Wowpedia talk:Copyright policy

Draft policy
It recently came up on the Village Pump that perhaps we should have a clearer and better enforced copyright policy. This is essentially an extension of DNP policy, though lengthy and complex enough that it warrants a separate page.

We haven't had too much in the way of trouble of this sort in the past, with the exception of when we had some unreleased content from the Burning Crusade, which was resolved relatively easily. However, it's not an issue on which it would be wise to get complacent and tempt fate. I have grave concerns looking at an article like Paladin lore, which consists of a good portion of what sounds to me like verbatim copied text. It's cited but not quoted, and reproduces far too much to be considered fair use. If Blizzard sees too much of that and considers it any sort of threat to their book sales, they are very likely to take action.

I've had a look at the basic issues of copyright and fair use in wikis, and have come up with an initial draft of policy standards we could put in place to ensure Blizzard gets its due. Of particular interest here is what set of policies will be understandable, enforceable, and cover the basic principles of fair use.--Aeleas 13:47, 10 January 2007 (EST)


 * I fully support including this on our site. It sets up a much clearer legal backing for what we do here and is certainly necessary should we have any lawsuits or cease and desist letters come our way. 15:29, 10 January 2007 (EST)


 * Quickly perusing... I support this movement. I'll put it on my todo list to review but what we need is a sexy and obnoxious copyright template. =) -- Hobinheim  ( talk ·  contr ) 17:09, 10 January 2007 (EST)

Sources other than Blizzard?
Example instance or leveling guides, boss strategy guides? My recommendation would be to approach the original author of the source you plan to use and obtain their approval for use, or their instructions on how the content could be used on the Wiki. --Dracomage 16:01, 11 April 2007 (EDT)

Attribution addendum
Not sure if the policy amendment process is being followed anymore, but Pcj added the [ following change]:

Using Wowpedia content on other sites
Using content from Wowpedia carries with it the expectation that the content will be attributed properly and that the content or any derivations of the content will be shared alike. To re-distribute a text page in any form, provide credit to the authors either by including a) a hyperlink (where possible) or URL to the page or pages you are re-using, b) a hyperlink (where possible) or URL to an alternative, stable online copy which is freely accessible, which conforms with the license, and which provides credit to the authors in a manner equivalent to the credit given on this website, or c) a list of all authors. (Any list of authors may be filtered to exclude very small or irrelevant contributions) If you make modifications or additions to the page you re-use, you must license them under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 or later. For further information, please refer to the legal code of the CC-BY-SA License. An example of appropriate attribution for Wowpedia content being re-used on another site:
 * This article uses material from the "Thrall" article on Wowpedia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.

Screenshots, videos, and other Blizzard-copyrighted source material may be used by permission from Blizzard. Content from external sources may have additional attribution requirements beyond what is described on this page. Off-wiki content (for example, e-mails and other forms of communication) is not necessarily released under this license unless otherwise stated. This change is still within the process, but should be described for historical purposes as a decreed policy. -- Fandyllic (talk · contribs) 11:11 PM PST 17 Nov 2010

Online Art From Unknown Source
Hey, I'm looking at posting a cropped piece of art I found online, on one of my user pages. I don't know who made it or what the copyright is (or if it even has one). I found it via a simple Google search. I can't find anything specifically touching this in the Copyright or Image policy. What am I able to do with this photo, if anything? Thanks, Grimn358 (talk) 00:34, 28 April 2011 (UTC)

Add wowwiki
Well today I just got informed about Copying from wowwiki. I know there was a template about this and I did read all the policies but.... where to find it. I suggest adding a section about this. Here's the message from foxlit. Thank you. 23:15, 7 October 2013 (UTC)

I mean all of this seems a bit bogus but it'll really most likely prevent many more mistakes like what I just did. 23:18, 7 October 2013 (UTC)


 * You actually scroll past the relevant message every time you edit an article (its right above the Summary box): "You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource. Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!" Copying from wowwiki without attribution simply falls under "[submitting] copyrighted work without permission," as CC-BY-SA only grants you permission if you attribute the work properly.
 * I see no reason to explicitly single out wowwiki in the policy: ultimately, it's up to the editors to ensure that they comply with the licenses of any content they add to Wowpedia, regardless of its source. — foxlit (talk) 16:20, 21 November 2013 (UTC)