FamilySearch Wiki:Image Use

Images in the FamilySearch Wiki are added to enhance the information in the articles, and to help users connect visually with the topics in the Wiki. These images should be:


 * 1) Relevant. The image should be relevant to a genealogical topic or record type and support a family history purpose.
 * 2) Comply. Comply with the Wiki Purpose, Policies and Procedures
 * 3) Noncommercial. They should not advertise or promote products. They should not infringe on intellectual property rights.

Describe image sources and information when submitting an image for approval. Obscene, provocative or profane images will not be allowed, will be immediately deleted, and the contributor will be blocked from editing the Wiki permanently.

Recommended images include

 * Pictures of places relevant to the locality specified in the FamilySearch Wiki that do not contain any persons (see Images of Persons below) and that follow the ownership and copyright guidelines are allowed and encouraged.
 * Scanned images of non-copyrighted documents or maps that have been released into the public domain, that are relevant to the article in which they will be placed, and that do not contain any image or information about living individuals. These images must follow the ownership and copyright guidelines.
 * Images with the correct Creative Commons license found here.

File types Accepted

 * png
 * jpg
 * jpeg
 * PDF
 * doc, docx
 * xls, xlsx

Religious Images
Images of religious icons should be used sparingly and in context. Note: To comply with Church Policy, no images of temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are allowed in the Wiki.

Images of persons
The FamilySearch Wiki is not intended for storage of biographical images or details on specific family members, ancestors, or family groups. Images of individuals and/or families are only allowed in the following instances, while following the ownership and copyright guidelines.


 * 1) Living individuals should not be included in any images.
 * 2) *Exceptions are:
 * 1) head shots (only) of the contributor, only to be posted to the contributor’s user page;
 * 2) individuals that are not identifiable because they are in the far distance of the image or their backs are to the camera; and
 * 3) an image of a society, library, or family history center showing the facilities being actively used.
 * 1) *If living individuals are included:
 * 1)Approval must be obtained from every person in the picture to post the picture publicly on the Wiki. If any of the individuals in the photo request that it be taken down, it will be removed from the site.
 * 2) The images must not include any of the situations in the Grounds for immediate rejection section (see below)
 * 1) Images of celebrities, government leaders, or high-profile individuals are forbidden.
 * 2) Images containing deceased individuals should only be added when the image contributes to the content of a page. For example, in an article that discusses the importance of hospital records for genealogical research, it may be appropriate to include an image of a doctor or group of nurses in a hospital. On a page discussing military records, it may be appropriate to include a photograph of a soldier or soldiers who are no longer living.
 * 3) If any question exists about whether any of the individuals in a photograph may be living, the image or photograph may not be added to the Wiki.
 * 4) When appropriate, non-copyrighted images of historic figures may be included in the Wiki. In order for images of historic figures to be approved, the contributor must include the location he or she intends to post the image, and the relevance for adding the image to that particular page.

Grounds for immediate rejection
FamilySearch reserves the right to determine if an file/image is appropriate for upload to the Wiki. Those submitting a rejected image may ask for clarification as to why it was rejected.

Family History Library Collection Image Approval
If the image has been taken from the Family History Library Collection, photographed, scanned, photocopied, downloaded, or otherwise replicated, a call number or microform number must be included with the image. If no call number or microform number is included, the image is rejected until the required documentation accompanies the image.

The appropriate license should be added to the image.

To check whether an image from the Family History Library Collection can legally be used in the wiki, see the guidelines on the Getting approval for Family History Library collection images to be used on FamilySearch Wiki.

Copyright and Ownership
By submitting images for upload to the Wiki, the owner takes responsibility for the violation of copyright laws. If there is any question about the copyright and/or ownership of an image, do not request to upload the file/image to the Wiki. While those screening images scan for obvious violations of copyright, the responsibility of declaring and protecting the image copyright is the sole responsibility of the image submitter.

The Creative Commons (CC) license covers content that is placed in our Wiki by contributors. If they hold the copyright to the material or it is their original material then they are allowing CC to govern it. If it comes from some other source then CC requires that you abide by that agreement. So if it comes from GNU or Wikimedia commons or any other source you must abide by that agreement in order to put it in our wiki. As long as proper attribution is given items from Wikimedia Commons, they can be placed in our wiki. Creative Commons lists proper attribution as follows:


 * Attribution — You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).

Documentation
All images uploaded to the Wiki are required to be documented, so that all users can see where the image came from (source), who created it (author) and under what permission (license) they have allowed it to be used. See Help:File page.

Related Policy

 * 3D Graphics or Illustrations

Procedures for Image Approval

 * Upload File/Image - use to submit an file/image for approval
 * Help:Submitting images for approval
 * Getting approval for Family History Library collection images to be used on FamilySearch Wiki