Wikipedia:Copyright problems
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This page is for listing and discussing possible copyright problems involving text on Wikipedia. Listings typically remain for at least five days before review and closure by a copyright problems clerk or administrator. During this time, interested contributors are invited to offer feedback, rewrite infringing content, or request copyright permission.
Listed pages appear in the bottom section of the page. For additional guidance, see below.
To add a new listing, go to today's section.
How to list an article
Copyright problems handles articles where the copyright status is disputed or complex cases of infringement. You should list an article if one of the following applies:
- All revisions of an article have copyright violations (copyvio), and speedy deletion does not apply.
- The removal of copyrighted content has been contested.
- Removal or reversion is complicated or involves a majority of the article.
- You cannot determine whether the text originated from the source or Wikipedia. Do not blank the article in this case.
- The article is eligible for presumptive deletion.
- Other complex situations not listed here or in the section below.
If the article needs to be listed,
What not to list here
- Blatant infringement. Articles that are entirely copyvio can be handled through speedy deletion if it meets the criteria. You should not blank or list the article here if you tag for G12.
- Non-extensive obvious copyvio. If the copied content is not extensive, you can remove, rewrite, or revert the page to before the text was added. You should place
{{Copyvio-revdel|url=copied source|start=diff of copyvio insertion|end=diff before copyvio removal}}on the article afterwards and warn the contributor of the material to the problem, unless advised not to. The template {{Uw-copyright}} may be used for this purpose. - Requests for revision deletion. These should be handled by placing
{{Copyvio-revdel|url=copied source|start=diff of copyvio insertion|end=diff before copyvio removal}}on the article. - Files. For files that are clear copyright violations, follow the procedure for speedy deletion; otherwise list at Files for Discussion. If the file is on the Commons, they can be handled through Commons speedy deletion or Deletion requests.
- Individual editors. Contributors who repeatedly post copyrighted text or files after appropriate warnings will be blocked from editing to protect the project; see 17 United States Code § 512. If one contributor verifiably inserts multiple copyright violations and systematic review is needed, please file a request at Wikipedia:Contributor copyright investigations.
- Copyright violations without a source. If you cannot find a source of where something could be copied from, do not list the article here. The content may be removed for other reasons, like being unreferenced or violating our biographies of living persons policy.
What text can be reused?
Under the United States law that governs Wikipedia, copyright is automatically assumed as soon as any content (text or other media) is created in a physical form. An author does not need to apply for or claim copyright, for a copyright to exist. One of the following must be present to reuse the content on Wikipedia:
- Explicit statement by the author, stating that the work is either in the public domain or compatibly licensed.
- Public domain due to age, source, or lack of originality.
- Fair Use, under our guidelines for non-free content, where the text used is brief and clearly marked with full attribution.
If one of the following is not present, the text cannot be reused. Even if the text can be reused, it must be attributed or it will be considered as Plagiarism.
Responding to listed articles
Any contributor is welcome to help investigate articles listed for copyright concerns, although only administrators, copyright clerks, and VRT agents should remove {{copyvio}} tags and resolve listings. Copyright problems is run by volunteers and it usually takes a few days before listings are first investigated.
You can assist in the following ways:
- Providing information on the copyright status of the article
- Obtaining or verifying claims of permission
- Rewriting or removing infringing content (without removing {{copyvio}}.
Providing information on copyright statuses
Not every article listed here has copyright infringement. The content may be on Wikipedia first, public domain, compatibly licensed, or below the threshold of originality. Editors can provide information about licensing or public domain status under listings here or on the talk page of the article. A link or a clear explanation is very helpful when a clerk or administrator evaluates the article. It may take a few days before a response is provided.
If the article is tagged for {{copyvio}}, you should allow an administrator or copyright problems clerk to remove the tag. If the article is tagged for {{copy-paste}} or {{close paraphrasing}}, you may remove the tag from the article when the problem is addressed (or disproven), but please do not close the listing here.
