Wikipedia talk:Example requests for permission

untitled comments

I have problems with this line: "If you agree, we will credit you for your work in the resulting article's references section ..."

...where is an article with a "references section"? I could not find any example yet. I tried also to read the Wikipedia:Cite_your_sources but the discussion confused me more then helping...

I just send this "request for permission" to the author of the Whippet article, and I got the "ok" as an email. Where do I put now this "ok" or the authors name???

Thanks for help, Fantasy 15:09 Apr 25, 2003 (UTC)

Too friendly

This request not only sounds too friendly, but im not sure if it portrays the sender as "professional." I dont know if the request is purposely written this way for individuals with homepages. Mabye there could be a link to a "Boilerplate for larger organizations," which sounds more professional and doesnt start "Hey I really liked your website." Greenmountainboy 14:04, 22 Dec 2003 (UTC)

• Indeed. I find the introductory portion of the text as... almost juvenile. Way too informal, in any case. -- Fennec
• Indeed, i had to write my own to send to a goverment website. -- Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason 06:28, 2004 Jul 21 (UTC)
• I agree, This current text is not usable for large organizations, which are likely to have the images we want. cohesion ☎ 19:08, 13 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Going to edit this a bit

I also am not happy with the tone of this email. I'm going to try some bold edits -- please feel free to discuss or edit in return. This needs some collaborative effort put in on it. Catherine 06:28, 6 Mar 2004 (UTC)

I've done it -- comments welcome!

I like it. Made a minor edit that seemed to indicate that Wikipedia was in the public domain. --mav 08:02, 6 Mar 2004 (UTC)

More work done

Been tweaking the Text version today -- I hope that it sounds reasonably polished and coherent. Some specific areas I'd like feedback on:

I am seeking your permission to use the text you have written, either directly, or as a reference for my original writing on the subject.

I know we don't need permission to use the site as a reference for factual information (since facts can't be copyrighted), as long as we're not copying text verbatim, or copying creative presentation. It seemed a courtesy to mention that we might use it as a reference if they didn't like us using their text directly, but the more I think about it, the more this gives them the option of saying "no, don't use my site as a reference, either", which would leave us in the position of having to explain that facts can't be copyrighted, arguing with and disenchanting a potential contributor, and appearing 'grabby' about something they worked hard to create and present. Our only other alternative would be not to use info at all from a site that was good enough to prompt the request for permission in the first place.

Perhaps something like: I am seeking your permission to use some or all of the text that you have written. We would be delighted to hear an answer of "yes", and we will happily respect an answer of "no". A third alternative would be for you to use your talents to compose new text on the subject which would not be the same as copyrighted material on your website you might wish to protect. Our final alternative would be for our editors to write an original article on the subject, properly citing your work as an academic resource and providing a link to your site.

I feel it may be getting too long already, but I want to make the benefits and "risks" as clear as possible. Any ideas for tightening, rearranging or polishing the text are welcome!

This means that although you retain the copyright and authorship of your own work, you are granting permission for all others (not just Wikipedia) to use, copy, and share your materials freely -- and even potentially use them commercially -- so long as they do not try to claim the copyright themselves, or try to prevent others from using or copying them freely.

I fear this section might gain us a lot of "no" answers, especially the commercial part, but I think it's important to make this clear to contributors from the start, especially with a potential print editions coming in the future -- anyone who thinks they're just donating to a "non-profit website" and ends up seeing their words or photos in a book may feel they have a legal bone to pick with us.

Which reminds me that we should probably mention our non-profit status somewhere in the letter....

Please be assured that if permission is not granted, your <copyrighted?/original?> materials will *not* be used at Wikipedia -- we have a very strict policy against copyright violations.

Again, this seemed courteous, but may not be necessary. If you think it is helpful, should we use "copyrighted", "original", or something else? Again, I was trying to imply that we might still use the facts there, just not their copyrighted presentation of it.

<You are obviously <very interested/an expert> in your field, and we invite your active collaboration in writing and editing articles on this subject and any others that might be attractive to you. If you are interested, please see:
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Welcome%2C_newcomers for more information!>

Optional section; I've just run into some people who would make great contributors, and wanted a simple text for inviting the to actively join us. Is there a better/cleaner link to a welcome/entry page? That one's a little ugly....

Thank you for your time.

