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COMMONS DISCUSSION PAGES Commons Help desk Village pump (general discussion) Copyright Proposals Technical Graphics and photography discussion Photography critiques Image improvement Illustration workshop Map workshop Photography workshop Video and sound workshop Categories for discussion Undeletion requests Deletion requests Volunteer Response Team/Noticeboard Translators' noticeboard Work requests for bots Contact administrators Vandalism User problems (Dispute resolution) Blocks and protections Bureaucrats' noticeboard CheckUser requests Oversight requests Telegram IRC webchat Commons mailing list (archive) Commons' bugs on Phabricator Welcome to the Village pump This page is used for discussions of the operations, technical issues, and policies of Wikimedia Commons. Recent sections with no replies for 7 days and sections tagged with {{Section resolved|1=--~~~~}} may be archived; for old discussions, see the archives; the latest archive is Commons:Village pump/Archive/2024/08. Please note: If you want to ask why unfree/non-commercial material is not allowed at Wikimedia Commons or if you want to suggest that allowing it would be a good thing, please do not comment here. It is probably pointless. One of Wikimedia Commons’ core principles is: "Only free content is allowed." This is a basic rule of the place, as inherent as the NPOV requirement on all Wikipedias. Have you read our FAQ? For changing the name of a file, see Commons:File renaming. Any answers you receive here are not legal advice and the responder cannot be held liable for them. If you have legal questions, we can try to help but our answers cannot replace those of a qualified professional (i.e. a lawyer). Your question will be answered here; please check back regularly. Please do not leave your email address or other contact information, as this page is widely visible across the internet and you are liable to receive spam. Purposes which do not meet the scope of this page: Please do not make deletion requests here: use the relevant process for it instead. For technical support and graphics talks (PNG, SVG, GIF, etc.), please post on the Graphics village pump. To ask for image improvement, see: Graphic Lab/Photography workshop for photographs. Graphic Lab/Map workshop for maps. Graphic Lab/Illustration workshop for other illustrations. To ask for video or audio improvement, see Commons:Graphic Lab/Video and sound workshop. For translation requests, please post at Commons:Requests for translation. For media requests, please post at Commons:File requests. Search archives:     Start a new discussion

#	💭 Title	💬	👥	🙋 Last editor	🕒 (UTC)
1	Self-talken photo	14	8	Joshbaumgartner	2024-08-11 01:54
2	Should we convert all TIFFs to JPEGs?	34	23	Zache	2024-08-12 16:53
3	Semi-protection on the Village Pump?	11	7	Yilku1	2024-08-07 18:51
4	Further dissemination of Wikimedia Commons Atlas of the World needed	33	6	MGeog2022	2024-08-13 12:07
5	Nearcoord and SDC	5	4	Jmabel	2024-08-07 19:19
6	Image file seems broken	4	3	Glrx	2024-08-07 04:06
7	New type of tram in Częstochowa	1	1	Smiley.toerist	2024-08-07 11:58
8	Category:Files that need updating	11	4	Enhancing999	2024-08-11 18:03
9	Good news: Cat-a-lot works again like a charm!	5	5	Una tantum	2024-08-12 08:06
10	Bangladesh files in West Bengal	6	3	Sbb1413	2024-08-11 12:45
11	Can someone please revert the rotation of File:EB1911 Palaeontology - ichthyosaur with young - restoration.jpg	4	3	DivermanAU	2024-08-09 02:02
12	Add "Upload file" link for mobile?	20	10	Enhancing999	2024-08-12 11:16
13	Flickr2Commons	12	4	Jeff G.	2024-08-13 12:37
14	Uploading photos from City of Melbourne website	10	5	Trade	2024-08-09 20:16
15	Special:UncategorizedCategories	9	4	Jmabel	2024-08-10 19:23
16	Dating Monaco postcard	6	4	Smiley.toerist	2024-08-10 20:30
17	COM:CSD#G4	8	5	Jonteemil	2024-08-10 19:06
18	Template documentation	4	3	Joshbaumgartner	2024-08-12 18:41
19	Different Types of Flagmaps	1	1	Kamran.nef	2024-08-11 13:24
20	Resolving Potential Copyright, Educational Value, and Scope Problems with Media for a Wikibooks Project	10	3	Adamant1	2024-08-13 01:06
21	E.R.C. acronym	3	2	Richard Arthur Norton (1958- )	2024-08-12 00:02
22	One‑off Creative Commons license on East Side Gallery photograph	11	2	RobbieIanMorrison	2024-08-13 12:54
23	Fatal errors when editing	4	4	WikiOriginal-9	2024-08-13 21:53
24	People taking pictures	10	5	Adamant1	2024-08-13 12:43
25	Should galleries use the translate extension?	1	1	Matrix	2024-08-12 10:52
26	Uploads stopped working	5	3	Pigsonthewing	2024-08-14 10:06
27	Message in AutoWikiBrowser - "doesen't have enought previleges"	0	0
28	Category:Jeu de l'assiette and Category:Belltafel	1	1	Jonas kork	2024-08-14 08:05

