Help:Copyright on images

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PathfinderWiki includes artwork to enhance the reader's understanding of the articles on which they are presented. There is a strong case for fair use for many of the artworks that are present on the wiki, and provided that artworks are used sensibly and in an informative manner, there will be no cause to remove them.

To describe the copyright status of media uploaded to PathfinderWiki, each artwork should name the artwork's copyright holder, and include the year it was copyrighted and a copyright template that describes its copyright status or reason that its use on PathfinderWiki is explicitly permitted or covered as fair use.

tl;dr! When uploading images and other media to PathfinderWiki, you must explain why you're allowed to upload the media here, and you should—and in some cases must—provide a link to its source whenever possible. Copyright templates make it easy to do both!

Community Use Policy artwork

Paizo provides the Community Use Policy (CUP), which grants permission to non-commercial fan projects (such as PathfinderWiki) to reference Pathfinder and Starfinder subjects that are copyrighted by Paizo.

The CUP allows for certain copyrighted artworks to be reused by such projects, with some restrictions. These sources include:

• Artwork, though not photographs, posted to the Paizo blog at https://paizo.com/community/blog, including artwork from web fiction stories
• The contents of Paizo's Community Use Package
• Covers and product packaging images from the Paizo store at paizo.com

Such artwork permitted under the CUP cannot be modified in color, typography, design, or proportion. This includes flipping or reversing CUP artwork, even if the posted artwork differs from its use in a published work.

You can upload artwork covered by the CUP to PathfinderWiki. Include the {{Paizo CUP}} copyright template for the appropriate source:

• {{Paizo CUP|blog|url=...}} for art posted to the Paizo blog, with the link to the blog post as the url.
• {{Paizo CUP|cover|url=...}} or {{Paizo CUP|store|url=...}} for cover or product packaging artwork posted to the Paizo store, with the link to the product's page on the Paizo store as the url.
• {{Paizo CUP|package}} for art included in the Community Use Package. You can optionally include a url to the specific package on the Paizo store for convenience.

Covers and product packaging images

Covers from Paizo products can be used with Paizo's permission via the CUP, and should be denoted as such with the {{Paizo CUP}} copyright template on the cover's File page. When possible, use the template to denote the type of image and a URL to its source, such as {{Paizo CUP|store}} or {{Paizo CUP|blog}}.

Low-resolution images of other book covers and product packaging images can also be used. Despite the artwork on book covers being copyrighted material, anyone can go to an online bookstore and find the book cover. Since the cover itself acts as promotional material, it is not in the publisher's interests to prevent people from displaying the image. Use the {{Promotional}} template, explain that it is a book cover or product packaging image, and when possible provide links to where it was released.

Maps

Maps that have been made freely available on the Paizo blog or have otherwise been released under Paizo's Community Use Policy can be uploaded to PathfinderWiki.

Maps scanned or extracted from the source material are not suitable for upload to the wiki because these are copyrighted images not made available under the CUP. If they are of high-enough resolution to make out the details and labels on the map, they are of high-enough resolution to fall outside "fair use;" if not, there is little point in using the image because it will not be legible.

The CUP also allows for alternate interpretations of Paizo's maps, provided that they do not look substantially similar to Paizo materials. The PathfinderWiki Mapping project is provided under such an allowance.

The copyright on fan-made maps lies with the creator, so seek permission from the map's creator before uploading any unofficial maps to PathfinderWiki. Such maps incorporate information released under the CUP, and if uploaded to PathfinderWiki they should use the {{Incorporates CUP}} copyright template.

Photographs

Photographs can be informative when writing articles about Pathfinder staff, artists, freelancers, and other real-life people. They are always copyrighted unless otherwise specified, so seek permission from the owner of the photograph (not necessarily the person in the photograph) before uploading these to the wiki, even if they are low resolution. Photographs from Paizo.com are expressly excluded from the Community Use Policy unless they are used as cover images in the Paizo Store.

