Commons:Cross-wiki upload
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This page in a nutshell: Due to massive upload of copyright violations and wrong licensed files through the cross-wiki upload form Wikimedia Commons community decided to block this feature for new accounts. |
Cross-wiki upload or mw:Upload dialog is a tool with a small interface to upload files to Wikimedia Commons while editing articles on Wikipedia. The tool is intended for users to upload their own works and only allows works to be uploaded under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 license.
Many users have uploaded works that are not their own through that tool, violating the copyright of others. In July 2024 the Wikimedia Commons community supported the idea of blocking to the tool for all users without the autoconfirmed right.
Problem
[edit]Admins on Commons are deleting many files uploaded through the tool as copyright violations. As the tool only allows the upload of own works, many users claim the work of others as their own work.
A user experience and design research report by the WMF published in June 2024 proved these observations made by the community for years. The report also showed that people think they are uploading files to the local Wikipedia and not to Wikimedia Commons, which they might not even know about.
participants [of the interviews] are largely mistaken about who owns the copyright.
No one [among the interviewees] is aware that personal images are not allowed on Wikipedia, yet it is one of the most frequent violations.
The GUI of the upload dialog prefills most declaration statements, and only mentions "consider using" the Upload Wizard for cases "if you do not own the copyright on this file, or you wish to release it under a different license" (July 2024).
Cross-wiki uploads have been restricted by Abuse filter since 2016.
Needed changes
[edit]The MediaWiki default text (mw:Manual:$wgUploadDialog) on the upload page should be changed to inform users that they are only able to use the tool if they have edited directly on Wikimedia Commons before. Local Wikis might need to change their how-to and guideline pages. If wikis want to remove the feature entirely, they have to request a configuration change.
Other known issues with cross-wiki upload
[edit]- Location coordinates are not recognized (WP/T)
Other tools and future development
[edit]Other tools allowing direct upload from other wikis are not affected by this.
The restrictions might be lifted after implementation of a new design for the cross-wiki upload process.