Wikipedia:Signatures of living persons

There is no consensus to reproduce signatures in Wikipedia articles, and there is some concern regarding reproducing the signatures of living persons. Some believe that signatures of living persons, in general, should only be displayed in articles when a person has published their own signature, and reliable secondary sources reproduce the signature. Copyright and trademark issues may also affect the decision to include a signature. Concerns about privacy and identity theft may lead to a signature being removed upon the request of the subject.

Inclusion
Generally, there is no consensus on the reproduction of signatures of living persons in Wikipedia. If inclusion is challenged discussion on the relevant article talkpage to decide the value of reproducing a signature would be appropriate. Criteria to consider would be whether: (1) the subject has published their own signature; (2) secondary sources have reproduced the signature, with the subject's consent; (3) the image of the signature is from a reliable source, (4) the signature is directly relevant to the article in which it is displayed, and (5) the use of the signature violates any relevant laws.

Legal issues
The legal status of signatures is disputed, varies with jurisdiction, and mainly depends on whether they are copyrightable as "artistic works." Like calligraphy, they generally are in the public domain, because they consist entirely of information that is common property and contain no original authorship (see Template:PD-ineligible), but the appearance of signatures, rather than names, may sometimes be protected. Whether a signature can be considered an artistic work depends on its originality and creativity, or whether it involves "skill, judgement, and labour". Files of signatures considered ineligible for copyright both in the US and the country of the individual concerned may be tagged with PD-signature.

There are a variety of non-copyright laws which may affect the uploader and/or the Wikimedia Foundation, including personality rights and privacy rights. Work surrounding the signature might be copyrighted, using a signature could be false attribution, a signature used on product might suggest endorsement (i.e. passing off), and signatures may be trademarked. Trademarked signatures should be treated the same as trademarked logos.

Privacy
Copying a signature from a primary source may be a misuse of the source and a breach of privacy but generally is not.

Editors should provide clear justification of importance for the use of the signature of any living person where such signature is not already available in widely published sources. If a person (or a representative of) requests that their signature be removed from an article some believe that the signature should be removed and the VRT team should be notified.