles assert that this qualifies as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
Source Templates
OCA.org
Beginning May 5, 2005, OrthdoxWiki has received permission to use many of the icons and images from www.OCA.org. Because they do not own the copyrights to all the images, they can't give us blanket permission. To obtain permission for a particular image, please send a brief request to both "tocmed at hotmail dot com" and "tocmed at aol dot com". If approved, please include Template:oca on the image's page by including the following text in the "Summary" field or when you edit the image's entry: {{oca}}.
Thumbnails for all images taken from OCA.org can be found at Category:OCA.org Images
| Courtesy of the Orthodox Church in America www.oca.org. Copyright © by the Orthodox Church in America. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission on OrthodoxWiki, but not to be copied outside the website or distributed in any other way.
If you placed this tag on an image, be sure that you have received explicit permission for each image from the appropriate OCA authorities. |
Holy Land Photos
As of March 28, 2005, Dr. Carl Rasmussen of Holy Land Photos has granted OrthodoxWiki permission to use images from his website. Here is the response received from Dr. Rasmussen, who answered an email inquiry on March 28, 2005:
- Yes, you may use the images as requested up to a maximum of 100 images for your site and with the direct links, etc. that you mention in your email.
- I hope this will help you in your very worthwhile project. If 100 images is not enough, please contact me again with further information.
A template has been created for all images that are imported from the site. Be sure to include it when you upload the image by including the following text in the "Summary" field or when you edit the image's entry later: {{hlp}}
Thumbnails of all images from Holy Land Photos can be found at.
| Copyright © by Dr. Carl Rasmussen of Holy Land Photos. All Rights Reserved. Holy Land Photos has granted a limited license for this image to be used in its unaltered form by OrthodoxWiki's administration and users for inclusion in non-commercial articles on the website, but not to be copied outside the website or distributed in any other way. |
Holy Transfiguration Monastery
As of March 4, 2005, Holy Transfiguration Monastery of Brookline, Massachusetts, has granted OrthodoxWiki permission to use the icon images from their website. Here is the response received from Fr. Parthenios, who answered my email inquiry:
- As long as credit is given as you describe, permission is granted. God help you in your pious endeavours.
A template has been created for all images that are imported from their site. Be sure to include it when you upload the image by including the following text in the "Summary" field or when you edit the image's entry later: {{htm}}
Thumbnails of all HTM images may be found at.
| Copyright © by Holy Transfiguration Monastery (Brookline, Massachusetts). All Rights Reserved. Holy Transfiguration Monastery has granted a limited license for this image to be used in its unaltered form by OrthodoxWiki's administration and users for inclusion in non-commercial articles on the website, but not to be copied outside the website or distributed in any other way. |
Skete.com
As of January 13, 2005, the folks over at St. Isaac of Syria Skete have given OrthodoxWiki permission to use the icon images from their website. Here is the response received from Stan Kain, their marketing and website manager:
- We do not mind if non-commercial websites use "some" of our icon images.
- We do always appreciate a credit or mention and/or link to our website.
- May God bless your good works!
A template has been created for all images that are imported from their site. Be sure to include it when you upload the image by including the following text in the "Summary" field or when you edit the image's entry later: {{skete.com}}
Thumbnails of all images from St. Isaac of Syria Skete can be found at. We should probably ask them for a clarifcation of some!
- {{skete.com}} for images from Skete.com:
| Copyright © by St. Isaac of Syria Skete (Boscobel, Wisconsin). All Rights Reserved. St. Isaac of Syria Skete has granted a limited license for this image to be used in its unaltered form by OrthodoxWiki's administration and users for inclusion in non-commercial articles on the website, but not to be copied outside the website or distributed in any other way. |
Wikimedia Commons
All images imported from Wikimedia Commons should be stamped with the {{commons}} tag, regardless of copyright. This helps us identify the source if need be. Relevant copyright information (e.g. another image license tag) should also be included along with this template.
Library of Congress
For images imported from the Library of Congress Photo Archive that are thought to be in the public domain.
| This image has been taken from the Library of Congress Photo Archive and is believed to be in the public domain. |