Legend
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A village pump in Burkina Faso [add]

Centralized discussion See also: Village pump/Proposals   ■ Archive Commons:Requests for comment/Hosting of free fonts in Commons (18 July 2024) How do we organize categories by date (14 May 2024) Should PD-CQ Roll Call be used for recent images? (5 January 2024) Technical needs survey (17 December 2023) When does PDART apply to textile works? (15 November 2023) Does this image contain "love hearts"? (17 August 2023) Overhaul of categories by period (5 December 2022) Version of Saudi flag to use (11 July 2022) Concern regarding revocability of KOGL licenses (22 December 2021) Should deleting content from your own talk page be forbidden? (11 November 2021) Revise the COM:FOP Sweden section (1 February 2021) Change technical name of LRs to license-reviewer from image-reviewer(2 November 2023) Template: View   ■ Discuss    ■ Edit   ■ Watch

November 4

Low vs High

Hi,

I'm having troubles with low performance in articles using high resolution images uploaded from Flickr. When I upload a Flickr image, I select the medium resolution, because it will just help making the text more informative and visually attractive, and it is not a photo quality contest. But there is a Robot which uploads the higher resolution available in Flickr. This action causes three problems: increases the amount of storage required on the servers, increases the internet traffic from a few Kb to some Mb and the file disappears from "My uploads" list.

Well, I have tried to revert it, but appears I have infringed some kind of rule with this action. So, I would like to know if there is a way I can use the lower resolution image instead of the "current" version.

I have an example with a revert and a revert of the revert, here:

Sounding Rocket Sample Payload

I just want to use the 285 Kb image, that is all.

One of the articles currently using it is this one.

Thanks.

--Marcric (talk) 16:09, 4 November 2012 (UTC)

We always want the highest resolution version available. Please read Commons:First steps/Quality and description. Storage at Wikimedia servers is not an issue (and since previous revisions are still kept, uploading a low-resolution version on top of it only uses more storage). Images used in articles with the thumb option or a specified pixel size are scaled server-side, as are previews shown on file description pages, so no bandwidth is not an issue either. —LX (talk, contribs) 18:27, 4 November 2012 (UTC)

Please read {{No scaled down dupes}} -- Rillke^(q?) 19:55, 4 November 2012 (UTC)

OK, I was doing it wrong, will upload the highest possible resolution from now on, thanks. And about the "side effect" ? Is there any chance to put my user name back as the images up loader to get the images back to "My uploads" list? And a suggestion: if possible, it would be nice to change the robot to keep the original up loader name. Regards --Marcric (talk) 00:49, 5 November 2012 (UTC)

