Commons:Copyright tags/Descriptive tags

Copyright 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.

Other tags edit

A sample of tags that may be used in addition to the copyright tags above:

{{2257}} – for works created after November 1, 1990 of one or more humans engaged in sexually explicit content, which are subject to US age record-keeping requirements. The US imposes criminal penalties on any individual/entity that "publishes, reproduces, or reissues" such content and also qualifies as a "secondary producer" under the law (Commons does not meet the definition of secondary producer).
{{Coat of Arms}} – for coats of arms, i.e. the representation of a blazon as it is known in heraldry. Note: though the composition of coats of arms is usually PD (and may be represented anew without "derivative work" consideration), a given artistic representation is a work of art on its own right, subject to copyright. Be sure to check.
{{Communist symbol}} – for images showing or resembling symbols of Communism, especially the hammer and sickle. The use of such images is restricted in Czech Republic, Hungary, Indonesia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine. The copyright status must be indicated separately. Similar to {{Nazi symbol}}.
{{Copyright by Wikimedia}} – For one of the official logos or designs used by the Wikimedia Foundation or by one of its projects. Use of the Wikimedia logos and trademarks is subject to the Wikimedia trademark policy and visual identity guidelines, and may require permission.
{{Counterfeiting}} - used to tag images that may be subject to restrictions on reuse to prevent counterfeiting (eg. images of government-issued identification cards). Do not use for currency (use {{Currency}} instead) or tickets (use {{Ticket}})
{{Currency}} - for images of currency, which may be subject to country-specific restrictions on such images may be printed (to prevent counterfeiting). For country-specific tags, see Category:Currency license tags
{{FoP}} – for photos taken under the legal exception of the freedom of panorama (Panoramafreiheit). For country-specific templates, see Category:FoP templates
{{IHL Symbol}} – for images containing symbols protected by international humanitarian law, such as a red cross. The use of these symbols may be restricted by international and national legislation, so make sure you are using them accordingly.
{{Insignia}} – for flags, coat of arms, seals or other official insignia.
{{Islamic state}} – for images showing or resembling a symbol of the Islamic State or a similar organisation. The use of such images is restricted in Germany and other countries. The copyright status must be indicated separately.
{{Kopimi}} – When the copyright owner wants people to copy, modify, and distribute the file/image.
{{Modifications-ineligible}} – for works with minor modifications. Indicates explicitly that the modifications are ineligible for copyright.
{{Nazi symbol}} – for images showing or resembling a symbol of the Nazi party or a similar organisation, especially the swastika. The use of such images is restricted in Germany and other countries. The copyright status must be indicated separately.
{{Non Nazi swastikas}} – for images of swastikas unrelated to Nazi Germany. While swastikas are banned in Germany and some other countries, some non-Nazi-related images may be permissible (such as the religious swastikas used in Jainism, Hinduism, and Buddhism).
{{PermissionTicket}} – Allows to enter easily a ticket number for permissions forwarded to the Volunteer Response Team
{{Personality rights}} – Personality rights warning, for images of an identifiable person who is alive or deceased recently
{{Property rights}} - although Commons generally does not reject content when the image taker violates "house rules" (such as when an image of a public domain work is taken in a museum that bans photography), such infringements of a property owner's property or where consent was not given may be unlawful and some countries may restrict reuses of such content.
{{Trademarked}} – for branding logos, designs, names, words, phrases and any other kind of trademarked element (usually accompanied with ® or ™). Note that even though copyright and trademark have different scopes regarding intellectual property, some free content may be registered and protected for trademark usage. See see Commons:Licensing#Simple design.
{{Second Life}} – for screenshots from Second Life

Country-specific sources edit

Egypt edit

{{ModernEgypt}} – for works sourced from the Bibliotheca Alexandrina's Memory of Modern Egypt Digital Archive (public domain status of each image has to be verified)

China edit

{{Chinese sensitive content}} – The documents listed on this page include June 4th, Falun Gong, etc., which are classified as subverting the socialist system according to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China. Therefore, any use in the actual jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China is strictly prohibited.

France edit

{{PD-Internationale}} – This work uses the melody of the Internationale. The melody is in the public domain in France since October 2017, in the United States and elsewhere with a copyright term of life of the author plus 80 years or less. This derived work must also be free or in the public domain.

Romania edit

{{ArchiveExpoRo}} – for images from the Romanian National Archives collections and that appeared in the Bessarabia 1940 or 1939. Days of peace, days of war exhibitions
{{ComInRo}} – for images sourced from Communism in Romania Photo Collection
{{FOCR}} – for images sourced from Romanian Communism Online Photo Collection

South Korea edit

{{KOGL-type1}} – for images licensed under Korea Open Government License, Type 1

United States of America edit

{{LOC-image}} – for images sourced from the U.S. Library of Congress
{{LOC-map}} – for map images sourced from the U.S. Library of Congress
{{NARA-image}} – for images sourced from the U.S. National Archives' Archival Research Catalog
{{PCL}} – for images copied from the Perry-Castañeda Library (PCL) of the University of Texas at Austin. (public domain status of each image has to be verified!)