Wikipedia:GLAM/UAlbertaLibrary/Resources/ImageCCEmail

Steps to add a copyrighted image to WikiCommons
If you are working on a page and would like to include an image not already in WikiCommons and you cannot find one with a free license (What is a free license? See page 10 or Wiki Edu), you can contact the photographer or copyright holder and ask them for permission.

Once they agree, there are three options:
 * 1) upload the image themselves to Wikicommons
 * 2) post it to another site (like their personal site, or Flickr) with the appropriate free license (CC-BY, CC-BY-SA or CC Zero). The advantage of this is it can drive traffic back to their website.
 * 3) give you permission to upload and use the photo. In order to properly document the correct permissions we’ve created some email templates you can use and modify to contact the photographer and ensure the image is properly filed on Commons.

First email to the photographer asking for permission.
Dear [Photographer], I am writing in my role as Wikipedia editor. I've recently created a Wikipedia page for [Page Name] and have been in touch with [Page Name if a biography] to ensure everything is accurate and all important details are included. One missing element yet to be added is a photo, and so [this person] gave me your email address to get in touch. We would like to add [the attached photo OR link to photo] to Wikimedia Commons so that it can be featured in the article. Wikimedia Commons requires that the copyright holder of an image upload the file under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Thank you for your consideration!
 * If you are willing to do so, I can send you directions for how to upload it properly to Wikimedia. [SEE BELOW]
 * If you're already familiar with Wikipedia / Wikimedia and want to just go ahead and upload it, that's great! I'll just need the uploaded file name to add it to the article.
 * If you'd rather not release the image, that's completely fine, no pressure.

Instructions for the Wikipedian
You, the Wikipedian, can upload the photo to Wikicommons with the tag OTRS pending|year=2021|month=X|day=X between. Send the email below to the photographer with the Commons link and their information already filled into the template. More information is here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:OTRS#Email_message_template_for_release_of_rights_to_a_file

Once they send the email below to Commons, add the tag Cc-by-sa-4.0,3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0 |1= between.

Second email to photographer if they agree
Dear [Photographer], Thank you for agreeing to upload your photo to Wikicommons. What I need you to do is review the text below and copy/paste it into a new email to permissions-commons@wikimedia.org and copy me. The wording is very specific to the requirements of Wikipedia but if you have any questions do let me know. Thank you so much! To: permissions-commons@wikimedia.org I hereby affirm that I am [Photographer Name], the creator and/or sole owner of the exclusive copyright of the media work as shown here: [LINK TO COMMONS FILE] and have legal authority in my capacity to release the copyright of that work. I agree to publish the above-mentioned content under the following free license: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International. I acknowledge that by doing so I grant anyone the right to use the work, even in a commercial product or otherwise, and to modify it according to their needs, provided that they abide by the terms of the license and any other applicable laws. I am aware that this agreement is not limited to Wikipedia or related sites. I am aware that the copyright holder always retains ownership of the copyright as well as the right to be attributed in accordance with the license chosen. Modifications others make to the work will not be claimed to have been made by the copyright holder. I acknowledge that I cannot withdraw this agreement, and that the content may or may not be kept permanently on a Wikimedia project. [Photographer Name], Copyright holder [Date]