It is impossible to have it keep the original uploader's name when reuploading a new version (the bot would require the password to your account), but I agree that "My uploads" should list images you originally uploaded even after they are overwritten by someone else. Dcoetzee (talk) 06:47, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

possible unfree soundtrack

Does anybody know if the soundtrack of that movie is unfree? Thx--Sanandros (talk) 20:01, 5 November 2012 (UTC)

Linking to the file itself is not helpful; we need to see the description page. File:Humorous Phases of Funny Faces.ogg links to the Library of Congress page which says that the music is by Philip Carli, who is almost certainly this Philip Carli. Since there's no explicit copyright license, we can't assume that's it's free. It might be worth communicating with him about this; I also wonder if there's any way we could get a higher quality copy from the Library. Unfortunately, this was done 10 years ago, and they worried about bandwidth limits at the time, not producing the highest quality video.--Prosfilaes (talk) 00:20, 6 November 2012 (UTC)

The soundtrack has already been removed from the video, issue resolved. Dcoetzee (talk) 06:45, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

November 6

Deprecated / discourage usage of Template:PD-MacaoGov

After previous mass clean up of Template:PD-MacaoGov in Commons:Deletion requests/Files in Category:PD MacaoGov, I wonder if we should discourage or even deprecated the usage of the template over commons since mainly one would upload images over here while the template DOES NOT cover any images at all. Chanueting (talk) 06:35, 6 November 2012 (UTC)

It covers scans of texts; it's possible someone will want to load scans of texts to transcribe on a Wikisource.--Prosfilaes (talk) 07:55, 6 November 2012 (UTC)

You are right, but how about putting up a warning like Template:PD-US? I cannot find an image in Category:PD MacaoGov fulfil the license policy right now. Chanueting (talk) 19:51, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

Maybe rename the template {{PD-MacaoGov-text}}, and change {{PD-MacaoGov}} to a template like {{PD-UK}}. It needs to be really clear that the template is nothing whatsoever like USGov. That's best done explicitly in the template name - it's as close as we can get to slapping people and saying "did you read the template? DID YOU?" :) Rd232 (talk) 20:08, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

Template rewritten in {{PD-MacaoGov-text}} and delete nomination in Commons:Deletion requests/Clean up of PD-MacaoGov, please kindly share your idea. Thanks. Chanueting (talk) 04:03, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

Bot request

I have asked at User talk:Inductiveload#Another bot request for bot runs; may be the user is absent for a while, or somebot else wants do this. sarang♥사랑 07:22, 6 November 2012 (UTC)

Ok, on it -FASTILY ^(TALK) 22:09, 6 November 2012 (UTC)

Category:Stadiums rooms

It is fine or category stadium areas (where to also put Category:seating areas of stadiums) sounds better? thanks a lot. Regards--Pierpao.lo (listening) 10:41, 6 November 2012 (UTC)

It's not good English ("Stadium rooms" would be better). AnonMoos (talk) 13:54, 6 November 2012 (UTC)

Or "Rooms in stadiums" - Jmabel ! talk 15:42, 6 November 2012 (UTC)

I agree with Jmabel - the subject should be followed by the qualifier. --Skeezix1000 (talk) 16:29, 6 November 2012 (UTC)

Thanks--Pierpao.lo (listening) 20:45, 6 November 2012 (UTC)

odd disappearance of photos.

We are running a photo contest related to the Mexican holiday of Day of the Dead. The category for the pictures is Category:Día de Muertos estilo Wiki. However, although there are over 400 pics in the category, only the first three uploaded photos appear if I havent signed into my account.Hitting refresh does not help. After I sign in and return to the page, all of the photos appear. Any ideas why? Thelmadatter (talk) 21:39, 6 November 2012 (UTC)

Use shift-refresh to force refresh (on Firefox and Chrome at least.) ghouston (talk) 23:29, 6 November 2012 (UTC)

Picture based shapes

Hi,

I have created a cylindrical shape of the MR-12 Russian rocket based on a picture which could be seen here (the second one), credited to Mark Wade. How should I upload and classify it ? {{PD-shape}} ? And the Author ? Is it My own work or Mark Wade's ?

