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Wikipedia:Copyright problems

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Zorglbot (talk | contribs) at 00:01, 9 July 2006 (Automatic archiving of listings older than 7 days). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
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    This page is for listing and discussing possible copyright problems involving text on Wikipedia. Listings typically remain for at least five days before review and closure by a copyright problems clerk or administrator. During this time, interested contributors are invited to offer feedback, rewrite infringing content, or request copyright permission.

    Listed pages appear in the bottom section of the page. For additional guidance, see below.

    To add a new listing, go to today's section.

    Copyright owners: If you believe Wikipedia is infringing your copyright, you may request immediate removal by following these instructions.

    How to list an article

    Copyright problems handles articles where the copyright status is disputed or complex cases of infringement. You should list an article if one of the following applies:

    • All revisions of an article have copyright violations (copyvio), and speedy deletion does not apply.
    • The removal of copyrighted content has been contested.
    • Removal or reversion is complicated or involves a majority of the article.
    • You cannot determine whether the text originated from the source or Wikipedia. Do not blank the article in this case.
    • The article is eligible for presumptive deletion.
    • Other complex situations not listed here or in the section below.

    If the article needs to be listed,

    1. Place one of the following above the infringing text:
    2. Place {{subst:Copyvio/bottom}} below the last infringing text.
    3. Go to today's section and add the following template to the bottom of the list:

      {{subst:article-cv|PageName}} from [insert URL or identify non-web source here] ~~~~

      Put the page's name in place of "PageName". If you do not have a URL, enter a description of the source. A pre-filled version can be copied from the top of the copyvio template after substituting it. If yours is the first listing of the day, please add a header to the top of the page, using the page for another date as an example.
    4. Warn the contributor of the listing at their talk page, unless advised not to. The template on the now blanked page supplies a notice you may use for that purpose.

    What not to list here

    • Blatant infringement. Articles that are entirely copyvio can be handled through speedy deletion if it meets the criteria. You should not blank or list the article here if you tag for G12.
    • Non-extensive obvious copyvio. If the copied content is not extensive, you can remove, rewrite, or revert the page to before the text was added. You should place {{Copyvio-revdel|url=copied source|start=diff of copyvio insertion|end=diff before copyvio removal}} on the article afterwards and warn the contributor of the material to the problem, unless advised not to. The template {{Uw-copyright}} may be used for this purpose.
    • Requests for revision deletion. These should be handled by placing {{Copyvio-revdel|url=copied source|start=diff of copyvio insertion|end=diff before copyvio removal}} on the article.
    • Files. For files that are clear copyright violations, follow the procedure for speedy deletion; otherwise list at Files for Discussion. If the file is on the Commons, they can be handled through Commons speedy deletion or Deletion requests.
    • Individual editors. Contributors who repeatedly post copyrighted text or files after appropriate warnings will be blocked from editing to protect the project; see 17 United States Code § 512. If one contributor verifiably inserts multiple copyright violations and systematic review is needed, please file a request at Wikipedia:Contributor copyright investigations.
    • Copyright violations without a source. If you cannot find a source of where something could be copied from, do not list the article here. The content may be removed for other reasons, like being unreferenced or violating our biographies of living persons policy.

    What text can be reused?

    Further information: Wikipedia:Copy-paste

    Under the United States law that governs Wikipedia, copyright is automatically assumed as soon as any content (text or other media) is created in a physical form. An author does not need to apply for or claim copyright, for a copyright to exist. One of the following must be present to reuse the content on Wikipedia:

    If none of the above are present, the text cannot be reused.

    Even when the text can be reused, it must be attributed or it will be considered as plagiarism.

    Responding to listed articles

    Copyright owners and people editing on their behalf or with their permission, please see below.

    Any contributor is welcome to help investigate articles listed for copyright concerns, although only administrators, copyright clerks, and VRT agents should remove {{copyvio}} tags and resolve listings. Copyright problems is run by volunteers and it usually takes a few days before listings are first investigated.

    You can assist in the following ways:

    • Providing information on the copyright status of the article
    • Obtaining or verifying claims of permission
    • Rewriting or removing infringing content (without removing {{copyvio}}.

    Not every article listed here has copyright infringement. The content may be on Wikipedia first, public domain, compatibly licensed, or below the threshold of originality. Editors can provide information about licensing or public domain status under listings here or on the talk page of the article. A link or a clear explanation is very helpful when a clerk or administrator evaluates the article. It may take a few days before a response is provided.

    If the article is tagged for {{copyvio}}, you should allow an administrator or copyright problems clerk to remove the tag. If the article is tagged for {{copy-paste}} or {{close paraphrasing}}, you may remove the tag from the article when the problem is addressed (or disproven), but please do not close the listing here.

    Obtaining/verifying permission

    Sometimes material was placed on Wikipedia with the permission of the copyright owner. The owner may be willing to give permission and proper license. Any contributor can write to the owner of copyright and check whether they gave or will give permission (or maybe they in fact posted it here!). See Wikipedia:Example requests for permission. If a compatible license is placed online at the point of original publication, please provide a link to that under the listing.

    More details about the permissions process can be seen below and at Wikipedia:Donating copyrighted materials.

    Rewriting or removing content

    If an article verifiably has copyvio, it is best to remove the content. However, any contributor may rewrite removed text. If the article is blanked, the rewrite takes place at Talk:PAGENAME/Temp so that the new material can be copied over the old. The listing will link to the specific temporary page. You can directly rewrite on articles tagged for {{close paraphrasing}} or {{copy-paste}}, and remove the tags when the rewrite is complete.

