Does the style guide "Copying from Wikipedia" apply to images as well as text?

+9 votes
245 views
Someone recently uploaded an image to a profile I manage. There was no information about where it came from etc.

I googled it and it appears to be copied from Wikipedia.  I've read "Copying from Wikipedia"  in WikiTree's Help, but it doesn't mention images, so I thought I'd ask for clarification here.
in Policy and Style by Maryann Hurt G2G6 Mach 9 (90.2k points)

1 Answer

+4 votes
I think most of the images on Wikipedia would be from open access or public domain sources and should be OK to also place on Wikitree biographies, but it is probably courtesy, if not a legal requirement to cite where the image has come from.  This may not necessarily be to Wikipedia, but the original source of the image.

At the bottom of Wikipedia articles there should be a link to Wikimedia Commons, which will give more details about images attached to that biography.

However it is worth checking where the image has originated, I just did a check of the images associated with the Wikipedia biography of Anne Queen of Great Britain and some of the images are from Wikimedia and some from National Portrait Gallery which have a different licensing arrangement.
by John Atkinson G2G6 Pilot (612k points)
I'm almost certain that all images copied from wikipedia require citing the source. Go to the original on wikipedia and you'll see. it.

I have a HUGE issue with the fact that we do not cite the source/origins of the photos/images we upload here. I think it's a huge problem, and have been trying to get the powers that be to make it easier/required that people enter where they found the image at the time they upload it.

In any case, Maryann, see the related posts below. There's been a bunch of discussion on related topics.

Hi John and Jillaine

Thanks for your responses.  

My original reaction was to delete the image and send a message to the person who uploaded it asking them not to add images to profiles of which I am the manager, especially without properly sourcing them, because I don't live in the USA.  The image is tagged PD-Art and this page says "there may be local laws that prevent or restrict the reuse of such images in your country" and then goes on to say it's not OK in the UK and inconclusive in Australia, where I live. 

The image uploaded was the thumbnail from a Wikipedia article which had writing on it that I couldn't read.  When I looked at the original image at Wikipedia, although the description says there is "a paragraph of indistinguishable text", I found most of it perfectly legible, so I removed the copy of the thumbnail and uploaded the image from Wikipedia Commons and added a comment what the text says, and the link and attribution supplied by Wikipedia Commons when you click "use this file on the web", which says "Attribution not legally required". 

I did check the National Portrait Gallery and it is not one of their images, although the attribution provided by Wikipedia Commons is the attribution provided for an image at the NPG - not the one linked to on Wikipedia Commons but another image which is a copy of the original - another reason not to rely on Wikidpedia.

Jillaine, I had already read the previous questions.  I decided to post this question because I'm too am HUGELY concerned about the lack of sources on WikiTree and I thought the more questions we have raising this issue the more likely there will be a change in sourcing requirements for images and maybe an updated styleguide/policy.

yesyesyesyesyes.....

Related questions

+17 votes
3 answers
295 views asked Jul 27, 2014 in Policy and Style by Jillaine Smith G2G6 Pilot (896k points)
+4 votes
1 answer
121 views asked Jun 17, 2020 in Policy and Style by Katie Fuller G2G6 Mach 4 (41.6k points)
+3 votes
1 answer
+4 votes
4 answers
+8 votes
1 answer
70 views asked Sep 13, 2016 in WikiTree Tech by James LaLone G2G6 Mach 6 (61.7k points)
+4 votes
1 answer
268 views asked Apr 21, 2022 in WikiTree Help by Leonard Hendershott G2G Crew (700 points)
+5 votes
2 answers
278 views asked Jan 25, 2023 in Photos by Chris Strickland G2G6 (8.6k points)
+9 votes
3 answers
230 views asked Oct 5, 2018 in Policy and Style by Dale Byers G2G Astronaut (1.7m points)
+7 votes
4 answers
+8 votes
2 answers

WikiTree  ~  About  ~  Help Help  ~  Search Person Search  ~  Surname:

disclaimer - terms - copyright

...