Thanks --Marcric (talk) 22:06, 6 November 2012 (UTC)

November 7

Freedom of speech related Valued Image candidates

• Two Freedom of speech related candidates for Valued image, discussion pages listed, below:

1. Commons:Valued image candidates/Free-speech-flag.svg
2. Commons:Valued image candidates/Streisand Estate.jpg

Comments and input would be most appreciated, -- Cirt (talk) 07:01, 7 November 2012 (UTC)

WhatIsThat? tool not working (well)

I've been noticing issues with the WhatIsThat? tool available in the Toolbox (if activated in Preferences). For some images it returns results, for some less than the original Magnus' WhatIsThat? and for some none at all. Take for example File:Cities of Sumer (en).svg. If you look at en:Summer and pt:Suméria articles which use the image, there are descriptions there. Yet the tool doesn't find them. Anyone knows more on this topic? I found it a very useful tool to add multilingual descriptions to images, if it works... Thanks. --Codrin.B (talk) 13:17, 7 November 2012 (UTC)

You can try to ask DieBuche -- Rillke^(q?) 18:33, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

TimedMediaHandler just enabled on this wiki

Hi everyone, we just enabled TimedMediaHandler on this wiki. This should mean big improvements in video playback, but of course, with all new technology, there may very well be new bugs that get introduced. Please let us know either by commenting here or by filing a bug at https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org. Thanks! -- RobLa-WMF (talk) 17:30, 7 November 2012 (UTC)

Victory! Awesomeness! Magical ponies!

Been waiting for that for years! \o/

• I guess TMH is responsible for the new “Transcode status” info on file description pages (eg File:Poulpevolant.ogv). I could not find documentation about it, could you elaborate on its meaning?
• It was my understanding that TMH enabled server-side transcoding of videos, so that they are served at the format and bitrate requested. How is it requested, through thumbs? (Trying to play from video galleries loads a pop up with the full resolution).

Thanks *a lot* for enabling this!

Jean-Fred (talk) 18:29, 7 November 2012 (UTC)

Ok, poking around, I understand that the generation of the various versions (WebM & Ogg versions at different bitrates) is queued in MediaWiki job queue. What triggers the scheduling, the first request of the video or is it planned to “touch” each Commons video to get it generated? I suppose generated versions are kept/cached − like scaled images − are they automatically purged? For curiosity, is it possible to consult the queue?

TMH was also supposed to allow transcoding at upload time, from eg WebM, is it active as well?

Jean-Fred (talk) 18:58, 7 November 2012 (UTC)

Transcodes get inserted into the queue for all active videos, as the backlog is catching up we can also poke other videos. Right now its not possible to inspect the queue, this will hopefully change soon. Transcoded videos are not purged like thumbnails, its possible to reset failed transcodes though.

UploadWizzard supports WebM uploads now. Transcoding from unsupported formats is possible with Firefogg but its currently not enabled on commons.

--JanGerber (talk) 19:22, 7 November 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the answers. Jean-Fred (talk) 23:54, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

See Introducing Wikipedia’s new HTML5 video player on Wikimedia Foundation blog. Jean-Fred (talk) 23:54, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

Question on when educational scope ends

I'm writing an article on the Seattle Union Record and there's a number of PD images of the paper. Would it be appropriate for me to upload every image I can find of issues and covers of the paper? I might see if Wikisource has a use for them as well. Ryan Vesey Review me! 19:56, 7 November 2012 (UTC)

• I'd be in favor of this. Does anyone think otherwise? - Jmabel ! talk 02:10, 8 November 2012 (UTC)
• When uploading complete issues, I strongly recommend using either PDF or djvu, to keep the pages together in a single file and easy to read in order. You can separately upload any pages you wish to display in an article. Covers can also be uploaded by themselves. Let me know if you need help assembling the images into single files like this. Dcoetzee (talk) 06:41, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

