Wikipedia:WikiProject Copyright Cleanup/How to clean copyright infringements
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Are you looking for Wikipedia:WikiProject Copyright Cleanup-related work to do? This page provides some suggestions on where to find problems and how to handle them when you do. What is a copyright concern?[edit]Copyright concerns exist where text or media are placed on Wikipedia from previously published sources that are not verifiably free for use and the material is not handled according to non-free content guidelines (WP:NFC). Even if the previously published source does not carry a copyright notice, it is presumed to be copyrighted unless we have reason to know that it is free, i.e. if public domain for age or other reason. If a source is licensed compatibly for use but that license is not adhered to — for instance, if attribution is required but not given — this is also a copyright concern, even if the source is another Wikipedia article (see Wikipedia:Copying within Wikipedia). Non-free content that is not used appropriately under WP:NFC represents a copyright concern. For example, even if quoted and attributed, extensive use of quotations from copyrighted sources is prohibited. A non-free image is a copyright concern if used outside of article namespace or if it otherwise violates the guidelines for such use. While copyright concerns are more obvious when duplication is verbatim, they may also exist when the original source has been insufficiently altered. An image that incorporates or draws on a previously published image may be a derivative work. Text that paraphrases too closely on a non-free source may also infringe. (See Wikipedia:Close paraphrasing.) What to do if you find an untagged copyright concern[edit]If you find a copyright concern that you cannot immediately clean by one of the methods below, please make sure that you do something. The steps may seem daunting, but generally aren't. Frequently, they will involve placing a tag on the article or file and notifying the contributor; sometimes, they also require pasting code on the appropriate investigation board. Most of the time, the template you place on the article will tell you what needs to be done. The copyright problems board has instructions for how to handle text copyright problems, include which template to use in which circumstances. Similarly, the guide to image deletion will tell you which tags to use if you are concerned about copyright on an image or other media file. Please try to talk with the contributor about your concerns and, in any case, be sure to notify the contributor of your actions in addressing a copyright problem. Most of the tags you use will generate a notice you can simply paste on the contributor's talk page. If the copyright infringement can be easily removed and you do not need to tag the article itself, you can advise the contributor by placing an appropriate notice, such as Basic steps for finding and addressing copyright concerns[edit]
Text[edit]Category:Possible copyright violations (and subcategories)[edit]A number of tags place articles in this category and its subcategories, including {{copypaste}} and {{Close paraphrase}}. Some of the articles here are already listed at Wikipedia:Copyright problems for review. Most of these can be addressed by the general steps above, either by revising or listing at Wikipedia:Copyright problems. When appropriate, please remove the tags after the problems have been addressed. For example, when an article that was closely paraphrasing another source has been revised, the {{Close paraphrase}} template is no longer necessary. Sometimes, efforts to address copyright concerns in text may be met with resistance. If you have attempted to clean a copypaste article and been reverted, please do not engage in an edit war. Politely discuss your concerns with the editor who reverted you, who may agree with your change once they understand your rationale. If you feel that the material represents a copyright concern and another editor is resisting your cleanup, blank the text with the {{copyvio}} template according to directions at copyright problems. This should lock the matter until an uninvolved administrator can investigate. If the tag is inappropriately removed, seek administrator intervention directly or through WP:ANI. In all cases, remember to remain within behavioral guidelines. Articles are listed at Wikipedia:Copyright Problems (CP) if they duplicate other sources but are not deletable under speedy deletion criteria G12. Bots also list articles there which have been tagged for close paraphrasing or copy-paste. Sometimes articles tagged for the latter should have been blanked as the former. In those cases, you should use your best judgment to determine if they can and should be cleaned up on the spot or blanked. These are listed for seven days prior to being closed by an investigating administrator. Meanwhile, those who wish to help can identify the edit where the material was added, ensure that the contributor has been notified, and supply other helpful information. For example, if there is reason to question which came first, Wikipedia or the external site, consider using internet archives to check the dating of the external site and note your findings at the listing. While engineered for administrators closing listings, Wikipedia:Copyright problems/Advice for admins gives some suggestions that can be useful in investigating at any stage of the procedure. Perhaps the most useful contribution here, aside from the standard steps, is providing a clean alternative. If the subject of the article seems notable and the infringement goes all the way back to inception, consider starting a new article in the temporary page ([[Talk:ExamplePage/Temp]]) linked from the template, even if the infringement is limited to one section of the article. Make a note at the talk page indicating that you have done this in case the administrator neglects to check. Please be careful to give credit to the Wikipedia contributors to comply with CC-BY-SA and GFDL. Uncopyrightable elements, such as categories and external links, can be incorporated as are. If you do use text provided by other contributors, you may wish to do so incrementally, noting in edit summary the source (such as by stating "text contributed by User:Example on 12 January 2009"). The admin who closes the matter may merge this text in to the existing article after selectively deleting the infringement or removing it. Please be sure that your revision is sufficiently different from the source that it is not itself an infringement. (See Wikipedia:Close paraphrasing for some ideas.) Articles tagged {{close paraphrasing}}[edit]
