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When you upload a file to Wikimedia Commons you must state its license status, which must allow it to be used by anyone, anywhere, for any purpose. The Upload Wizard is the easiest way to upload files. It guides you through the steps to provide the information needed to upload a file, and suggests commonly used licenses. You may also use the license selector.
See Commons:Licensing for a quick tutorial about licenses. Depending on what license you choose, a "license tag" such as {{Cc-by-4.0}} is inserted into the file's description page. This will display license information on the description page, and categorize the file accordingly.
The pages summarized here describe the different types of license tag, and provide lists of the most common tags. The lists are by no means complete. New tags are added as contributors find new sources for material that can be uploaded to Commons, or find sources that should be avoided. New tags may also be added to reflect changes in local laws. Category:License tags lists several thousand license tag templates, often specific to one source.
Search by name for license tag documentation:
Does the file you want to upload come from a source such as a book, website or organization that has material that can be used freely? If so, you may find a license tag for the source in Commons:Copyright tags/Index by source.
General public domain
- Main page: Commons:Copyright tags/General public domain.
General public domain tags may be used to describe why a file is in the public domain based on broad criteria such as a copyright release by the author, or the date when the author died. If the file's source country is not the United States it must also have a tag that shows why it is in the public domain in the United States.
See also Category:PD license tags for a full list.
Country-specific tags
- Main page: Commons:Copyright tags/Country-specific tags.
Copyright rules vary from one country to another (see Commons:Copyright rules by territory). A file may be in the public domain in its country of origin based on the date of death of the author, date of publication, type of work, who commissioned the work and so on. Country-specific license tags show the reason why a file uploaded to Wikimedia Commons is in the public domain in its country of origin. For a file originating outside the United States, another tag should show why it is in the public domain in the United States.
Free Creative Commons licenses
Creative Commons licenses are the preferred choice for uploading own works to Wikimedia Commons. Files with Creative Commons Attribution and Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike licenses may be uploaded, provided they do not include NonCommercial or NoDerivs restrictions. CC0 and CC-PD licenses are also accepted. See Commons:Creative Commons copyright tags for a full table of allowed Creative Commons licenses, including country specific licenses that are based on the copyright laws of the country of origin.
GNU Licenses
- Main page: Commons:Copyright tags/GNU licenses.
The GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) and GNU General Public License (GPL) are widely-used free documentation and software copyleft licenses. However, they are not well suited for media files, and the GFDL is not accepted for new files on Commons except under specific circumstances.
Various free licenses
- Main page: Commons:Copyright tags/Various free licenses.
A variety of license tags other than the GNU licenses or Creative Commons licenses indicate why a file may be freely used. Typically these apply to files from a given source, such as a website or organization, that releases material into the public domain or that allows it to be used under a license that is acceptable for upload to Wikimedia Commons.
Not free or uncertain
- Main page: Commons:Copyright tags/Not free or uncertain.
A file may be tagged to show reasons why it may have an unfree or uncertain copyright status. Such a file will often be quickly reviewed and deleted.
Descriptive tags
- Main page: Commons:Copyright tags/Descriptive tags.
Descriptive tags give useful information about a file, such as restrictions on the use of the file in some jurisdictions. They must be supplemented by tags that describe why the file is free or in the public domain in the country of origin and the United States.