Alternate History:Media Guidelines
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NOTICE:
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These are the guidelines on the Alternate History Wiki regarding media files uploaded to this site. These guidelines concerns the upload, content and licensing of image files, including photographs, scanned images, bitmapped and vector graphics, as well as other non-textual media files such as sound and video files.
Media Content
Images and other media uploaded to this site are mostly used to complement articles on articles on alternate history timelines. Thus, the most common types of images uploaded on the Alternate History Wiki are flags, heraldic emblems and maps, but can also include portraits of people, pictures of buildings and landscapes, and sound files including national anthems.
Files uploaded here should include educational content which pertains to history and alternate history.
Images and other media which contain sexual content, gore and gratuitous violent content, or illegal content, or which violate copyright or are made as a personal attack or harassment are not allowed and will be deleted.
How to Upload and Use Media Files
If an media file you would like to use here is already available on Wikimedia Commons, then you don't need to reupload the file here. Thanks to the InstantCommons feature, you can simply use and inline the media to your page just like an media uploaded locally on this wiki. And you don't have to worry about the media's licensing, as all media on Wikimedia Commons are freely licensed and the description page of the image which contains its copyright and licensing information is directly imported to here.
To upload an image or another type of file, go to Special:Upload (keep in mind you would need to have a user account, as well as be logged in, in order to upload file to this site). A link to the upload page can be found on the left sidebar under "Tools". From there, you will be brought to the site's upload wizard. Under the Source File section, click on "Browse" to find the file stored locally on your device that you would like to upload here.
After selecting the file, making sure that it is of allowed file type and storage size, under the File Description section you may type in a destination filename that you want it to be called once uploaded on this wiki, a brief summary about the file to include any information about the file as well as the source of the file, and select a copyright license you want the image to be uploaded as. To select a copyright license, next to "Licensing" click on the drop-down list and select which license is appropriate. If a particular license option that you would like to use is not available, then you may ask an administrator to add that option in. The licensing tag is required; if you upload a file without choosing a license, it will be deleted. If you are really unsure what to license the file or need a custom license, then just chose "Unknown/Other" from the available options.
You can also access the upload page by going to the left sidebar under "Tools" and clicking on the link that says "Upload file", or by clicking on a red link of a file that doesn't exist.
Allowed formats
Files that can be uploaded include raster (bitmap) images (JPEG, PNG, GIF, ICO), vector images (SVG), compound document formats (DjVu, PDF) and sound files (OGG), and support file sizes of up to 250 megabytes maximum and resolutions of up to 12.5 megapixels.
JPEG is recommended for photographs and scans, as it supports image compression but not transparency. PNG and SVG are recommended for 2D computer-generated graphics (for bitmaps and vector graphics respectively) such as maps, flags, coat of arms, seals, insignias, symbols, etc. since they support transparent backgrounds and SVG stores images as vector graphics that can be infinitely scaled and resized without losing quality. GIF is not recommended over PNG for still images, only for animations.
Inserting media to a page
To use a medium on a page as a thumbnail, type it as [[File:Name of file.extension|thumb|#px (Size of image in pixels)|Text captions]]. There are also instructions at the top of the upload wizard in how to insert media into pages.
Checking for duplicates
Before uploading any file, also please make sure that the file you would like to provide is already uploaded to this wiki, or is on Wikimedia Commons. This is in order to prevent duplicate files from being uploaded here. Usually when you are trying to upload a duplicate file, a warning message would usually appear explaining that the file you are trying to upload is the same image as a file which has already been uploaded here. So search for files here or on Wikimedia Commons to see that an image that you would like to use is already available first. You can check if a file has already been uploaded by going to Special:ListFiles, as well as check for duplicates in Special:ListDuplicatedFiles.
Uploading Media Files from External Sources
Even if it is you own the work you are uploading, you need to provide a copyright tag to the work in the description to know to who the work belongs to, if it is your work or someone else's work or a derivative work, to know where the work comes from, it's copyright status, what license it is released under and to know if the uploader or this site have the right permissions to host the image. You can apply a copyright tag to the file you are uploading by simply clicking the drop-down list labeled "Licensing" underneath the summary field in the File selection section and selecting the appropriate license for the file. If you forget to do so or want to change the license, you can edit the file description page and insert the tag as a template. If the file is uploaded without a copyright tag selected, it will be deleted, even if you claim the file as your own work.
Own work
If the file is your own entirely original work, i.e. you created the file, and you made the file from scratch without using elements from other sources, then you may select any publicly available license that you would like to release it to.
You can choose which Creative Commons license to use with your work here and other additional licenses here.
Verbatim copy of a freely work from another source
If you are uploading a verbatim copy of the image which is not your own work from another source, i.e. is not modified and is not made into a derivative work by the uploader, please make use that the image is under a free license that allows for reuse and republishing, such as any of the Creative Commons licenses or GNU Free Documentation License, or that the image is in the public domain either because the copyright on the work expired in the country it was published or the copyright holder(s) waived all of his/her rights with a public-domain-equivalent such as CC0.
When uploading an image from an external source, always choose the license the work was originally released under, as well as leave a link to the original source and the name of the author(s). If the image is in the public domain (if the copyright of image has expired in the country or region the work was produced, is ineligible or void for copyright, or the author(s) have waived all of their rights), then chose "Public domain" from the licensing options. Do not choose your own license that isn't the original license if it's not your work. It must have the same license as the original upload.
