Wikiversity

Wikiversity:Uploading files

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This page outlines what you should know about uploading files for use at Wikiversity. Wiki technology originated as a tool for collaborative editing of text. The MediaWiki software used at Wikiversity allows all participants to upload media files. Once uploaded, links to those files can be added to Wikiversity pages, thus allowing the incorporation of still images, sounds, video and other media into Wikiversity learning resources. All media files that support the educational mission of Wikiversity are welcome, but there are important restrictions on the use of media files. If you do not pay attention to these restrictions then it is likely that files you upload to Wikiversity will be deleted. This page describes the types of media files that can be uploaded to Wikiversity and explains how to upload files at Special:Upload.

Please note that most digital media files you might find on the Internet are copyrighted and not appropriate for uploading to Wikiversity. If you did not create the media file or are unable or unwilling to verify its copyright status, do not upload the media file. For hints on how to find images appropriate for uploading, see the finding images tutorial.

Figure 1. The media file upload form at Special:Upload. See below for details on how to use this form.

Checklist for media file uploading

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Below this brief checklist to follow when you upload a media file to Wikiversity using the Special:Upload page. If you do not know the copyright status of a media file or if you do not know that it is available under a "free" license, then do not upload the file. Additional details are in other sections, below, on this page.

  1. Licensing. The text contents of the Wikiversity website are licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 3.0 License and the GNU Free Documentation License. Media files that are uploaded to Wikiversity must be compatible with the copyleft nature of Wikiversity. You must explain the licensing of each uploaded file:
    1. use the "Licensing" drop-down menu to indicate a license for each file uploaded at Special:Upload
    2. explain which license applies to the newly uploaded media file in the "Summary" field at Special:Upload. If you are familiar with templates, you can use one of the templates at Category:Document copyright tags; see Wikiversity:License tags and Help:Template for additional information about templates. These templates can be used:
      1. Template:Cc-by-sa-3.0
      2. Template:PD
      3. Template:Wikiversity-screenshot - screenshots of Wikiversity
      4. Template:Software-screenshot - other screenshots
  2. Source. In the "Summary" field at Special:Upload, explain where the media file came from, such as: scanning a paper document, or provide the URL, or a name/alias and method of contacting the person who created the media file.
    1. copyright status. If someone other than you created the media file that you want to upload, be sure that you provide information about the copyright status of the file.

Licenses

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Before you upload a media file, make sure that either:

  • You own the rights to the media file (usually meaning that you created the image yourself).
  • You can prove that the copyright holder has licensed the media file under a free license that is compatible with the GFDL.
  • You can prove that the media file is in the public domain.
  • You believe, and state, a fair use rationale for your use of the media file.
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Always note the media file's copyright status and provide specific details about its origin. Use the Summary field on the Special:Upload page to provide this information. The recommended media file summary contains some or all of the following:

Description: The subject of the media file
Source: The copyright holder of the media file or URL of the web page the media file came from
Date: Date the media file was created. The more exact, the better
Location: Where the media file was created. The more exact the better
Author: The media file creator, especially if different from the copyright holder
Permission: Who or what law or policy gives permission to post on Wikipedia with the selected media file license

A convenient way to add this information is to copy this text: 

{{Information
|Description=
|Source=
|Date=
|Author=
|Permission=
|other_versions=
}}

into the "Summary" field at Special:Upload and then add your information after each "=" sign.

User-created media files

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Wikipedia encourages users to upload their own images, but all user-created media files must be released under a free license (such as an acceptable Creative Commons license) or be released into the public domain (no license). If you are licensing your own media file, it is often good practice to multi-license your media file under both GFDL and a compatible Creative Commons license.

Free licenses

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For a list of possible licenses which are considered "free enough" for Wikimedia projects, see w:Wikipedia:Image copyright tags. Licenses which restrict the use of the media to non-profit or educational purposes only (i.e. noncommercial use only), or are given permission to only appear on Wikiversity, are not free enough and media files licensed in a non-free fashion will be deleted after you upload them (so do not bother to upload such media files). Sources of free images can be found at Free image resources. In short, Wikiversity media files should be as "free" as Wikiversity's text content — both to keep Wikiversity's own legal status secure as well as to allow for as much re-use of Wikiversity content as possible.

