Wikipedia:File copyright tags/Free licenses

Free content is free as in freedom. This page links to some of the most popular licenses for releasing such content. This page can be reached via http://enwp.org/WP:ICT/FL when forwarding the full URL is not convenient. If an image is available under one of these licenses, it is acceptable to be used in Wikipedia.

Berkeley Software Distribution

 * BSD – BSD licenses

Creative Commons

 * cc-zero – Creative commons zero 1.0 license.
 * Cc-by-1.0 – Attribution 1.0 license.
 * cc-by-2.0 – Attribution 2.0 license.
 * cc-by-2.5 – Attribution 2.5 license.
 * cc-by-3.0 – Attribution 3.0 license
 * cc-by-4.0 – Attribution 4.0 license.
 * cc-by-sa-1.0 – Attribution-Sharealike 1.0 license.
 * cc-by-sa-2.0 – Attribution-Sharealike 2.0 license.
 * cc-by-sa-2.5 – Attribution-Sharealike 2.5 license.
 * cc-by-sa-2.5-in – Attribution-Sharealike 2.5 India license based on Indian law.
 * cc-by-sa-3.0 – Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 license.
 * cc-by-sa-4.0 – Attribution-Sharealike 4.0 license. This is suggested as a file licensing tag for image creators.

Generally, a work licensed under a CC tag with more requirements cannot be integrated into a work licensed under a more permissive CC license (such as integrating a CC BY-SA work into a CC BY work), unless the entire target work switches to the less permissive license.

Other Creative Commons licenses exist but are non-free for use in Wikipedia. See Non-free Creative Commons licenses for a full list and explanation.

Free Art license (Licence Art Libre)

 * FAL – Free Art license (info)

GNU's Not Unix!
Note: The licenses in this section require reprinting the entire license text with any reuse of the image. If you created the image yourself, please consider using a different license. If one includes any of the content, the entire book/section goes under GFDL, unlike CC BY-SA.
 * GFDL – GNU Free Documentation License (no invariant sections or cover texts) – from August 2021 these are no longer acceptable for most new uploads, see WP:NOMOREGFDL
 * GFDL-self – GFDL template, remarking that uploader holds copyright.
 * – user has released this image under the GFDL. Heckert GNU white.svg
 * GFDL-retouched – GFDL template, remarking that a previous PD work has been digitally enhanced, and re-released under GFDL.
 * GFDL-OpenGeoDB – GFDL (images from http://opengeodb.de).
 * wikipedia-screenshot – Screenshots of Wikipedia web pages.
 * GPL – GNU General Public License. This tag is designed for GPL images licensed by others (usually as part of a software package). Do not use it to tag images you created yourself. Use another free license.
 * GPL-2 – GNU General Public License, version 2 only.
 * LGPL – GNU Lesser General Public License. This tag is designed for LGPL images licensed by others (usually as part of a software package). Do not use it to tag images you created yourself. Use another free license.

MIT (Expat)

 * Expat license – MIT License (also known as the Expat license)

Mozilla

 * MPL – Mozilla Public License.

UK Government

 * OGL – Open Government Licence version 1.0
 * OGL-2.0 – Open Government Licence version 2.0
 * OGL-3.0 – Open Government Licence version 3.0