Manual of Style: Copyright and Licences

This guide explains how to use and insert images in Zendiwiki articles. It is strongly recommended to follow these rules, especially for articles in the guides namespace.

Note: This basic rule applies not only to copyright, but also to all other legal aspects of the publication of image material. This includes, in particular, the right to privacy (right to one's own image), data protection, protection of minors, ethical aspects and so on.

Violation of such rules and laws can have serious consequences, not least because of the global reach of content published online, providing easy and even automatable accessibility to complainants worldwide.

A license that allows one to publish an image does not automatically imply that others may then continue to use that image for their purposes. Reuse and other terms are defined by the respective copyright and licensing notes, which must be specified.

For this purpose Zendiwiki requires the respective copyright and license information to be provided directly in the document (the Zendiwiki page) on which the image or media is presented (embedded or linked).

For complete documentation and easier verification, the following information must be provided on Zendiwiki for each image or media:

  • Authorship and/or source.
  • Name/type of license with reference to the respective provisions (e.g. a web link).
  • For non-free licenses or agreements, the exact information as requested by the rights owner.

In the spirit of “best practices for attribution”, on Zendiwiki this information is required even if the respective license itself does not expressly provide for it.

As a first orientation for authors, the following types of licences can be roughly distinguished, which play a role for publication on the Zendiwiki.

  • Own work: The Zendiwiki author himself owns all rights to the image. This is usually the case if it was created by him or her. Of course, all legal requirements regarding the depicted items must still be observed. In the case of screenshots and artwork, for example, their copyright, for people the “right to one's own image”, etc.
  • Creative commons: The copyright holder has released his or her image under one of the creative commons licence types. Creative commons does not mean copyright-free or free of terms of restrictions. See also the mandatory license conditions for own works on this page below.
  • Specifically granted rights of use: A typical case is screenshots of software products with special permission from the manufacturing company. Permission to use such product screenshots in self-written manuals is quite common but often subject to certain conditions. For example, it is prohibited to make graphic changes in the screenshot itself (e.g. to add markings). Sometimes you can find manufacturer's guidelines already published on the web. Since such regulations may be subject to change by the manufacturer, it is up to the respective Zendiwiki author to monitor this.
  • Other “free” licenses: Many image databases offer “free images”, but their use is restricted in certain respects by their own license conditions. These can, for example, contain very specific formats for the assignment of author or source. If such images are used, then it is up to the article author to check the license conditions in detail, and to ensure (permanent) compliance with the special regulations.