    The article should not be copied over without first removing copied content. Other content from the article can be used, if there is no reason to believe that it may be a copyright issue as well. If the content is copied from an inaccessible source like a book or cannot be verified, please remove all text added by the contributor. If you copy any text from the old article, please leave a note on the listing or in your edit summaries of the rewrite. Reviewing clerks or administrators will then preserve the history of the old article.

    Please review Wikipedia:Copy-paste and its linked guidelines as necessary to ensure the rewrite is compliant with policy. Repairing compatible copying issues is usually as simple as supplying proper attribution.

    Shortcut

    If you submitted work to Wikipedia which you had previously published and your submission was marked as a potential infringement of copyright, you must do one of the following to resolve the problem:

    See also Wikipedia:Donating copyrighted materials.

    Letters and emails may take some time to clear once they are sent. Do not worry if the content is deleted prematurely; it can be restored at any point usable permission is logged. Your email will receive a response whether the permission is usable or not. If you have not received a response to your letter within two weeks, it is a good idea to follow up.

    Please keep in mind that content previously published elsewhere may not meet Wikipedia's specific guidelines and policies. If you are not familiar with these policies and guidelines, please review especially the core policies that govern the project. This may help prepare you to deal with any other issues with the text that may arise.

    Should you choose to rewrite the content rather than release it under the requisite license, please see above.

    Clerks and patrolling administrators

    For a more complete description of clerks and their duties, as well as a list of active clerks, please see Wikipedia:Copyright problems/Clerks.

    Copyright clerks are experienced editors on Wikipedia, especially with copyright policies and their enforcement. On this board, they are trusted to evaluate and close listings and request administrative actions when necessary. Clerks are periodically reviewed by other clerks and patrolling administrators.

    For a more complete description of administrators on Wikipedia, please see Wikipedia:Administrators.

    Any administrator may work the copyright problems board. This may involve evaluating listings personally or completing evaluations by clerks. Clerks are trusted in their work and their recommendations may be implemented without double-checking, although any administrator is welcome to review recommendations and discuss them with the clerks in question.

    Closing listings

    Pages can be processed at any time by anyone, but are not formally closed until a clerk or administrator verifies that all problems are resolved. Pages listed for presumptive deletion stay open for a minimum of 7 days before being processed. VRT agents may close listings at any time.

    For advice for resolving listings, see:

    {{CPC}} may be used to denote resolutions of listings by administrators, clerks and VRT agents.

    Older than 7 days

    Below are articles and images that have been listed here for longer than 7 days, but have not yet been dealt with.

    Poster claims to be the author or to have permission

    This section is specifically intended for pages which contain apparently non-GFDL copyright material for which a User has claimed copyright or permission(s). Initial listings of pages with suspected copyright problems should not be listed in this section. When placing items here, please post under the relevant month (eg. if the copyvio listing was first made in October 2005, please post it there). If you are a Wikipedia editor or administrator following up on a copyright problem, please place a note under the relevant listing, stating what you have done or plan to do; this will help prevent duplicated efforts at resolving the problem. Once the uploader has been notified of how to prove ownership or permission, pages should be deleted after 2-3 weeks if no proof has been forthcoming.

    If there is a claim, follow up by placing the Maintenance text found at the bottom of the tagged article on the article talk page and/or the user's talk page.

    Fair use claims needing a second opinion

    For fair use/non-free content review, please go to Wikipedia:Files for discussion.

    Others

    2006-06-27

    edit

    Articles

    edit

    Images

    Wikipedia:Copyright problems/2006 June 28 Wikipedia:Copyright problems/2006 June 29 Wikipedia:Copyright problems/2006 June 30 Wikipedia:Copyright problems/2006 July 1

    New Listings

    [edit this list] (to add or to remove per-day pages)

    Older than 5 days

    Below are articles that have been listed here for longer than 5 days. At this point, they may be processed by a copyright problems board clerk. After 7 days, they may be closed by an administrator.

    24 May 2025

    25 May 2025

    Recent listings

    Below are articles that have been listed here for 5 days or less. Anyone in the community may help clarify the copyright status on these. See the section on responding for more information.

    26 May 2025


    29 May 2025

    If I read the page history correctly, I'm pretty sure that document copied the first line of its only substantial paragraph (it's just a vague product description document with no references) from the original version of the wikipedia article, which may or may not have copied it directly from the EPA report (currently a broken link to Cornell's website for some godawful reason), making this an exciting circular copyright violation. To confuse matters the person who added it has the username TOKU-E EU so they may have had the rights to the material that wasn't copied, but the information isn't really suitable as a reference. The account in question appears to have registered in 2012, linked to a bunch of their new company's PDFs across a series of antibiotic and herbicide pages which were all products they carried, and hasn't been back since. I'm guessing it was done entirely to attempt to increase google search rankings. A Shortfall Of Gravitas (talk) 00:10, 30 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    30 May 2025

    Edict of Horemheb (history · last edit · rewrite) from touregypt.net/edictofhoremheb.htm and thecollector.com/horemheb-restored-ancient-egypt-after-the-chaos-of-amarna-kings Removed the English translation section of the article which was over 10,000+ bytes long of word-for-word copied text with no analysis. Additionally, the overview section appears to have two of its three paragraph copied word-for-word from two sources, despite multiple citations being scattered throughout. The article appears to pass WP:GNG but needs a decent clean-up effort to remove all the copyvio tags. Johnson524 16:34, 30 May 2025 (UTC) Wikipedia:Copyright problems/2025 May 31[reply]

    Wikipedia's current date is May 31, 2025. Put new listings in Wikipedia:Copyright problems/2025 May 31.

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