This is our official policy on copyright, especially with reference to image, video and sound files.
See also:
Disclaimer[]
Bleeding Edge is the intellectual property of Ninja Theory and/or Xbox Game Studios. Trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Text[]
Contrary to popular belief, content in a wiki is copyrighted. However, all text is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0. See Wikia:Wikia copyrights for details.
Since contributors are required to license their work under Creative Commons, it logically follows that they cannot submit any copyrighted work without appropriate permission from the copyright holder - they are legally incapable of licensing content to which they do not own the rights. Of course, if the copyright holder allows their material to be distributed under the Creative Commons, and has been properly attributed, then this is perfectly fine.
Videos[]
Videos from YouTube may be embedded here in 2 ways. The first way is using <youtube> tags. This involves directly streaming the video on the site.
The second way involves uploading the video to the site before embedding it into articles. This is the method now used by default in the Wikia edit interface. These videos must be licensed.
YouTube videos have a typical license. If the video you are uploading is released under the 'Standard YouTube license', then it must be tagged with Template:Video. The only other licensing options allowed on YouTube is a 'Creative Commons license'. Such videos must be tagged with Template:CC-BY-SA-1, stating who originally uploaded the video.
Images and Sound[]
Licenses[]
When contributing images or sound files, you must make sure you copyright license them properly. Below is a guide to what sorts of files are allowed and what license they should be published under.
- Your own image - When uploading, select I took this myself. Unless you specifically re-license it post-upload with one of the options below, it is assumed to be Public Domain and will be re-tagged as such.
- Images needing review
- Public domain - Uncopyrighted due to never being copyrighted or the copyright expiring. It is hard to tell if an image is public domain, so unless you have specific proof, its probably best not to contribute these. But if you know for sure it is public domain, you may contribute it under this licence, selecting the relevant option upon upload. Post-upload, visit the file's page and complete the licensing requirements - you must replace Template:PD with Template:PD1, stating why the image is public domain and where you got it from as directed. As a professional courtesy, consider crediting the original photographer where possible.
- Images needing review
- Images fully tagged
- If it is said to be the work of an employee of the US Federal Government, then according to Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code, the file is released into the public domain. Replace Template:PD with Template:PD/US Federal Government, adding the required source as directed. As a professional courtesy, consider crediting the original photographer where possible.
- Images fully tagged
- Creative Commons - If your file is released under any Creative Commons license, select the relevant option on upload, then complete the licensing requirements as directed by the template on the file page - you must replace Template:CC-BY-SA with Template:CC-BY-SA-1, stating who owns the copyright, preferably adding where you got it from.
- Images needing review
- Images fully tagged
- GDFL and Other Free Licenses - If your file is not released under a Creative Commons license, but is licensed under another free license - such as GDFL - select the relevant option on upload, then complete the licensing requirements as directed by the template on the file page - you must replace Template:Other free with Template:Free, stating the source, the license and who to attribute.
- Images needing review
- Images fully tagged
- Copyrighted or licensing unknown - DO NOT CONTRIBUTE. Such files will be deleted unless licensed according to one of the above criteria.
- Images needing review
- From Wikipedia? - The use of the From Wikipedia or another Wikimedia project option on upload is deprecated. The file should instead be licensed according to it's license at the source.
- Images needing review
- Fair Use - Fair use files are an exception to the use of copyrighted files without explicit permission, under certain strict circumstances. If you think your file meets the criteria for fair use, uploading using the relevant option, then complete the licensing requirements as directed by the template on the file page - you must replace Template:Fairuse with Template:Fair, stating the source and providing a copyright disclaimer.
Fair Use[]
Fair use licensing applies when:
- A file is copyrighted
- The file cannot be replaced with a non-copyrighted alternative (chances are there is no such alternative) - If a non-copyrighted alternative exists or can be made, a fair use file should be replaced with this.
- If it is observed that excluding the file would have a detrimental impact upon the site's ability to educate
Leaked Content[]
Any content that is leaked to the internet, most likely against a legally-binding non-disclosure agreement, is illegal. Therefore, for legal reasons, we cannot host any image or video files relating to such conduct. Additionally, we cannot host any information regarding leaks -- this means we cannot use leaked information in articles, we cannot link to sources of leaked information, and we cannot report any information obtained from leaks.