• Do you upload them as subpages? Ryan Vesey Review me! 17:26, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

• Yes, I think it's good to upload all images, striving for complete issues using either PDF or djvu as described by Dcoetzee. cmadler (talk) 13:50, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

November 8

Request for information about tourist guide

Seeking information about a story by tourist guide in Hoorn, Netherlands pertaining to 2 women who apparently helped Jews and others during WWII hiding them in their home in Hoorn. Members of the Gastapo were also using the same home and they all shared the same kitchen. There is a plaque on the outside wall of the house with a picture of the 2 women. I am trying to confirm this information to incorporate into a slide presentation. Amy help with this would be appreciated. Jim Heins, living in Kensington, Maryland, USA -- 03:13, 8 November 2012‎ 71.191.12.214

This isn't the right site - please see en:Wikipedia:Reference desk/Humanities. Dcoetzee (talk) 06:42, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

Template:PD-Art

There is an important issue about {{PD-Art}} raised at Commons:Village_pump/Copyright#template:PD-Art. Please leave any comments there. Thanks, Rd232 (talk) 08:22, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

Orson Welles images

Could recent uploads including a 1938 image of Orson Welles and a promotional still from The Third Man be checked? The uploader claims to be the source and owner of the images, and that's not likely. Thanks. — WFinch (talk) 14:19, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

• Clearly these at least have a licensing problem. I have no idea whether they are public domain or not. - Jmabel ! talk 16:38, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

Botanical indexings

Hi, there's recently been sporadic attempts to key this hybrid rose with a "?", which of course appears out very irritating on the public list as being of virtually no meaning. I do not know of an earlier acceptance of such use of a question mark for a sorting purpose here on Wiki, and obviously would prefer forwarding a substitution that better caters for that mis-key's pure intent. To start, we may want to comment at Category talk:Hybrid Tea - Jadis. Regardz, Orrlingtalk 17:29, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

Is this edit what you're talking about? Foroa using a ? sortkey to indicate a possible problem with the classification of the category? Rd232 (talk) 18:05, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

What point is there in presenting the above text as "hard to understand"? The link given by me is the correct link Orrlingtalk 18:28, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

The link isn't the issue, it's the explanation. Is there some reason you don't want me to help clarify? Rd232 (talk) 18:31, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

OK. as said above, it's about what seems to be a mis-keying of Category:Hybrid Tea - Jadis with a "?"-sign, being a dash uncommon; I was inviting the collective to participate in agreeing on a more aesthetic & communicative channel to refer to questioned plant species. Orrlingtalk 18:38, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

November 9

Fullscreen in new video player doesn't work

Tracked in Phabricator
Task T43915

I noticed that we now have a nifty new video player embedded; seems to be named Kaltura and looks nice. However, if I try the fullscreen button e.g. at File:Maschine-stadt-luzern.ogv, I don't get fullscreen video - quite the opposite, the video just disappears from the page (the sound is still there, but no picture). SeaMonkey 2.13.2 on Windows Vista. Gestumblindi (talk) 00:56, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

The developer console shows: "Warning: Request for full-screen was denied because full-screen API is disabled by user preference." I'll open a bug ticket to handle this. TheDJ (talk) 10:23, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

Hi! About the description language selectio in the Upload Wizard

I found that the description language selection changed in the Upload Wizard. Before, if you would like to select English, you will select "English", now, I need to select "英文" - the chinese word. It is hard to find the correct language. Could I changed it in the preference? ----- 化学是你,化学是我 04:13, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

All gigapixel images uploaded as tile sets

All public domain gigapixel artwork from Google Art Project and Prado in Google Earth produced so far, a total of 48 works, are now available at Category:Tile sets at full original resolution. The largest (155267 × 89344 or 13.9 gigapixels) is The Garden of Earthly Delights, shown below (the small image below the grid shows the single JPEG non-tiled version, to scale). No work I've seen could be more deserving of a high-resolution treatment, considering its enormous physical size (2.2 × 3.9 m) and detailed intricacy.

