Tachyony: Imported page

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{{short description|Media repository of free-use images, sounds, other media, and JSON files}}
{{distinguish|MediaCommons}}
{{Overly detailed|date=November 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2012}}

{{Infobox website
| logo = [[File:Commons-logo-en.svg|100px|Wikimedia Commons logo]]
| collapsible = yes
| caption = Screenshot of the Wikimedia Commons [[commons:Main Page|main page]]
| url = {{URL|https://commons.wikimedia.org}}
| commercial = No
| type = [[Digital library|Media repository]]
| registration = Optional (required for uploading files)
| owner = [[Wikimedia Foundation]]
| author = [[Wikimedia movement]]
| revenue =
| alexa =
| name = Wikimedia Commons
| screenshot = [[File:Commons screenshot.png|border|240px|Screenshot of Wikimedia Commons]]
| founded = {{Start date and age|2004|9|7}}
| current_status = Online
| content_license = Free
}}

'''Wikimedia Commons''' (or simply '''Commons''') is a [[Digital library|media repository]] of [[Free content|free-use]] images, sounds, other media,<ref name="Endres"/> and [[JSON]]<ref>{{cite web|author=Yurik |url=https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Tabular_Data |title = Help:Tabular Data|publisher = Commons.wikimedia.org |date = November 2019|access-date=March 29, 2019|author-link=mediawikiwiki:User:Yurik }}</ref> files. It is a project of the [[Wikimedia Foundation]].

Files from Wikimedia Commons can be used across all of the Wikimedia projects<ref name="Embedding">{{cite web |url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:First_steps/Reuse#Embedding_Commons'_media_in_Wikimedia_projects |title=Embedding Commons' media in Wikimedia projects |publisher=Wikimedia Commons |access-date=August 7, 2007}}</ref> in all languages, including [[Wikipedia]], [[Wikivoyage]], [[Wikisource]], [[Wikiquote]], [[Wiktionary]], [[Wikinews]], [[Wikibooks]], and [[Wikispecies]], or downloaded for offsite use. As of February 2022, the repository contains over 80 million free-to-use media files, managed and editable by registered volunteers.<ref name="CommonsStats">[[commons:Special:Statistics|Statistics page]] on Wikimedia Commons</ref> In July 2013, the number of edits on Commons reached 100,000,000.<ref name="100,000,000">{{cite web|author=ÄŒesky |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Village_pump/Archive/2013/07#100.2C000.2C000th_edit |title =100,000,000th edit |publisher = Commons.wikimedia.org |date = July 15, 2013|access-date=August 22, 2013}}</ref>

== History ==
{{Expand section|date=November 2021}}[[File:WikimediaMosaicCapture.png|thumb|Wikimedia logo [[mosaic]] created to commemorate the one-millionth file at Wikimedia Commons]]
The project was proposed by [[Erik Möller]] in March 2004<ref name="Moller" /> and launched on September 7, 2004.<ref name="LaunchMain" /><ref name="LaunchGolem"/>

== Relation to sister projects ==
The aim of Wikimedia Commons is to provide a media file repository "that makes available public domain and freely-licensed educational media content to all, and that acts as a common repository for the various projects of the Wikimedia Foundation." The expression "educational" is to be understood according to its broad meaning of "providing knowledge; instructional or informative".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Commons:Project scope|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Project_scope|access-date=2021-11-15|website=Wikimedia Commons}}</ref>

Most Wikimedia projects still allow local uploads which are not visible to other projects or languages, but this option is meant to be used primarily for material (such as [[fair use]] content) which local project policies allow, but which would not be permitted according to the [[copyright]] policy of Commons. Wikimedia Commons itself does not allow fair use or uploads under non-free licenses, including licenses which restrict commercial use of materials or disallow derivative works. For this reason, Wikimedia Commons always hosts freely licensed media and deletes copyright violations. Licenses that are acceptable include the [[Creative Commons license|Creative Commons]] Attribution and Attribution/ShareAlike licenses,<ref>{{Cite web|title=About The Licenses - Creative Commons|url=https://creativecommons.org/licenses/|access-date=2021-10-22|website=creativecommons.org|language=en-US}}</ref> other free content and [[free software]] licenses, and the [[public domain]].