Note: feel free to link to learning resources such as materials at other websites that is licensed as "non-commercial re-use only".

Public domain

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Under United States copyright law, all images published before January 1, 1923 in the United States are now in the public domain, but this does not apply to images that were created prior to 1923 and published in 1923 or later. The year 1923 has special significance and this date will not roll forward before 2019.

Fair use considerations

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Some usage of copyrighted materials without permission of the copyright holder can qualify as fair use in the United States (but not in most other jurisdictions). Improper claims of fair use constitute copyright infringement and are illegal. See also: Avoid copyright paranoia.

The following section of this page serves as the Exemption Doctrine Policy for the English language Wikiversity. For related information, see the Wikimedia Foundation licensing policy. To learn more, see the Fair use learning project.

Exemption Doctrine Policy

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  The page documents an official English Wikiversity policy with wide acceptance by participants as a standard you should follow. Please propose and discuss changes to ensure your revisions reflect consensus.
Shortcut

Government regulation of copyright in the United States exists to promote "Science and useful Arts". There is a long history of defining special considerations for the use of copyrighted material in educational contexts. The primary goal of this policy is to create a fair use policy that is suited to the education-oriented mission of Wikiversity. Wikiversity permits a limited amount of fair use content under strictly defined circumstances that are deliberately intended to respect United States fair use law. Wikiversity can include "fair use content" if all of the following criteria are met.

  1. Copyrighted works can be used at Wikiversity under the fair use doctrine only if such use has an obvious educational value that contributes directly to the Wikiversity mission. Fair use content is used only if its presence can significantly increase understanding of the topic and if its omission would be detrimental to that understanding.
  2. Wikiversity content that is used under the fair use doctrine must have no free equivalent. Wikiversity content that is used under the fair use doctrine should, when possible, be replaced with equivalent content that is available under a copyleft license or that exists in the public domain.
  3. Wikiversity content that is used under the fair use doctrine must not decrease the market value of any copyrighted works.
  4. Requests from copyright holders that copyrighted content be removed from Wikiversity are honored. If copyright holders decide that they do not accept a fair use rationale used at Wikiversity, then the copyrighted material cannot be used at Wikiversity.
  5. Wikiversity content that is used under the fair use doctrine is used as little as possible and only in order to attain a specific educational goal. Multiple items are not used if one will suffice. An entire copyrighted work is not used if a portion will suffice. Low- rather than high-resolution/fidelity/sample length is used when possible. Even low-resolution/fidelity or short samples cannot be used under the fair use doctrine at Wikiversity if such use allows for piracy or other re-use that will decrease the market value of the copyrighted work.
  6. Wikiversity content that is used under the fair use doctrine must be properly attributed to the copyright holder.
  7. Fair use content is only allowed in learning resources in the main Namespace and on media file description pages in the image namespace. If a media file containing copyrighted content is used, the image description page must contain a description of the intended educational use of the media file.
  8. Media files containing copyrighted material that do not comply with the intent and spirit of this policy can be deleted by custodians at any time. Text on Wikiversity pages that quotes a copyrighted work and that does not satisfy the spirit of this policy can be removed by any editor at any time.

Note: any "fair use" at Wikiversity must conform to Foundation:Resolution:Licensing policy

Deleting media files

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Identification of uploaded files with problems

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Before deleting a media file that lacks adequate source/copyright/licensing information, concerned Wikiversity participants and Custodians should try to contact (through their talk page) the user who uploaded the media file, telling them of the specific source/copyright/licensing concerns. A good goal is to try to resolve the issue by communication.

Wikiversity may use a bot for leaving a message on user talk pages when users have uploaded a file but no licensing template has been used. The approved message template that the bot will place on the page of the uploaded files is Template:Nld. The message left on user talk pages is generated by Template:Image copyright. This talk page message provides links that help the uploader understand the problem and that helps the uploader and the community fix problems with the uploaded file(s).

