Wikipedia:WikiProject Visual arts/Public art/Image guide

Tips

• Articles should have at least one image in them, ideally in the infobox.
• Once your image is uploaded (see How-To below), you will be placing the exact image file name in the provided Infobox (see WSPA Article Template.)
• Non-free use images can only be used sparingly in articles (See WP:NFCC#3a) and cannot be used in Galleries. It is usually very difficult to justify more than one low-res image of the same work if one item can convey equivalent information. This often rules out the inclusion of close-ups when there is already an image of the whole work.
• If you are creating new photographs of an artwork, it is recommended that you first upload them to a account, and then upload them to Wikipedia or the Commons, depending on the copyright restrictions. This provides photographic documentation which will be included in the Non-Free use Rationale.
• If you want to use an image from Flickr that's not yours, make sure you read *these guidelines*.

How-to upload images to Wikipedia

Before you begin, things to know:

• You will be uploading your image into Wikipedia, NOT the Commons.
• Always advocate that the image is educational and also can be used for critical commentary in your articles.
• Be as specific in your information as you can.
• Always include the Non-free use rationale and Non-free 3D art templates.
• When you upload a photo, the image file will have its own Wikipedia page and edit screen. To edit information regarding the photo, you will be editing the image file page, NOT your main article.
• See the Mega-Gem image file for an example.

1. Upload your image to Flickr (the unique link to your photo will be used in your Non-free use rationale).
2. Start out at the website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Upload
3. Select a low resolution image to upload from your computer, making sure it is the same one uploaded to Flickr.
4. Fill out the Summary section with the Template:Non-free use rationale & {{Non-free 3D art}} Template. Simply copy and paste:

{{Non-free use rationale
| Description       = <List title of work, artist, date, date of photo & side of the work the image is showing (ex: proper front)> 
| Source            = <Direct link to the same image on Flickr.>
| Article           = <The exact title of your article that the image will be in.>
| Portion           = The image shows one side of the copyrighted work of art.
| Low resolution    = Yes
| Purpose           = The image serves as the primary means of visual identification of the artwork (the sculpture).
| Replaceability    = There is no free equivalent of this sculpture image, so the image cannot be replaced by a free image.
| Other information = The use of the image on Wikipedia will not affect the value of the original work in a negative way
 or limit the copyright holder's rights or ability to distribute the original.
}}

===Licensing===
{{Non-free 3D art}}

5. Leave the Licensing drop down tab alone. (You already included Licensing information in the Summary).
6. Choose the Upload button.
7. If you need to update anything in your Summary section, click the Edit button to update the template.
8. Navigate to your main article; Click to Edit the page.
9. In Edit: in the Infobox, type the EXACT NAME (like Exact_Name.JPG) of the photo you uploaded into the "image_file" slot.
10. Create an image size for the "image_size" slot. Try 200px or 320px. Keeping it smaller is more appropriate for non-free images. 11. Preview and/or Save your work!

How-to upload images to The Commons

• Find images in Flickr that have Creative Commons licensing.
• If your artwork was made before 1923, it is possible that you can upload an image of it to The Commons. Follow the instructions at Commons:Upload
• For photographs of 2-D paintings or similar 2-D artwork, please use the Commons template Painting and follow the guidance at Commons:Template:Painting/doc.
• For photographs of 3-D objects, please use the Commons template Information and follow the guidance at Commons:Template:Information/doc.

How-to transfer images from the SIRIS database to The Commons

• This process is currently being developed. The instructions are currently in draft form here.

Resources

• Must-read WP resources: Commons:Freedom of panorama & freedom of panorama.
• Good pages to skim: Wikipedia:Non-free content, Wikipedia:Non-free use rationale guideline
• A similar project was undertaken recently that used images that were taken inside museums and then uploaded to Flickr, and then put into WP: Wikipedia:Wikipedia Loves Art
• Useful links for putting images into Wikipedia.

Manual of Style for Images

Images: An intro

Uploading images

Copyright tags

A bit about Fair Use

Copyright discussion

If you really want to know the details of United States copyright law, you should read Nimmer on Copyright it is considered "the Bible" of copyright law.

Here's a summary, which was compiled from conversations with Aboutmovies,ww2censor, Nancy, and others.

If you take a picture, you do own the copyright to that picture. But the copyright to the work of art (painting, sculpture, etc.) may be owned by an artist who created the work of art. Thus, your work is a derivative work, and unless you have permission from the copyright owner of the work of art, it is a copyright violation if you try to do certain things with it. For instance if you try to sell your picture.

To be clear: if the artist holds the copyright of his/her work (or someone else owns it by inheritance, sale, etc.) then in all likelihood you cannot upload it to WP Commons! The caveat there would be if you received written permission from the copyright holder of the work of art to allow you to upload it under a free license that allows for a variety of uses, including commercial use.

Fair use may apply. But, WP Commons does not allow for fair use images, so no fair use images can be uploaded there. You can only put fair use images into Wikipedia. To make a fair use claim, you would have to discuss the topic in the article, and to cover the intent of the fair use exceptions under U.S. copyright law. Also you will likely need to limit the images to only a few lower resolutions images of the artwork. The proper licence for these kinds of images is {{Non-free 3D art}} (that template clearly states that a fair-use rational must be used.) Further, the images MUST comply with all 10 non-free content criteria, which preclude using galleries under the minimal use criteria.

However, not all artworks are copyrighted. Just like any copyrightable item, works of art may not be covered due to several issues:

• If it was published before 1923 in the US, it is out of copyright (published means presented to the public and a distinct concept from creation).
• If it was published before 1989 in the US and no copyright notice was added, then it is likely in the public domain (artists who failed to give notice could have later rectified the problem through several formal steps).
• If the item was published after 1923 and if its copyright was not renewed, it might be in the public domain. And there are even more exceptions--see this chart for the full complexity.

To sum things up. If it is really old art work, no problems. If it is newer, best to upload it as fair use.