Kindly, <WIKIPEDIA AUTHOR> LOL -- Catherine 00:44, 7 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Copyright Permission

What is the preferred method for an author to indicate that he/she is giving permission to use material. I asked an author to add such a statement to ACORN but couldn't say exactly how to do it. Rmhermen 16:25, Aug 31, 2004 (UTC)

The "Another proposition"

I like this text as was going to use it to request an image. I sent the resulting text to myself first and noticed that our company spamfilter tagged it as SPAM with 7 points (5+ is regarded as spam). It seems to get 2 points alone for using "Dear...". -- Solitude 14:57, Oct 11, 2004 (UTC)

Request for help

Hi, a new user (User:Raj2004) asked me for help with contacting a website or some such in regards to quotations. They might very well be fair use for all I know. Any help is appreciated. Here is a link to his request on my talk: User_talk:Sam_Spade#Dvaita_and_Visatadvaita. I will direct him here, and a couple other places (like the pump, and Wikipedia:Fair use). Cheers, Sam [Spade] 18:08, 13 Oct 2004 (UTC)

A minor alteration

Would anyone object to all instances of replaceable text being placed inside angle brackets? When copying and pasting into a plaintext email, bold and italics are lost, and it makes it tricky to pick up with that much text. Akchizar 08:31, 12 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Go for it -- I'm not sure when it changed to italics; this was originally meant to be very easy to copy into email. [[User:CatherineMunro|Catherine\^talk]] 21:32, 12 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Response template?

Would it make sense to provide a template at the bottom of requests for permission, for people to use to respond -- something that could then be pasted into the Talk page or Image Description page as evidence that the creator wishes to license their work? Something along the lines of this (please edit mercilessly):

IMAGES
As the creator and copyright holder of the image currently named <TITLE.EXT>
(found at <URL> as of this date), I hereby licence said image under the GFDL,
as a contribution to Wikimedia and its downstream users."
<NAME>, <DATE>

TEXT
As the creator and copyright holder of the text found at <URL> as of this date,
I hereby licence said text under the GFDL, as a contribution to Wikimedia and
its downstream users."
<NAME>, <DATE>

As the creator and copyright holder of the text found at <URL> as of this date,
I hereby licence that portion of the text included in this email under the GFDL,
as a contribution to Wikimedia and its downstream users."
<NAME>, <DATE>, <TEXT>

Please comment -- this ought to be legal and bulletproof, and I'm no copyright expert. [[User:CatherineMunro|Catherine\^talk]] 21:32, 12 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Special Terms?

In the Informal (images) boilerplate:

If you would prefer more restrictive terms (for example, limiting use of specific images to Wikimedia Foundation Inc. only), we will be happy to accommodate requests within our ability to fulfill them. Should this be the case, please contact Wikipedia founder Jimbo Wales at jwales@bomis.com.

What does this mean? I'm new to Wikipedia, and I'm trying to get permission from a photographer to use their photos. Everything I've read recently (most of the copyright links here...) suggests that "copyrighted with permission only for Wikipedia" material is no longer being kept. Is this paragraph from the boilerplate no longer applicable? Am I missing something?

I don't think GNU-FDL is going to fly with this person since he sells his images. He has allowed them to appear on Astronomy Picture of the Day and has given me permission to use them on Wikipedia, but that was before I noticed that such permission-granted material is going away/no longer wanted. Is there no place on Wikipedia for such material? --mh

Another email

I won't put this on the main page myself, but here's something I used for an email.

Hiya.  Quick question about <<COMPANY>> images:

I'm starting to write an article on Wikipedia, an internet encyclopaedia, 
about <<COMPANY>>.  I wondered if you had any images which we might use to 
illustrate the article?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/<<COMPANY>>

It would be ideal if you could consider releasing an image such that it can 
be used without restriction by other projects ('GNU Free Documentation 
License' or similar), but any offer to let Wikipedia use an image would be 
great.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Free_Documentation_License

There's more information on what Wikipedia is about, if you'd like to have 
a browse, and you're welcome to make changes yourself of course.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia

Best regards

<<NAME>>

Ojw 23:05, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Ban on images with restrictive licenses announced

There is a new policy on unfree images, detailed here: Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2005-05-23/Noncommercial images. The "images letter" in this project page states that the GFDL is the preferred license, but implies that other options are available. Those other options have now narrowed substantially. It would be helpeful if these letters are reviewed and edited to comply with the latest policies. Thanks, -Willmcw 01:46, May 24, 2005 (UTC) (someone who will not be doing that job)

Suggestion for "another proposition"

I phrased the part marked [where?]? as follows: "If that is the case, could you kindly post the following statement on the page in question." and added the following at the end "License Statement: The above text is available under the GNU Free Documentation License, a copy of which is available at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html." This might be a good way to do it... JesseW 7 July 2005 06:42 (UTC)

Greatly simplified request needed.

