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Greetings, and welcome to yet another of Yuan's guides. Here I will be addressing copyright, an oft overlooked issue on the FF wiki, and one which causes much grief to Wikipedian editors. EVERYONE IS TO READ THIS. This policy is NOT debatable.
- Q: What is copyright?
- A: Copyright refers to a set of laws that have to do with intellectual property, which exist to protect works and their creators. Basically, anything which is created is automatically copyrighted by its author. The author possesses exclusive rights to publish, make copies of and adapt their work and related works.
- Q: Okay, but what does this have to do with Square and the FF wiki?
- A: Everything Square Enix (or any other person or company) creates is under copyright. Since we do not own the copyright, we are by law not permitted to make copies or distribute those works (ie, by uploading it to this wiki).
- Q: But wait, doesn't that mean that we won't be able to upload any copyrighted images?
- A: Ah, but we have a handy thing called fair use. Because we are a wiki about the Final Fantasy series, we can claim that any use of FF images falls under fair use. As our aim is to present comprehensive coverage of the FF series and images constitute a form of information, we can argue that these images assist us in achieving our goal.
- Q: What is this "fair use?"
- A: Fair use is part of copyright law. In short, it allows people to copy or distribute copyrighted works for certain purposes, assuming that doing so does not harm the ability of the original author to profit from their work.
- Q: Why can't we claim fair use for images not under our scope?
- A: These images aren't related to the wiki, so we can't say we're going to use it to achieve our aim. We have no rationale for using it on the wiki, thus it would be a copyright breach.
- Q: What about images that are not from FF, but still fall under our scope?
- A: Each of these need to be given individual justification for why it is fair use for it to be used in a particular article. Note that "to accentuate an article" is not a valid justification - you must include why it accentuates the article. Because these images are all owned by Square, we assume that there are no free equivalents. An example of a fair use justification for File:Kh-leon.jpg would be "This is an image of a Final Fantasy character who appears in Kingdom Hearts, a related series. The image underscores the connection between the series, and illustrates the transformation of the character".
- Q: How do I add fair use justification?
- A: Please include Template:Copyright in the "Summary" box when uploading an image. In the permission field, state why you feel it constitutes fair use.
- Q: That sounds tiresome. Do I have to do it for all images?
- A: No. You will only need to do this for non-FF images that still fall within our scope, such as images from the Kingdom Hearts series.
- Q: I've uploaded fanart to this wiki. Does this break copyright?
- A: This is a difficult question to answer correctly, as it is dependent on the work in question. In general, fanart is considered a derivative work; a work which is based on another, original one. In this case, the original copyright belongs to the original author, but the author of the new work owns a new copyright to that work. However, there are complications - a derivative work must have a degree of transformativeness. This means that it must differ significantly from the original in terms of meaning, effect, expression or physical appearance. There are a number of other sticky issues, but this is the basic gist.
- Q: I don't really understand what constitutes a derivative work. Can you give me an example?
- A: Let's say I'm making an artwork of Terra Branford for a friend.
- Square Enix owns the image and character of Terra Branford.
- I use a pencil and paper to create a completely new image of Terra, in my own style. I own the copyright to this image.
- This copyright is separate and distinct from Square's existing copyright.
- However, if I merely add a caption to a pre-existing image (let's say it's Terra's Dissidia artwork), then I am not transforming it sufficiently, and thus a new work is not created. This is considered to be a breach in copyright, and I do not own a new copyright.
- Q: What images will not be allowed under this?
- A: We will not allow any copyrighted image which does not fall into our scope, SE or other wise. All unlicensed user images will be stamped with Template:Copyright and deleted within the week.
- Q: Okay, how about images that are allowed?
- A: Anything with fair use rationale on this wiki (ie, all SE-copyrighted FF images and things within our scope that have been given justification), images released into Public Domain or licensed under Creative Commons, GNU, copyleft or a similar license; images which you have created yourself and images which you have been given explicit permission from the author to upload. Please be reasonable with the number of User Images you upload.
- Q: This isn't fair! You've deleted my image and I had no warning! Grah! >:(
- A: One, this isn't a question. Two, this particular policy has been up for more than a year now, so this is hardly "no warning". Unfortunately, this is the law we're following. We don't really have any choice, so it goes.
- Q: But this is just a tiny image used for a user box! Can't you let it slide?
- A: We cannot. While the use may seem trivial, the law is the law.
- Q: I really, really want to use an image on this wiki, but I don't have fair use rationale. Are there any other options for me?
- A: Certainly. You can ask for permission to upload it to the wiki. You can use a free alternative, such as creating an image yourself. If this is not feasible, you can use an image hosting site like Photobucket and link to it.
- Q: I hate copyright!
- A: Can't help you there, sorry. Join a copyleft movement or bring it to court, if you like ^^;.
- Q: I would like to learn more about copyright. Where can I do so? How did you learn about copyright?
- A: I have no idea why you would want to immerse yourself in law...but if you want to, just look for legal textbooks at your local library, or do a quick Google search. Here's a link to get you started. My experience with copyright comes from the good ol' school of Wikipedia wrangling over said issue with files. Trust me, it isn't fun.
- Q: I'm still confused. Can someone help me?
- A: If you still have questions, feel free to either leave a message here or drop me a line on my talk page. You can also contact one of the other Staff members who know the ropes, such as Faethin or TacticAngel.
In summary:
- FF images: A'okay. License with Template:SECopyright
- Copyrighted images within our scope: Template:Copyright and fair use rationale
- Copyrighted images outside our scope: DELETE!
- Unlicensed images: DELETE!
- Self-created fanart or original art: Use Template:Copyright.
- Special circumstances, such as images released under Creative Commons, images uploaded with permission and public domain: Template:Copyright and one of the special licensing choices on the upload menu.
- Hentai: DELETE and BANNED!
Finally, I have a few related notes:
- Please, please read Final Fantasy Wiki:Media, Final Fantasy Wiki:Copyrights, Help:Images and Forum:Image Upload before uploading images. Any questions you have may already be answered there.
- Check for duplicates of the image you are uploading.
- Don't forget to add a license.
- Always remember to categorise. I cannot stress this enough.
I would like to request that this thread be stickied to the top of Rin's and possibly the other forums, as well as adding an edited version to the Help Portal and a link from the upload form.
My thanks to those who struggled through this massive wall of text. Questions? Comments? Criticisms? Please add them below, and I will do my best to address them. | |
