Wikimedia Commons

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About Wikimedia Commons

This group is for users from Wikimedia Commons ( commons.wikimedia.org/ ) who are interested in Flickr, and Flickr users who are interested in Wikimedia Commons.

Wikimedia Commons (or "Commons") is a media repository under the umbrella of the Wikimedia Foundation, who also run Wikipedia. Commons hosts and organises media content (such as images) primarily for the benefit of Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects. There is significant overlap between Commons and Flickr, but Commons is not a free web host and it is not a personal media host like Flickr is.

Commons only allows media released under certain free content licenses. Of the licenses Flickr offers, Commons only accepts CC-BY (Creative Commons Attribution) and CC-BY-SA (Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike). Specifically, licenses with non-commercial (NC) or non-derivative (ND) requirements are NOT considered 'free licenses'.

Post here to learn more about either project. For example a Flickr user may post a photo that they believe will be useful for Commons, if they don't wish to upload it there themselves, a Commons user can do it for them. Commons users can also post their own photos here that need, for example, species identification (plants/animals), before uploading to Commons.

If you have any questions about Commons or Flickr, please ask!

Note that this Flickr group is not endorsed or officially organised by the Wikimedia Foundation in any way.

Useful links to learn about Commons:
* commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Project_scope (What kind of media is useful?)
* commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Licensing (which licenses are allowed?)
* commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons_talk:Licensing/Explain...
* Photos from Flickr that have been recognised as Featured Pictures on Commons (best of the best!)

Useful links to find images on Flickr suitable for Commons:
* www.flickr.com/creativecommons/by-2.0/
* www.flickr.com/creativecommons/by-sa-2.0/

http://commons.wikimedia.org/