Commons talk:Licensing

COMMONS DISCUSSION PAGES

• Commons Help desk
• Village pump (general discussion)
  • Copyright
  • Proposals
  • Technical
• Graphics and photography discussion
  • Photography critiques
  • Image improvement
    • Illustration workshop
    • Map workshop
    • Photography workshop
    • Video and sound workshop
• Categories for discussion
• Undeletion requests
• Deletion requests
• Volunteer Response Team/Noticeboard
• Translators' noticeboard
• Work requests for bots

---

• Contact administrators
  • Vandalism
  • User problems (Dispute resolution)
  • Blocks and protections
• Bureaucrats' noticeboard
• CheckUser requests
• Oversight requests

---

• Telegram
• IRC ^webchat
• Commons mailing list (archive)
• Commons' bugs on Phabricator

Shortcut

• CT:L

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to Commons:Licensing.

• This is not a forum for general discussion of the page's subject.
• Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic.
• Please sign and date your posts by typing four tildes (~~~~).
• New to Commons? Check out the project scope. Ask questions, get answers.

For discussions of specific copyright questions, please go to Commons:Village pump/Copyright. Discussions that do not relate to changes to the page Commons:Licensing may be moved, with participants notified with the template {{subst:moved to VPC|Commons talk:Licensing}}.

For old discussions, see the Archives. Recent sections with no replies for 60 days may be archived.

Other archives

Seven 2006/2007 discussions organized as subpages, incl. comments added in 2014:

• ADRM
• Review of license templates
• U.S. patents
• Ecoport copyleft
• Museums Bilder (in German)
• Explaining why Derivative Work and Commercial Use must be allowed
• Which countries' copyright laws determine copyright status?

PD-Germany-§134 can't be imported to commons even if CC0

I don't know where else to post this but there are a lot of portraits (and some other media) on German Wikipedia that are hosted under w:de:Vorlage:Bild-PD-§-134 (Template:PD-Germany-§134 on commons), a template that, in my understanding, primarily effects images that have left copyright according to the referenced law. Despite this, images with the template cannot be ported to commons at all. I would ask anyone, especially from dewiki, to check how this can be fixed so that images that clearly left copyright can be ported to commons for use on other wikis. Thank you. Frijfuhs (talk) 18:41, 7 August 2025 (UTC)

@Frijfuhs: what specific tool is refusing to transfer these? - Jmabel ! talk 21:16, 7 August 2025 (UTC)

I always just use the "Export to commons" button on the file's Wikipedia page which redirects to Special:ImportFile with the respective URL attached. Frijfuhs (talk) 21:21, 7 August 2025 (UTC)

There are probably ways around the problem, but please be aware that any of these images published for the first time after 1929 is still protected by US copyright and therefore not (yet) suitable for Wikimedia Commons. --Rosenzweig τ 21:52, 7 August 2025 (UTC)

@Frijfuhs: It needs to be added to mw:Extension:FileImporter/Data/de.wikipedia if you want such files to be transferable; however, as noted above, many of these files cannot be uploaded to Commons yet. (Copyright of works published in 1926 or later was restored in the US by the URAA and are protected according to US copyright laws, which mean copyright protection for 95 years after publication.) —Tacsipacsi (talk) 10:15, 7 November 2025 (UTC)

Upload free files

Can I upload files from pxhere.com? Umarxon III (talk) 16:32, 22 October 2025 (UTC)

@Umarxon III: Looks OK as long as they are in Commons' scope. We really don't need (for example) one more image of an unidentified rocky shoreline. Usually even on CC-zero and public domain images, we try to be clear about whose work it is, which doesn't seem possible from that site. And, of course, we may already have many of the more useful images they have. But if you can accurately describe and categorize what the image represents, and it's in scope and not redundant to what we already have, I would trust the site's claim of CC-0 licensing. - Jmabel ! talk 03:15, 23 October 2025 (UTC)

Request for Guidance on Uploading My Original PDF File

Hello,

I am a new user on Wikimedia Commons, and I recently attempted to upload a PDF file that is my own original work. However, it appears that the automated Abuse Filter (No. 281) prevents new users from uploading PDFs.

My file is entirely self-created, not copied from any external source, and I am willing to release it under a free license (CC BY-SA 4.0) to make it available for public use on Commons. Could you please guide me on how to proceed with uploading this PDF or verify my eligibility to upload it?

If any additional verification or permission submission (such as VRT) is required, I am happy to comply.

Thank you for your time and assistance. Best regards, Lucas wright Lucsa246 (talk) 19:50, 22 October 2025 (UTC)

The reason the abuse filter is there is because PDF files are rarely appropriate; the primary use of PDF files is to upload scans of public domain material that originally released as print or PDF. There is little reason to upload an entirely self-created PDF file.--Prosfilaes (talk) 23:21, 22 October 2025 (UTC)

@Lucsa246: What is the nature of the content of the file that you want to upload? And, to follow up more specifically on what Prosfilaes said, licensing is not the reason you had a problem uploading. - Jmabel ! talk 03:17, 23 October 2025 (UTC)

@Lucsa246: Hi, and welcome. I regret to inform you that you have triggered Special:AbuseFilter/281. Please read Mediawiki:Abusefilter-disallowed-pdf-new-user-upload again. You may upload any image(s) here and make a draft article with transcribed wikitext on Wikipedia, if in compliance. You may request COM:AP at COM:RFR when you think you are ready (once you have made more than 500 useful non-botlike edits); having that should allow you to overwrite and upload PDFs. Do you have a business interest in Custom Token Development Services?  — 🇺🇦Jeff G. ツ please ping or talk to me🇺🇦 15:21, 15 November 2025 (UTC)

Conspiracy of democracy

I what can you do about it Jesse peers (talk) 23:46, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

@Jesse peers: If you are asking about something regarding licensing here on Wikimedia Commons, please be more specific in your question. Otherwise, I think you're in the wrong place. -- Infrogmation of New Orleans (talk) 00:11, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

@Jesse peers: Democracy is the worst form of government in the world, except for all the other ones.   — 🇺🇦Jeff G. ツ please ping or talk to me🇺🇦 20:45, 29 November 2025 (UTC)

Proposal for a more positive wording

Current wording: GFDL is not permitted as the only acceptable license where all of the following are true:

• The content was licensed on or after 15 October 2018. The licensing date is considered, not the creation or upload date.
• The content is primarily a photograph, painting, drawing, audio or video.
• The content is not a software logo, diagram or screenshot that is extracted from a GFDL software manual.

Proposed wording: In order for GFDL to be permitted as the only acceptable license, one more of the following are true:

• The content was licensed on or before 14 October 2018. The licensing date is considered, not the creation or upload date.
• The content is not primarily a photograph, painting, drawing, audio or video.
• The content is a software logo, diagram or screenshot that is extracted from a GFDL software manual.

I'm definitely open to a more positive wording of the second bullet point, describing what is acceptable content instead of what is not. - Jmabel ! talk 00:59, 20 December 2025 (UTC)