Free, with conditions.
Many photographs on Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons are published under a Creative Commons licence. Anyone may use them — commercially too — as long as they meet the licence’s conditions.
Free to use, on the licence’s terms
A Creative Commons licence is a standing permission from the photographer. It lets anyone use the photograph without asking — but only on its terms. Our letters put it this way:
From our licence enquirySuch a licence permits reuse, including commercial reuse, but only on the conditions set out in the licence.
Use that doesn’t meet the conditions isn’t covered by the licence. That is what our letters are about.
What the licence asks for
The photographs we act for on Wikimedia Commons are mostly licensed under CC BY or CC BY-SA, version 2.5, 3.0 or 4.0. The version is shown on the photograph’s Commons file page. The conditions, from section 4 of the 2.5 and 3.0 licences and section 3 of the 4.0 licences:
| Condition | Versions 2.5 and 3.0 | Version 4.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Credit the author, and anyone they name for credit, as supplied | Required | Required |
| Give the title of the work, if supplied | Required | Not required |
| Name the licence and include its link (URI) | Required | Required |
| Link to the source — for example the Commons file page — where reasonably practicable | Required | Required |
| Keep copyright and licence notices intact | Required | Required |
| Say what you changed | Required for an adaptation | Required whenever modified |
| ShareAlike (BY-SA licences only): share an adaptation under the same licence | Required | Required |
The licence texts are short and readable: CC BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 4.0, CC BY-SA 2.5. Wikimedia Commons also publishes a guide to reusing its content.
A credit line you can copy
Title, author, source and licence, next to the photograph — as a caption or credit — or in a credits list the page links to. Fill in the brackets:
Photo: “[title]” by [author], [licence, e.g. CC BY-SA 3.0] ([link to the licence]), via Wikimedia Commons ([link to the file page]). [What you changed, if anything.]
The photograph at the top of this page, credited that way:
Photo: “Lugano from Sighignola” by Aconcagua, CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/), via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lugano_from_Sighignola.jpg). Resized and cropped.
This site does the same for every photograph it shows: a credit on the image, a list at the foot of each page, and our image credits page with the licence links.
“It was on Wikipedia”, “it came up on Google”
Photographs on Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons are published under the licence their author chose. The file page names the author and the licence — and that licence is the permission, with its conditions attached. Being on Wikipedia doesn’t put a photograph in the public domain.
Search engines index images; they don’t license them. An image found through a search, a wallpaper site or social media carries the licence its author gave it, and no other.
“I’ve added the credit now”
That brings future use into line with the licence, and we welcome it — tell us in your reply. It doesn’t change the use that has already happened, and the licence versions deal with a breach differently.
Versions 2.5 and 3.0: no cure period
Section 7(a), CC BY-SA 3.0 (the same words in 2.5)This License and the rights granted hereunder will terminate automatically upon any breach by You of the terms of this License.
Adding the credit afterwards doesn’t bring a terminated licence back; only the licensor can grant a new one.
Version 4.0: a 30-day cure, but past use still counts
Section 6, CC BY-SA 4.0However, if You fail to comply with this Public License, then Your rights under this Public License terminate automatically.
Where Your right to use the Licensed Material has terminated under Section 6(a), it reinstates: automatically as of the date the violation is cured, provided it is cured within 30 days of Your discovery of the violation; or upon express reinstatement by the Licensor.
For the avoidance of doubt, this Section 6(b) does not affect any right the Licensor may have to seek remedies for Your violations of this Public License.
Our letters take the same position:
From our settlement proposalAny proposal to continue use under Creative Commons terms should be identified in your response and will be considered without prejudice to the claim for past non-compliant use.
Which version applies to my photograph?
The one on the photograph’s Commons file page. Our letters say where to find it:
From our licence enquiryThe applicable Creative Commons licence and its version are identified in the attached evidence dossier.
Would rather not credit?
Then the Creative Commons licence isn’t the right one for you. A licence on our own terms — including a no-credit licence — is available at the rates in our published rate card.