Obtaining/verifying permission
Sometimes material was placed on Wikipedia with the permission of the copyright owner. The owner may be willing to give permission and proper license. Any contributor can write to the owner of copyright and check whether they gave or will give permission (or maybe they in fact posted it here!). See Wikipedia:Example requests for permission. If a compatible license is placed online at the point of original publication, please provide a link to that under the listing.
More details about the permissions process can be seen below and at Wikipedia:Donating copyrighted materials.
Rewriting or removing content
If an article verifiably has copyvio, it is best to remove the content. However, any contributor may rewrite removed text. If the article is blanked, the rewrite takes place at Talk:PAGENAME/Temp so that the new material can be copied over the old. The listing will link to the specific temporary page. You can directly rewrite on articles tagged for {{close paraphrasing}} or {{copy-paste}}, and remove the tags when the rewrite is complete.
The article should not be copied over without first removing copied content. Other content from the article can be used, if there is no reason to believe that it may be a copyright issue as well. If the content is copied from an inaccessible source like a book or cannot be verified, please remove all text added by the contributor. If you copy any text from the old article, please leave a note on the listing or in your edit summaries of the rewrite. Reviewing clerks or administrators will then preserve the history of the old article.
Please review Wikipedia:Copy-paste and its linked guidelines as necessary to ensure the rewrite is compliant with policy. Repairing compatible copying issues is usually as simple as supplying proper attribution.
Copyright owners who submitted their own work to Wikipedia (or people editing on their behalf)
If you submitted work to Wikipedia which you had previously published and your submission was marked as a potential infringement of copyright, you must do one of the following to resolve the problem:
- Link to a note permitting reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA) and the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) (unversioned, with no invariant sections, front-cover texts, or back-cover texts) at the site of the original publication; or
- Send an email from an address associated with the original publication to permissions-en@wikimedia.org or a postal message to the Wikimedia Foundation, ideally using the email template at WP:CONSENT.
See also Wikipedia:Donating copyrighted materials.
Letters and emails may take some time to clear once they are sent. Do not worry if the content is deleted prematurely; it can be restored at any point usable permission is logged. Your email will receive a response whether the permission is usable or not. If you have not received a response to your letter within two weeks, it is a good idea to follow up.
Please keep in mind that content previously published elsewhere may not meet Wikipedia's specific guidelines and policies. If you are not familiar with these policies and guidelines, please review especially the core policies that govern the project. This may help prepare you to deal with any other issues with the text that may arise.
Should you choose to rewrite the content rather than release it under the requisite license, please see above.
Clerks and patrolling administrators
Copyright clerks
For a more complete description of clerks and their duties, as well as a list of active clerks, please see Wikipedia:Copyright problems/Clerks.
Copyright clerks are experienced editors on Wikipedia, especially with copyright policies and their enforcement. On this board, they are trusted to evaluate and close listings and request administrative actions when necessary. Clerks are periodically reviewed by other clerks and patrolling administrators.
Copyright problems administrators
For a more complete description of administrators on Wikipedia, please see Wikipedia:Administrators.
Any administrator may work the copyright problems board. This may involve evaluating listings personally or completing evaluations by clerks. Clerks are trusted in their work and their recommendations may be implemented without double-checking, although any administrator is welcome to review recommendations and discuss them with the clerks in question.
Closing listings
Pages can be processed at any time by anyone, but are not formally closed until a clerk or administrator verifies that all problems are resolved. Pages listed for presumptive deletion stay open for a minimum of 7 days before being processed. VRT agents may close listings at any time.
For advice for resolving listings, see:
- Wikipedia:Copyright problems/Advice for admins (VRT agents, see section there)
- Wikipedia:Copyright problems/Advice for clerks
{{CPC}} may be used to denote resolutions of listings by administrators, clerks and VRT agents.