These are most easily addressed if the source is given and notes made at the talk page of the article. Sometimes, research is required. Editors may note the suspected source in the edit summary when they tag the article, but it may be necessary to compare the article to its cited sources or to scan it against google or another search engine to find the similarity. If you are able to identify the source, you can simply read through the given source and compare the content in the article. If you see close paraphrasing, it can be immediately addressed. Rewrite the content, with an explanatory edit summary, remove the tag and note what you've done at the CP listing. If the content was recently added by a registered contributor, it is sometimes beneficial to give them an opportunity to rewrite the material themselves. Writing to avoid close paraphrasing can take practice, and it may be more helpful to let the contributor hone these skills with some friendly assistance than to clean it up without giving them an opportunity to learn how. Even if you can't rewrite the article, other opportunities exist for helping out here. If the source is not identified, you can add the source to the "close paraphrasing" tag. If the paraphrasing is not obvious, you can open a section at the talk page detailing where you see issues or why you do not. If you can't find the suspected source at all, you may want to ask the tagger for an explanation. If you can verify issues, you might want to leave the contributor who added the content a friendly note explaining that the article has been tagged and why. Articles tagged {{copy-paste}}[edit]This tag is often misapplied. It can mean an article is a blatant infringement, or it can mean that a contributor suspects based on the language that content was copied but does not know from where. When properly applied, it is used to indicate that text redundant to an identified source has been detected, but the tagger is unsure if the content is copyrighted or whether the content was first published on Wikipedia. If no source is identified, the first step of addressing these listings is, as with the {{close paraphrasing}} listings, identifying the source. Check edit summaries and talk page. If needed, compare to listed sources or scan the internet. If the tagger did not identify a source and you cannot find one, you can remove the {{copy-paste}} template from the article and instead place the following on the article's talk page: Once a source is identified, the article may be addressed like any other copyright problem. If the copying is reversed, use {{backwardscopy}} on the talk page and remove the tag. Be sure to provide your evidence in the comment field of the template. If the copying does not seem to be reversed, clean the article if you can or tag it with {{db-G12}} or {{Copyvio}} as appropriate. Even if copy-pasted tags have been listed for a full week, they should be relisted if the {{Copyvio}} tag is applied to permit proper notice to be given to the user. If they can be handled otherwise, there is no reason for additional delay and no reason that the listing need remain open for the full seven days. Contributors are listed for evaluation here when it can be shown that they have violated copyright in multiple articles or images. At the top of the CCI page is a box that lists every opened CCI. Any contributor who has no history of copyright problems (warnings or blocks) is welcome to help out with these. Each CCI subpage includes a set of instructions at its top. Basically, work at a CCI involves looking at the "diffs", articles or images listed to evaluate whether they constitute a copyright concern. The slight difference here is that there is a presumption of copying. While we don't want to remove content unnecessarily, we know that contributors who have been listed here have been demonstrated to have copied on multiple occasions. If we find duplicate content elsewhere, unless we can verify that it is a mirror, we presume that they had it first. There is no need to focus on working on these in any particular order. Some CCIs are more complex than others; some may be in areas that are more of interest to you. Any progress here is a great benefit to the project, so feel free to start out at whichever listing seems best to you. Files[edit]A number of tags place files in this category and its subcategories, including {{derivative}} and {{nld}}. Some of these tags will result in a file being automatically deleted if problems are not addressed in a certain period of time. General steps for addressing are as above. Some specific suggestions follow.
Images are listed at Wikipedia:Files for discussion if their copyright status or source is dubious. Any listings may be closed by any editor after seven days. CCI[edit]See above. Special[edit]
Addressing contributors of problematic material[edit]The imperative of the WikiProject Copyright Cleanup, as it is for all Wikipedia editors, is to address infringing content; additionally, WikiProject Copyright Cleanup seeks to ensure that contributors who violate copyright understand the policy and know how to contribute constructively. It is important in this project as in all of Wikipedia to begin by assuming good faith. Contributors to Wikipedia come from many backgrounds and do not always understand the US copyright laws that Wikipedia complies with or the policies and guidelines we have developed to ensure we remain in compliance. Contributors should be civilly notified of these policies and guidelines with a goal of preventing future infringement without discouraging potentially good contributors. However, if an editor continues to contribute problematic material after notification, it will be necessary to block that contributor to prevent recurrence. You may need to seek assistance the administrator's noticeboard. If a contributor seems to have widespread copyright concerns, you may wish to consider requesting a contributor copyright investigation. See that page for instructions. |
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