The default language for Commons is English, but registered users can customize their interface to use any other available user interface translations. Many content pages, in particular policy pages and portals, have also been translated into various languages. Files on Wikimedia Commons are categorized using MediaWiki's category system. In addition, they are often collected on individual topical gallery pages. While the project was originally proposed to also contain free text files, these continue to be hosted on a sister project, [[Wikisource]].

== Controversial content ==
The site has been criticized for hosting large amounts of amateur pornography, often uploaded by [[exhibitionism|exhibitionists]] who exploit the site for personal gratification, and who are enabled by sympathetic administrators.<ref name="Daily Dot Pricasso">{{cite web |url=http://www.dailydot.com/technology/wikimedia-commons-photos-jimmy-wales-broken/ |title=The Daily Dot – How Wikimedia Commons became a massive amateur porn hub|website=[[The Daily Dot]]|date=June 25, 2013}}</ref> In 2012, [[BuzzFeed]] described Wikimedia Commons as "littered with dicks".<ref name="BuzzFeed dicks">{{cite web| url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/jackstuef/inside-the-seedy-world-of-wikipedia-exhibitionism |title=The Epic Battle For Wikipedia's Autofellatio Page|website=[[BuzzFeed]]}}</ref>

In 2010, Wikipedia co-founder [[Larry Sanger]] [[Reporting of child pornography images on Wikimedia Commons|reported Wikimedia Commons to the FBI]] for hosting sexualized images of children known as "[[lolicon]]". After this was reported in the media, [[Jimmy Wales]], founder of the [[Wikimedia Foundation]] which hosts Commons, used his administrator status to delete several images without discussion from the Commons community. Wales responded to the backlash from the Commons community by voluntarily relinquishing some site privileges, including the ability to delete files.<ref>{{cite web|title=Wikimedia's Wales gives up some top-level controls|url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20005082-93.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025174556/http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20005082-93.html|archive-date=October 25, 2012}}</ref>

== Utilities ==
Over time, additional functionality has been developed to interface Wikimedia Commons with the other Wikimedia projects. Daniel Kinzler wrote applications for finding appropriate categories for uploaded files ("CommonSense"), determining the usage of files across the Wikimedia projects ("CheckUsage"), locating images with missing copyright information ("UntaggedImages"), and relaying information about administrative actions such as deletions to the relevant wikis ("{{Srlink|commons:Commons:CommonsTicker|CommonsTicker}}").

Specialized uploading tools and scripts such as "[[c:Commonist|Commonist]]" have been created to simplify the process of uploading large numbers of files. At one time, in order to review free content photos uploaded to [[Flickr]], users could participate in a now-defunct collaborative external review process ("{{Srlink|Commons:User:FlickrLickr|FlickrLickr}}"), which resulted in more than 10,000 uploads to Commons.{{Failed verification|date=June 2013}}{{Dead link|date=April 2016}}There exists a community-maintained Commons Mobile App which allows uploading of photos that document the world, especially notable objects findable in the map in the Nearby List in the app (displaying Wikidata items with coordinates). The app launched in 2012 as an official Wikimedia app and since May 2016, it uses the official Wikimedia Commons name and logo.

=== Structured Data ===
[[File:Screenshot_of_various_structured_data_statements_of_a_photograph_of_sugar_cubes.png|thumb|Structured data statements for a picture of some sugar cubes]]
Structured Data on Commons (SDC) is a three-year [[Software development process|software development project]] funded by the [[Sloan Foundation]] to provide the infrastructure for Wikimedia Commons volunteers to organize data about media files in a consistent manner. This data is structured more and is made [[Machine-readable data|machine-readable]]. The goals of the functionality are to make contributing to Commons easier by providing new ways to edit, curate, and write [[software]] for Commons, and to make general use of Commons easier by expanding capabilities in [[Search engine technology|search]] and reuse.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/Submissions/Structured_Commons:_what_changes_are_coming%3F|title=Submissions/Structured Commons: what changes are coming?|website=Wikimania}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Structured_data|title=Commons:Structured data|website=Wikimedia Commons}}</ref>