A greatly simplified format needs for buisness people who are busy or people who speak english as a second language. The format to be 2 short paragraphs, very simple wording, no conractions, etc. I am using a form of this email presently:

"I would like to add an article about your XXproductXXpaperXXwhateverXX too Wikipeida. Wikipedia is a collective effort by thousands of people to create an internet encyclopedia. Anyone can add information to an article or entirely new articles without authorization. I am willing to addXXretrofitXXX an article aboutXXXbased onXX XXXX. Anything I add must be covered under the GFDL, would you mind

I am guessing you are korean. The Korean version of Wikipedia may make more sense too you: http://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/"

I am not a skilled enough writer nor a well trained wikipedian so I don't wish to attempt to make a real template.

-Indolering — Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.211.25.9 (talk) 04:04, 21 October 2005‎ (UTC)

Template for using images out of published books or articles

Hi, I'm looking to get permission to use images out of published books or articles. Some of them are so old (1960s and up) that I'm not even sure the copyrights are in force anymore. Is there a template to for asking permission on using published works; as opposed to content on the internet? Thanks!B1deroo (talk) 22:30, 29 March 2020 (UTC)

Advance notice of some intended editing of example requests for permission

As has been pointed out quite often here, some of the examples on this page need to be comprehensively edited. Despite the well-founded motto, "Never volunteer", I intend to edit the ones that seem to need it most. I envisage rationalising a number of them, which may result in some deletion of content. I'll "be bold". Please post if you have any comments to share before I start (which will be in 1–2 weeks), esp if you have been a contributor to this page and place particular value on elements of the contribution. Cheers, SCHolar44 (talk) 05:56, 21 April 2020 (UTC)

Social media question

Typically, lately, I've used Facebook (or another social media site), since that's usually the only contact info I have. If I do that, do I still need to require they directly email permissions-commons@wikimedia.org. Can I have them simply reply to me, with the appropriate consent, and then I can copy/paste that into an email to permissions-commons@wikimedia.org? In general, do copyright owners need to directly email permissions-commons@wikimedia.org, or can I relay the message. If I can relay, than we could add a somewhat simpler example message to this page.

Also, another simplifying approach, is to ask people to add an appropriate copyright statement to an image they've already posted to Facebook/Instagram/whatever. For example, add text to the photo caption saying "Photographer: So-and-so / License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License" For this, I would want to know, what is the absolute shortest amount of text needed to include in the image caption.

I'm not adding any of this to this page myself, since I'm not sure it would be accepted and work with Commons. Hoping someone who knows can assist. --Rob (talk) 11:34, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

Hello, @Thivierr: here's my 2 cents' worth for your questions:

• Do I still need to require they directly email permissions-commons@wikimedia.org?
  Wikimedia Commons administer this element very closely — understandable, given the amount of fraudulent/dishonest traffic that goes on. I can't see them agreeing to a change.
• What is the absolute shortest amount of text needed to include in the image caption.?
  Distinctive imagename] -- copyright Firstname Surname 2020 (CC BY 4.0).jpg. However, there are seven undertakings in the standard copyright consent that cannot be covered in a filename.

For some time I've been refining a process to minimise detail the photographer / copyright owner is faced with if they get to see the release generator -- which many find off-putting (I know this because I follow them up and ask for feedback). I really don't think that task should be asked of them (which is similar to the wish behind your questions). Earlier I wrote up the procedure I've developed for requesting Flickr images, (here), with that in mind. In a week or so I'll be uploading a comparable procedure for images other than those on Flickr. Three elements are common to them:

1. An e-mail, as brief and clear as possible, asking whether the photographer (or copyright owner) will agree to letting their image appear in Wikipedia and which one of three available licences they prefer.

2. If they agree to license the image, a second e-mail with instructions for sending the chosen copyright consent (which I write and attach to the e-mail for them to copy) to Wikimedia Commons.

3. An e-mail of thanks.

I've concluded that this is the best way to minimise inconvenience to the photographer under Wikipedia's current policies. Maybe someone else will be able to show a simpler way once I've written up my notes in the coming week. Cheers, Simon. SCHolar44 🇦🇺 💬 13:11, 23 May 2020 (UTC)