ସହଯୋଗ:Introduction to uploading images/3


Introduction
Adding images to Wikipedia

Free content
Our preferred type of image

Non-free content
Occasionally acceptable

Wikimedia Commons
Sharing images more widely

Using an image
Adding it to an article

Summary
Review of what you've learned


Occasionally there are situations where having a free image for a particular subject may not be possible. Therefore the English Wikipedia allows a limited amount of non-free content in specific cases. Examples include cover art for books, music and video games, corporate logos, and screenshots of web pages or software. The legal basis for this is the US concept of fair use, although in fact Wikipedia's criteria are stricter than this to keep the amount of non-free content to a minimum.

The full official requirements for non-free content can be found at Wikipedia:Non-free content criteria. In summary a non-free image may only be kept if all of these conditions are met:

  • It is used in at least one article. (Use on non-article pages, such as personal user pages, is prohibited.)
  • Its presence in an article significantly increases readers' understanding of the topic, and omitting it would be detrimental to that understanding.
  • No free equivalent is available, or could be created, that would serve the same encyclopedic purpose.
  • Its use does not negatively affect the commercial interests of its owner. (This usually means that the resolution is not higher than needed for the purposes of understanding).

The image must also have on its description page:

To upload a non-free image the easiest method is to use Wikipedia's File Upload Wizard which will help you add all the required information. The upload wizard link can also be found under "Toolbox" on the left of the screen.