== Quality ==
{{unreferenced section|date=June 2010}}
[[File:Featured picture nominations per month in Wikimedia Commons.svg|thumb|Successful featured picture nominations per month (2004-2019)]]
The site has three mechanisms for recognizing quality works. One is known as "[[commons:Commons:Featured pictures|Featured pictures]]", where works are nominated and other community members vote to accept or reject the nomination. This process began in November 2004. Another process known as "[[commons:Commons:Quality Images|Quality images]]" began in June 2006, and has a simpler nomination process comparable to "Featured pictures". "Quality images" only accepts works created by Wikimedia users, whereas "Featured pictures" additionally accepts nominations of works by third parties such as NASA. A third image assessment project, known as "[[commons:Commons:Valued images|Valued images]]", began on June 1, 2008, with the purpose of recognizing "the most valued illustration of its kind", in contrast to the other two processes which assess images mainly on technical quality.

The three mentioned processes select a slight part (less than 0.1%) from the total number of files. However, Commons collects files of all quality levels, from the most professional level across simple documental and amateur files up to files of very poor quality. Generally, Commons is not a competition but a collection; a quality of the description and organization of files and their descriptive and informational benefits are often more relevant than technical or artistic perfection of the files. Files with specific defects can be tagged for improvement and warning or even proposed for deletion but there exists no process of systematic rating of all files.

The site held its inaugural "Picture of the Year" competition, for 2006. All images that were made a Featured picture during 2006 were eligible, and voted on by eligible [[Wikimedia movement]] members during two rounds of voting. The winning picture was a picture of the [[Aurora Borealis]] over snowlands, taken by an airman from the [[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]]. The competition has since become an annual event.

===Wikimedia Commons Pictures of the Year===
The [[:c:POTY|Commons Picture of the Year]] (POTY) is a [[competition]] that was first run in 2006. It aims to identify the best [[Free license|freely licensed]] [[images]] from those that during the year have been [[award]]ed [[:c:Featured picture|Featured picture]] status.<ref>{{cite web|language=en|title=Commons:Picture of the Year|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year|website=Wikimedia Commons|access-date=2020-04-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Morris |first1=Kevin |title=Wikimedia's 12 best photos take you to the ends of the Earth |url=https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/wikimedia-commons-12-best-photos/ |access-date=28 October 2021 |work=The Daily Dot |date=28 February 2013}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed-hover" heights="200px">
File:Alcedo_atthis_-_Riserve_naturali_e_aree_contigue_della_fascia_fluviale_del_Po.jpg|[[commons:Commons:Picture of the Year/2020|2020]]
File:Mud_Cow_Racing_-_Pacu_Jawi_-_West_Sumatra,_Indonesia.jpg|[[commons:Commons:Picture of the Year/2019|2019]]
File:Evolution of a Tornado.jpg|[[commons:Commons:Picture of the Year/2018|2018]]
File:Perereca-macaco - Phyllomedusa rohdei.jpg|[[commons:Commons:Picture of the Year/2017|2017]]
File:Jubilee and Munin, Ravens, Tower of London 2016-04-30.jpg|[[commons:Commons:Picture of the Year/2016|2016]]
File:Pluto-01 Stern 03 Pluto Color TXT.jpg|[[commons:Commons:Picture of the Year/2015|2015]]
File:A butterfly feeding on the tears of a turtle in Ecuador.jpg|[[commons:Commons:Picture of the Year/2014|2014]]
File:Glühwendel brennt durch.jpg|[[commons:Commons:Picture of the Year/2013|2013]]
File:Pair of Merops apiaster feeding.jpg|[[commons:Commons:Picture of the Year/2012|2012]]
File:Lake Bondhus Norway 2862.jpg|[[commons:Commons:Picture of the Year/2011|2011]]
File:Laser Towards Milky Ways Centre.jpg|[[commons:Commons:Picture of the Year/2010|2010]]
File:Sikh pilgrim at the Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib) in Amritsar, India.jpg|[[commons:Commons:Picture of the Year/2009|2009]]
File:Biandintz eta zaldiak - modified2.jpg|[[commons:Commons:Picture of the Year/2008|2008]]
File:Broadway tower edit.jpg|[[commons:Commons:Picture of the Year/2007|2007]]
File:Polarlicht 2.jpg|[[commons:Commons:Picture of the Year/2006|2006]]