An exception to this rule is the product images for the various miniatures lines associated with the Pathfinder brand, which can be considered "cover images" under the CUP.

Other artwork

Artwork scanned or extracted from the source material is not allowed.

From Paizo streams, social media, and other venues

As a rule of thumb, if artwork from a Pathfinder product is presented as a free download on the Paizo Blog, you are permitted to upload it to PathfinderWiki under the Community Use Policy.

However, even if the artwork is distributed by Paizo but published elsewhere, such as in a news story on a third-party blog, a Paizo or third-party promotional video or stream, or even to Paizo-owned social media accounts like X, Bluesky, or Tumblr, that content is not covered by the Community Use Policy.

If there is a fair-use case to upload that content to PathfinderWiki, use the {{Promotional}} template to explain why.

From artist portfolios

Artwork from the source material posted by artists—such as in their portfolio, on their websites, or on sites like DeviantArt—that has not been released by Paizo on their blog cannot be legally uploaded to PathfinderWiki without Paizo's explicit permission. These images are released to the artists by Paizo under a closed license, and the artists do not have the right to extend that license to us.

If such an image must be used, get permission from the artist, then directly link to the image on their source site by using the {{External}} template.

From freely licensed sources

Freely licensed sources like Wikimedia Commons can be useful sources for illustrations of Pathfinder campaign setting subjects, such as dinosaurs, that also exist in the real world but lack CUP-licensed artwork.

Freely licensed artwork, such as public domain and art licensed under permissive, Creative Commons licenses such as Creative Commons-Attribution (CC-BY) and Creative Commons-Attribution-Share Alike (CC-BY-SA), can and may be uploaded to PathfinderWiki provided that they comply with any restrictions.

For example, uses of Creative Commons artwork must include attribution of the artwork's creators and contributors. Use the {{cc-by-3.0}}, {{cc-by-4.0}}, {{cc-by-sa-3.0}}, or {{cc-by-sa-4.0}} copyright templates as appropriate to indicate which type and version of the license is in use.

Public domain artwork must use the {{PD}} template, unless you are the artwork's creator and intend to release it into the public domain, in which case you can use the {{PublicDomain-Self}} template.

If you are using artwork from Wikimedia Commons—whether in whole, as an excerpt, or as a component of a new piece of artwork—also include the {{From Wikimedia}} template and link to its page on the Commons. While an individual person might be credited with the artwork on the Commons, linking to its source page also helps to acknowledge any other contributors to the work due to its open nature.

If you think another license allows free use on PathfinderWiki, contact an administrator or ask on the PathfinderWiki Discord for assistance.

Your own artwork

Several images on PathfinderWiki are contributed by PathfinderWiki users, such as many religious symbols by User:Ilzolende...

...and this visual timeline of the Runelords by User:VestOfHolding.

The CUP allows you to create and share artistic interpretations of Paizo subjects, as long as they don't substantially resemble official Paizo artwork. PathfinderWiki is itself a fan-made work, and it allows and includes several fan-made works that depict official canon subjects.

Note that while this can include depictions of official canon subjects, this does not permit fan works that deviate from canon, or original creations that do not exist in canon. As a canon encyclopedia, PathfinderWiki also does not include or use such works, regardless of their copyright permissibility.

As the creator of such works, you can decide how to license it and which copyright template to apply, such as a Creative Commons template, public domain template, {{Attribution}}, etc. Also include the {{Incorporates CUP}} template, such any depiction of copyrighted material from the Pathfinder campaign setting incorporates material allowed by the CUP.

Audio, video, and other media

Audio samples provided by Paizo for products like audioboooks and audio dramas can be uploaded only if they are designated as promotional materials using the {{Promotional}} copyright template and accurately sourced.

Video trailers, including those posted to the Paizo blog, are not covered by the Community Use Policy. Even for promotional use, you do not have permission to redistribute them by uploading them to PathfinderWiki. However, you can and may use the {{#ev:youtube}} function to embed Paizo videos from YouTube into articles. For an example, see Shades of Blood.