Wikipedia:Freedom of panorama



Freedom of panorama (FoP) is a copyright-law principle, in some but all jurisdictions, under which a building or other work that a) is subject to copyright but b) is on permanent public display, may be photographed/filmed in its public context without the derivative-work photographic record being a copyright infringement.

The English Wikipedia follows U.S. copyright law only, described in more detail at Commons:Copyright rules by territory/United States#Freedom of panorama. Basically, we accept images of buildings and structures taken anywhere in the world, but images of sculptures or other works of art. If the image is free in the country where the building is located or photographed, consider uploading to Wikimedia Commons instead. If the image is non-free in its source country, upload it locally to English Wikipedia under FoP-USonly.

The acceptance of such images under their original resolutions is the result of a consensus from 2012, which states that the English Wikipedia is only bound to comply with U.S. copyright law, and that U.S. freedom of panorama is permitted under lex loci protectionis.

Images of other works
Images of unfree three-dimensional works (like sculptures and monuments) from countries that have no freedom of panorama provisions should be treated as non-free images in accordance with the guidelines at Non-free content, even if the images are taken by the uploaders themselves. A typical image of unfree three-dimensional works must be tagged with Non-free 3D art, and if it has the uploader's license, an additional Photo of art tag is used. This is in addition to a detailed and justifiable non-free use rationale. If the images are still in their large and original resolutions, editors are highly-encouraged to tag these with Non-free reduce for reduction of their resolutions.

The same is applied to images of unfree two-dimensional works (like murals), from countries with no relevant freedom of panorama provisions. However, Non-free 2D art is used instead of the tag for 3D works.

Acceptable and unacceptable uses
Parts of this section are based on Non-free content.


 * Acceptable use/s
 * Image of a statue still under its artist's copyright, in a country with no complete freedom of panorama, to be used as an infobox image of the article discussing the statue itself.
 * Image of a recent painting or mural by a living artist, to be used for critical commentary, including images illustrative of a particular technique or school.


 * Unacceptable use/s
 * Image of a statue still under its artist's copyright, in a country with no complete freedom of panorama, to be used in an article of the subject of the statue.
 * Images of murals by living artists, used in a gallery section or in a list article.