</gallery>

== Content figures ==
[[File:Geolocated images in Wikimedia Commons 2015-01-07.png|thumb|As of January 2015, there are well over 5.2M geolocated images in Wikimedia Commons. Mapping these shows significant variance in image numbers over the globe.]]
[[File:Commons Growth.svg|thumb|Growth of Wikimedia Commons]]
''Source: [[commons:Commons:Milestones]]''
* November 30, 2006: 1 million media files
* September 2, 2009: 5 million media files
* April 15, 2011: 10 million media files
* December 4, 2012: 15 million media files
* July 14, 2013: 100,000,000 edits<ref name="100,000,000"/>
* January 25, 2014: 20 million media files
* January 13, 2016: 30 million media files
* June 21, 2017: 40 million media files
* October 7, 2018: 50 million media files
* March 18, 2020: 60 million media files
* February 15, 2021: 70 million media files
* Current figures: [[commons:Special:Statistics]]

== Applications ==
* EuroOffice Online Clipart extension to use images from Wikimedia Commons <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.multiracio.com/eurooffice/eurooffice-online-clipart/|title=EuroOffice Online Clipart – EuroOffice / English|date=May 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528220540/http://www.multiracio.com/eurooffice/eurooffice-online-clipart/|archive-date=May 28, 2018}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Creative Commons]] – a project providing a set of content licenses and a directory of works using them
* [[Internet Archive]] – an online collection of videos, documents and webpages
* [[Project Gutenberg]] – the largest freely accessible collection of documents (including books and sheet music)
* [[Reporting of child pornography images on Wikimedia Commons]]

== References ==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="Endres">Endres, Joe, "Wiki websites wealth of information". International News on Fats, Oils and Related Materials : INFORM. [[Champaign, Illinois]]: May 2006. Vol. 17, Iss. 5; pg. 312, 1 pgs. Source type: Periodical {{ISSN|0897-8026}} ProQuest document ID: 1044826021 Text Word Count 746 Document URL: [https://search.proquest.com/docview/223600210 Proquest URL] ProQuest (subscription) retrieved August 6, 2007</ref>

<ref name="Moller">{{cite web |url=http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikipedia-l/2004-March/014885.html |title=<nowiki>[Wikipedia-l]</nowiki> Proposal: commons.wikimedia.org |last=Möller |first=Erik |date=March 19, 2004 |access-date=August 7, 2007}}</ref>

<ref name="LaunchMain">{{cite web |url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Main_Page&oldid=50 |title=Main Page |publisher=Wikimedia Commons |date=September 7, 2004 |access-date=August 7, 2007}}</ref>

<ref name="LaunchGolem">{{cite web |url=http://www.golem.de/0505/38234.html |title=Wikimedia Commons: Über 100.000 freie Bilder, Töne und Filme |date=May 25, 2005 |access-date=August 7, 2007 |language=de |publisher=[[:de:Golem.de|Golem.de]]}}</ref>

}}

== External links ==
{{sisterlinks|d=Q565|voy=no|mw=no|m=Wikimedia Commons|species=no|wikt=no|n=no|q=no|s=no|b=Wikimedia|v=Commons}}
* [[c:Special:MyLanguage/Main Page|Commons' Main Page]]
* [https://archive.org/details/wikimediacommons Mirror of Wikimedia Commons] by [[WikiTeam]]

{{Wikimedia Foundation}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Advertising-free websites]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Free content]]
[[Category:Image sharing websites]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 2004]]
[[Category:MediaWiki websites]]
[[Category:Multilingual websites]]
[[Category:Open content projects]]
[[Category:Photo archives]]
[[Category:Stock photography]]
[[Category:Video hosting]]
[[Category:Wikimedia projects]]
[[Category:Stock media]]

Wikimedia Commons - Revision history

Tachyony: Imported page