Listings of possible copyright problems
Older than 7 days
- Lumber (history · last edit · rewrite) This history section was inserted by JanaPrag on 22-08-18. I noticed it first because of a peculiar statement: "Plain sawn lumber is produced by making the first cut on a tangent to the circumference of the log." I was curious because my math head said "you can't cut on a tangent, you can cut a chord", so I went to the cited source and saw that the sentence was lifted in its entirety. I then went down the rest of the section and saw that most of JanaPrag's edits there were either direct lifts or very close paraphrases. --jpgordon𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇 06:37, 5 December 2024 (UTC)
Article cleaned by investigator or others. No remaining infringement. – dudhhr talkcontribssheher 18:53, 20 December 2024 (UTC)
- Draft:95th Wing (history · last edit · rewrite) from https://chadronradio.com/fischer-ricketts-bacon-flood-smith-announce-selection-of-offutt-air-force-base-for-new-95th-wing/ https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/nebraskas-offutt-air-force-base-gets-new-95th-wing-next-year/. Foundational; some but not all has been removed. Justlettersandnumbers (talk) 11:41, 5 December 2024 (UTC)
New listings
New listings are made on daily reports transcluded on this page and are not directly added to it. To add a new listing, please go to today's section. Instructions for adding new listings can be found at What to list here. Editors may resolve issues with listings at any time, save for presumptive deletion. See the section on responding for more information.
- Traction motor (history · last edit · rewrite) from [1] A considerable amount of text in this article is nearly identical to the text of the linked webpage. This identical text is mixed with other text, making it somewhat difficult to disentangle. I strongly suspect that, in this case, the text similarities may be at least partly due to the webpage copying text from Wikipedia without attribution, and not the other way around. A Quacking Duck (talk) 00:05, 17 December 2024 (UTC)
- The text on the linked page is almost certainly copied from Wikipedia (as it existed on WP seven years before the site was first archived), but the edit adding the content in 2010 states "from electrical engineering AIEE manual 'DC and AC Motors and Control'". The American Institute of Electrical Engineers has not existed since 1962, but any of their texts newer than 31 December 1928 remain under copyright. – dudhhr talkcontribssheher 07:05, 18 December 2024 (UTC)
The content mentions the Pennsylvania Railroad class GG1, which was introduced in 1935. If it is indeed copied from the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, it is not old enough to be in the public domain. – dudhhr talkcontribssheher 16:34, 18 December 2024 (UTC)disregard, that paragraph was added by a different editor. – dudhhr talkcontribssheher 16:35, 18 December 2024 (UTC)
- The text on the linked page is almost certainly copied from Wikipedia (as it existed on WP seven years before the site was first archived), but the edit adding the content in 2010 states "from electrical engineering AIEE manual 'DC and AC Motors and Control'". The American Institute of Electrical Engineers has not existed since 1962, but any of their texts newer than 31 December 1928 remain under copyright. – dudhhr talkcontribssheher 07:05, 18 December 2024 (UTC)
Wellington Presbyterian Children's Home (history · last edit · rewrite) from https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22477156. Gadfium (talk) 04:22, 18 December 2024 (UTC)
- My mistake, the material copied is under CC Attribute 3.0 according to [2] and is attributed in the article.-Gadfium (talk) 04:27, 18 December 2024 (UTC)
- Affair of Porto Novo (history · last edit · rewrite) from https://archive.org/stream/sim_english-historical-review_1958-01_73_286/sim_english-historical-review_1958-01_73_286_djvu.txt. Diannaa (talk) 20:10, 20 December 2024 (UTC)
- Extinction_(neurology) (history · last edit · rewrite) from multiple sources, including this one and this one. It appears that the article's issues originate in a student project that developed most of the article back in 2012. Nikkimaria (talk) 05:01, 21 December 2024 (UTC)
Footer
Wikipedia's current date is 21 December 2024. Put new article listings in Wikipedia:Copyright problems/2024 December 21. Files should be handled by speedy deletion or Wikipedia:Files for discussion.