User blog:AwesomeOrange89/Image Licensing

Here at Wikia we have a little thing called "Image Licensing". Well what is Image Licensing you ask? Licensing allows users to identify which source the uploaded image comes from. The following blog will be about Image Licensing.

Why should I license my picture?
There are many reasons why you should license your images, some professional, and some (lets say) not. The first and foremost reason is that, it's always courteous and professional to give the authors of your image credit. It's like using a script for a school play, and never once mentioning the playwrights. That's just not right! When you license your pictures it makes your wiki look more well done, and developed. The last, more immature reason is, it's easy edits! Wikia will never close a wiki for not having all the images licensed, but it is legal stuff.

All in all, you should always license your pictures,
 * Makes your wiki looks more developed
 * Courteous to authors
 * Legal stuff 
 * Easy edits (so immature!)

How do I license?
Well Chad, we know why to license the images, but how do we? Well self, it's pretty easy. There are two ways that you could license images. The first one is to license it during the uploading process. In the mist, you'll want to click "More Options". That'll pull down a menu, including the title of " Licensing". Once you click that drop down menu they'll be a list of options. Choose which license best fits your image, and you're done!



But what if I forgot to license in the uploading process? Well that's alright, you can license at anytime. Just go to the files page, example :http://community.wikia.com/wiki/File:Dipper_and_candy_by_markmak-d5h5j42.gif, and click "Edit". You'll want to head to the "Source Mode" editor. Then just insert the license like a regular template, example {({fairuse})}. The last step in that process is to publish it, by clicking "Publish".


 * License during uploading
 * License in source editor.

What type of license?
Like I said earlier, licensing helps users identify where the picture came from. Common sense should tell you (I don't have much of that, so emphasis on should), that there are a lot of different license, since all images don't come from the same source. You can choose any of them, I'll list them. The main license is {({FairUse})}, and the one that you'll likely use.

The rest of the license are:




 * . Public domain. For example, when the author has put the work into the public domain or the author died over 70 years ago.
 * - for a copyrighted image which is contended to be fair use.
 * Free licenses
 * - Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0
 * - Any free license such as the GNU General Public License or Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike
 * - For when the owner of the image has given full permission for it to be used freely.
 * - For images taken from Wikimedia. Remember to add the specific license information too.
 * - for image you made yourself, and release under a free license. Remember, a specific license tag is much better.
 * Other
 * - for images with no copyright information.

Summary and other resources
Licensing is a very helpful and useful resource, that makes your wiki look more professional. While you can license a photo during uploading, you can always go back and license later. There are a lot of types of license, but only one that will fit your picture (normally). I hope I helped you with any questions you have regarding licensing. If you have anymore questions don't be afraid to contact me, or check out the help page. Good luck with your wiki!