The smallest is an extremely long and thin image of one of the Dead Sea Scrolls (127488 × 5013 or 639 megapixels, see Category:Tile set of The Great Isaiah Scroll MS A (1QIsa)) shown below:

I'd appreciate any feedback on this upload project. (The rest of the Google Art Project works fit in a single JPEG file just fine, and a lot are still pending review.) Thank you! Dcoetzee (talk) 10:56, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

Wow! I am lost at words to congratulate you for these wonderful works. Yann (talk) 11:20, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

Yes, that Bosch scan is nothing short of spectacular. As you said, no work could be more deserving of this hi-res treatment! Thank you for your work on this. cmadler (talk) 14:21, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

DMCA Take-Down

A group of 59 photographs (see list below) have been removed based on the receipt of a DMCA takedown notice made pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. 512 (the “DMCA”). The Wikimedia Foundation (“WMF”) takes alleged copyright infringement very seriously and carefully examines each takedown notice received and the image in question for compliance with U.S. copyright law. This images were of various publicly-installed sculptures around the world created by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen

Some of these sculptures are located in countries that recognize “freedom of panorama”, while others are not. Currently, U.S. copyright law does not recognize freedom of panorama for works of art, such as sculptures, and thus the copyright holder of a sculpture has the right to exclude others from publishing images of that sculpture, so long as it still enjoys copyright protection. While it is true that some of the sculptures in question here are located in countries whose copyright regime conflicts with the U.S’s regime, current U.S. conflict of law principles indicate that U.S. copyright law would apply in evaluating the scope of a copyright holder’s rights.

WMF strongly supports a change in U.S. copyright law that would extend freedom of panorama to artwork so that more people can experience beautiful and thought-provoking works of art that they would not otherwise be able to enjoy. However, WMF is a U.S.-based organization that must comply with U.S. laws as they presently exist, including U.S. copyright law, conflict of law principles, and the DMCA.

What Can I Do?

If you want to express your support for the extension of freedom of panorama to works of art (and you are a resident of the United States), you can write your U.S. senators and/or representative.

If you feel that a particular image does not infringe the alleged copyright holder’s rights, you can contest the takedown notice by submitting a “counter-notice” to us. Before doing so, you should understand your legal position and you may wish to consult with an attorney. If you submit a counter-notice, the alleged copyright holder can stop us from restoring the content by suing you. Please note that WMF will not be a party to any legal action that arises from you sending a counter-notice, and that WMF is unable to provide you with legal advice.

More information on DMCA compliance may also be found at:

• http://www.chillingeffects.org/dmca512/faq
• https://www.eff.org/issues/dmca
• http://www.copyright.gov/onlinesp/

Filing a Counter-Notice

If you choose to submit a counter-notice, you must send a letter to legal@wikimedia.org asking WMF to restore this image. The letter must comply with DMCA standards and must contain the following:

• A link to where the content was before we took it down;
• A statement, under penalty of perjury, that you believe the content was taken down mistakenly;
• Your name, address, and phone number;
• If your address is in the United States, a statement that says “I consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court in the district where my address is located, and I will accept service of process from the person who complained about the content I posted”; or if your address is outside the United States, a statement that says “I agree to accept service of process in any jurisdiction where I can be found”; and finally,
• Your physical or electronic signature.

Pursuant to the DMCA, WMF must inform the alleged copyright holder that you sent us a counter-notice and give the alleged copyright holder a copy of the counter-notice. We will restore this image within ten (10) to fourteen (14) business days, provided that the alleged copyright holder does not give notice of suit to restrain re-posting of the material.

Involved images

Thank you. --Philippe Beaudette, Wikimedia Foundation (talk) 21:27, 9 November 2012 (UTC)