Proposed deletion

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Following the "Template:Image copyright" message, if the person who uploaded a file fails to describe the source/copyright/licensing of media files uploaded to Wikiversity, and no other user satisfies the requirements of licensing policy, the file may be proposed for deletion, per Wikiversity:Deletion policy (using speedy deletion for files with no apparent educational usage, or proposed deletion where files may have a possible educational use). In the event of controversy over deletion, a file may be listed at Wikiversity:Requests for Deletion.

The normal delay in proposed deletion shall not apply to any file which clearly violates copyright, where a fair use or permitted use rationale could not reasonably apply; such files may be speedy deleted,

Media file titles and file names

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Descriptive file names are useful. A map of Africa could be called "Africa.png", but quite likely more maps of Africa will be useful in Wikipedia, so it is good to be more specific, e.g. "Africa political map.yourinitials.png", or "Africa political map with red borders.png".

Media file formats

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See: Wikipedia:Media help and Wikimedia Commons for a general introduction to media file use in WikiMedia projects.

  • Drawings, icons, political maps, flags and other such images are preferably uploaded in SVG format as vector images. Images with large, simple, and continuous blocks of color which are not available as SVG should be in PNG format.
  • Drawings, icons, political maps, flags and other such images claimed as fair use should be in PNG format.
  • Photos and images with photo-like color depth should be in PNG format.
  • Inline animations should be in animated GIF format.
  • Audio should be in ogg/Vorbis format. See w:Wikipedia:Media help (Ogg).
  • Video should be in ogg/Theora format. See w:Wikipedia:Media help (Ogg).
  • Screenshots should be in PNG or PNG format, depending on the photorealism/color depth of the subject.

Occasionally a PDF file is uploaded. Source documents should be uploaded to Wikisource instead.

See also: Wikipedia:Preparing images for upload

Size

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Uploaded file size

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Uploaded files must be smaller than 20 megabytes. The MediaWiki software Wikiversity uses can resize images automatically, so it is rarely necessary to resize images yourself.

Free and open-source software

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These free and open source software packages have been recommended by Wikipedians for use in image and media manipulation:

How to upload media files

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Figure 2. The drop-down menu for licenses at Special:Upload. See Figure 1, above, for a view of the other fields in the media file upload form.

You can upload a media file by using the Upload file link in the toolbox, which is a link to Special:Upload. On most browsers, you will see a "Browse..." button, which will bring up your operating system's standard file open dialog. Choosing a file will fill the name of that file into the "Destination filename" field next to the button. You can edit the content of the "Destination filename" field and provide a descriptive name for the file.

If JavaScript is not enabled in your user preferences then the destination field is left blank and you must add a file name.

You must also affirm that you are not violating any copyrights by uploading the file. The easiest way to do this is to use Template:information in the "Summary" field as described above and select a license from the drop-down menu. Alternatively, add a license template in the "Summary" field, as described above.

Press the "Upload" button to finish the upload. This may take some time if you have a slow Internet connection.

Note: that as with wiki pages, others may edit or delete your uploads if they think it serves the Wikiversity project, and you may be blocked from uploading if you abuse the system.

Note: When overwriting an image file with a new version, you must refresh your browser's cache to see the new image.

Note: Only logged in users can upload files. Once a file is uploaded, other pages can include or link to the file. Uploaded files are given the "Image:" prefix by the system, even if they are not images, and each one has an image description page that can be edited to provide additional information about the media file after it is uploaded.

Find previously uploaded images

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Multiproject upload

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Please consider uploading language-neutral content to the Wikimedia Commons.

It is not possible to use a media file uploaded to the Wikiversity project in another project without re-uploading it. If you want to use (or, if it is likely that others would want to do so) the same media file in more than one Wikimedia Foundation project, you can upload it to Wikimedia Commons and it would become immediately accessible from all Wikimedia projects. Note that Commons only accepts free media (public domain or licensed under a free license). If the media file is fair use, you can't upload it to Commons. For more information see: meta:Sharing images across projects.

Text files

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Please do not upload plain text (.txt), Microsoft Word (.doc), or text files in other formats. Instead, please start a new page and input the text using standard wiki formatting.

See also:

See also

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