It's important to view the licensing terms and conditions of use on the images. Images may also be uploaded under more than one license, such as dual-licensed under both Creative Commons and GNU FDL licenses. In this case, you may chose to folllow the terms of either one of the licenses though all licenses must be included in the image description in the case of verbatim copies.
Make sure to check the licensing information on the image before reuploading it here. For images hosted on Wikimedia Commons or other MediaWiki sites, the copyright and licensing information including the names of the authors would usually be posted in the summary or description section of the file page. Images from Flickr, DeviantArt also have licensing information under the image details.
Uploading images and files that are under a non-commercial license (i.e., not allowing the inclusion or use of the content in a commercial or for-profit medium or purpose) shouldn't be a problem given as Miraheze is hosted as a non-profit.
Derivative works
If your work is a derivative work, i.e. it uses elements derived from one or more other copyrighted works, then you should list out the source of the original work(s). You should also check the licensing of the underlying work(s) to see and make sure if they allow for modification in their terms and if their license are compatible with each other.
Works in the public domains and most freely licensed works (with some restrictions) allow for derivate works to be made.
Some licenses do not allow for making derivative works and only verbatim copies to be uploaded, such as the Creative Commons' NoDerivatives licenses. Non-free copyrighted works also don't allow derivative works.
If one of the underlying work(s) are also under a copyleft or share-alike license, such as Creative Commons' ShareAlike licenses or GNU GPL, then you must also release your derivative work under the same license and terms as the underlying work(s) (or a compatible license). If the license is also non-commercial then the derivative work must retain its non-commercial clause, and if the original works allow for commercial use then the derivative work must also allow for commercial use.
If one of the underlying work(s) uses a non-commercial license, then it can't be reused or combined with a work that has a share-alike license that allows for commercial use (see here).
If the license of the underlying work is not share-alike or copyleft, and does not require the derivative work to carry the same license then you can license the derivative work with any license as long as if it does not conflict with its non-commercial clause if it has one.
Works derived from other works entirely with permissive licenses that allow for commercial use or public domain works can be used with any license you want as if it was an original work.
Non-free images and fair use
If you want to upload a non-free image or audio that is under full copyright and does not typically allow for republishing, then you may upload it here as long as it falls under fair use which does not require permission from the original author(s) or copyright holder(s). We follow Wikipedia's non-free content policy in that:
- The use of the image should serve an educational purpose.
- The image is relevant to the page the image is contained in.
- That the image is uploaded in low resolution as to not replace the original higher resolution of the source and ensure minimal extent of use.
- And that no freely licensed alternatives are available which would serve the same purpose or meaning.
Also, the non-free image should be from a source that is reliable and is educational or informative, such as news websites. If you are uploading a non-free image, please make sure it is uploaded under fair use based on the criteria above, or that you have explicit permission from the copyright holder to upload the image here (if that is the case, please provide a copy or a link to prove it), and choose "All Rights Reserved" under the licensing options. Please also provide the source the original image and the name of the author(s), if available.
Uploading a non-free image or using elements from non-free content in a derivative work that does not satisfy the fair use criteria is considered a copyright violation, and the image will be deleted in order to protect the rights of the original author(s) as well as for legal compliance. The use of freely licensed content that is in violation of their licensing terms is also considered a copyright violation. Repeated violations may result in warnings or a ban from editing and uploading new files. Please review the copyright laws and fair use doctrines in your country, region and jurisdiction.
Typically, non-free images involve more recent copyrighted private or press photography or recent artwork that has not yet entered public domain.
Images and Portraits of Real People
Generally, it is allowed to upload images of notable people such as pubic contemporary or historical figures and celebrities with relatively no restriction. However, the use of images of living private persons with no notability is restricted in order to protect that person's personality rights and privacy. As such, you should not upload pictures of people without their consent even if it's someone you personally know.
We do not recommend using images from social media sites or online profiles.
If you find a image or file that you believe violates privacy, please report to an administrator to take the image down.
Controversial and Potentially Offensive Political Symbols
We are aware that some images including political and religious symbols used on this site can be considered offensive to some readers (eg. Nazi and white supremacist symbolism, Communist symbolism, the Confederate flag, jihadist flags, etc.), and that the display of such images is prohibited or highly restricted in many jurisdictions. Please be aware that the use of these images will not be prohibited for use on this wiki, provided that the use of such images are within the context of the subject in the article containing the image, and not used to promote an ideology or other abuse. Such images is served on this website for educational purposes only.
Featured Images
Featured images are images that appear on the front page every month.
Media Copyright and Licensing
Images and files which are uploaded here do not carry the wiki's default copyright license for other contents and text, which is the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial ShareAlike 4.0 International license, unless otherwise stated.
Instead, images and other uploadable files (not including imported pages) are licensed separately from the wiki's main content, and it's licensing terms should be included in the image's description page. As this is a wiki that contains user-generated content, it is the responsibility of the uploader to indicate the copyright license and status of the image they are uploading to the site; the authorship of the work and whether it is their own original work, a derivative work, of if is a verbatim copy reused from another source; and that they have permission to upload or are abiding to licensing and permission terms. It is assumed that the uploader had prior permission to upload the file here until proven otherwise. Uploading images to this site gives us and Miraheze the legal permission to host the images for public view.
We respect the copyright of our users as well as other sources. If you believe that any images uploaded here violates your copyright or DMCA rights, and you want them to be taken down from this site, then please report it to an administrator so that they can review your request before making any further actions.
Copyright policies for content pages and text: here