Wikipedia:Why was the image I uploaded moved to Wikimedia Commons?

This page is intended for Wikipedia editors who have uploaded a free image to Wikipedia and have been informed that this image has been (or will be) moved to Wikimedia Commons. Editors who upload free images perform a valuable service to the encyclopedia. Some of these editors have expressed concern when informed that their images will be moved elsewhere. This page is meant to explain why images are moved to Commons, in an effort to alleviate this confusion. Although this page refers to images, all free media (images, video, sound, etc.) are treated the same.

What is Wikimedia Commons
The Wikimedia Commons (also called "Wikicommons", "the Commons" or just "Commons") is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. Like Wikipedia, it is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. It provides a common resource repository to all the various Wikimedia sister projects in any language.

Files uploaded to Commons can be used like locally uploaded files on all projects on the Wikimedia servers in all languages, including Wikipedia, Wikibooks, Wikisource and Wikinews. They can also be downloaded for offsite use, as all of the content on Commons is either in the public domain or released under free licenses.

Before the Commons project was started, it was necessary to upload the same image to multiple Wikimedia projects in order for the image to be used on multiple projects. One key motivation behind Commons is to eliminate the effort necessary to upload the same image repeatedly and keep multiple copies of an image synchronized across multiple projects.

Why images are moved to Commons
Images are moved to Commons so that other Wikipedia projects (in other languages) can use them. The mission of Commons is to host free images for use on all Wikimedia Foundation projects, including Wikipedia. Some smaller Wikipedia projects in other languages do not allow any local image uploads, and can only use images that have been uploaded to Commons.

When an image from Wikipedia is uploaded to Commons, it is usually deleted from Wikipedia so that only one copy needs to be maintained. This does not affect the availability of the image on Wikipedia. Many images seen on Wikipedia are already hosted on Commons. Whether images are stored on Wikipedia or Commons, they can be used on Wikipedia in exactly the same way, using exactly the same syntax. The images' availability for use by Wikipedia, their licenses, and their availability for reuse by others is unchanged by being moved to Commons.

It is perfectly acceptable to upload free images directly to Wikipedia, or to upload them to Commons. When you upload images to Wikipedia under a free license, other users may move them from Wikipedia to Commons. This is expressly permitted by the free license under which the images are released. If you want to prevent images uploaded directly to Wikipedia from being deleted locally after being copied to Commons, use the Keep local tag.

How to track images that have been moved to Commons
It is not necessary for Wikipedia editors to participate on Commons, but some may prefer to do so to track and maintain images they originally uploaded to Wikipedia. It is not difficult to contribute to both projects.

Just like Wikipedia, anyone can contribute to Commons. Your Wikipedia account is not recognized by Commons by default. The recommended action is to make your existing Wikipedia account recognizable by Commons by following the directions at Help:Unified login. Alternatively, you can obtain an independent username on Commons.

Commons has preferences (in Preferences, User profile) that allow you to receive an email whenever a page on your watchlist, or your user talk page, is edited. This makes it easier to track any changes to images on Commons.