Wikipedia:Text copyright violations 101

Main pages: Wikipedia:Copyrights and Wikipedia:Copyright violations

When looking at a Wikipedia article, you suddenly spot something that looks like it may have been copied and pasted or closely paraphrased from one or more sources, or it looks like a machine translation from some foreign text. What can you do?

1 minute copyvios

Everything is an issue

If the entire article is a problem and any remaining text could not survive, check the page history:

• If the article has foundational copyvio (there since creation) and there's no ownership or permission asserted, nominate it for speedy deletion with {{db-copyvio|url=URL of source}}
• If the article was started with different text, check to see if the copyvio was recently added. If it was, revert to a clean version.
  • You can put {{subst:cclean|url=URL of source}} at the article's talk page to explain your action.
  • Please warn the editor who added it with {{subst:uw-copyvio|article}} or {{subst:uw-copyvio-new|article}} at their talk page, especially if it was recently added.
• If the copyvio is not eligible for speedy deletion but is foundational or extensive, blank the article with {{subst:copyvio|url=URL of source}} and follow the instructions on the template to list the article at copyright problems (CPN) and warn the user.

The article is partially an issue

• Check the history. If the text was recently added, revert or remove the text as a copyright violation.
  • Please warn the user that added the text using {{subst:uw-copyvio|article}} or {{subst:uw-copyvio-new|article}}.
• If appropriate, request revision deletion of the reverted edits by adding {{copyvio-revdel}}.
• If the copied text is difficult to remove or too complex for you to handle, blank the sections with {{subst:copyvio|url=URL of source}} and follow the instructions to list at CPN.

Assisting at copyright problems

You can assist at CPN in a few different ways:

• Check the source for any compatible licensing or if it is in the public domain. Attribute the source or explain why the source is freely licensed at the article's listing.
• Identify when the material was inserted and by whom, and comment either on the talk page or the article's listing.
• Check to see if there are more copyright violations from the contributor and file a contributor copyright investigations (CCI) request if needed.
• You can use a temporary page to rewrite copyvio. Please mention that you have done so at the copyright problem's listing.

More detailed instructions are found at Wikipedia:Copyright problems#Responding to listed articles.

Admins! Do things pls!

See also: Wikipedia:Copyright problems/Instructions

If the copyvio or the processes for handling them are unclear, blank the article with {{subst:copyvio|url=URL of source}} and follow the instructions on the template to list the article at copyright problems (CPN) and warn the user.

• Copyvios might be unclear if:
  • The source has a license, but you are unsure if it is compatible. (GFDL-only compatible sources imported before 1 November 2008 are acceptable, but any sources used on or afterward are not.)
  • You are unable to determine if the source came first or if it copied from Wikipedia.

Partial infringement

If you can revert copyvio cleanly without impacting other parts of an article, handle this as though it were a Complete infringement (below).

If the copyvio cannot be immediately reverted because other parts of the article have been expanded in the meantime:

• Remove the copyvio
• Check to see if the contributor (if relatively recent) has been warned and if additional actions, such as a block or contributor copyright investigations (CCI) is needed.
• If appropriate, perform revision deletion.

Complete infringement

Articles that are majority or entirely copyvio are handled depending on two things: how old the copyvio is in the article history and if there is any type of claim of permission or ownership of content made. They are handled in one of three ways depending on these factors:

1. Foundational (there since creation) unambiguous copyright violations with no pending permission statement:
   • Handle through speedy deletion.
2. Foundational but not an unambiguous copyright violation, extensively copied but not foundational, or permission is pending:
   • Blank the article with {{subst:copyvio|url=URL to copied source}} and follow the instructions on the template to list the article at CPN and warn the contributor.
3. Not foundational and no pending permission statement:
   • Revert the article to the last known clean version or remove the copyvio manually.
   • Perform revision deletion.
   • Do not hide contributor names unless there is valid reason to under a different revision deletion criteria. This is done to preserve attribution.

Sample scenarios

• A software article adds the software's code into the article. The code should be removed, as there is no license compatibility between Creative Commons licenses and free software licenses.
• A film stub has a 2-line lead and basic cast information. Someone copy-pastes the synopsis from IMDB. After that, other editors add the production and reception sections without expanding the synopsis. The synopsis should be removed. Revision delete with discretion, depending on the amount of revisions and text removed.
• The same film stub gets the same synopsis, and the synopsis is then gradually expanded and partially rewritten, and only the first two paragraphs of the original material remain. Remove the fully copied content, and then check for too-close paraphrasing in the partially rewritten content and remove as necessary.
• Someone copy-pastes the synopsis from IMDB. It is caught quickly, and rolled back to the revision before the copy-pasting occurred. All subsequent revisions containing the copyvio are reverted and revision deleted.

Sounds too complex? Tag it with {{subst:copyvio|url=link to source}} instead; volunteers at WP:CP will deal with it.

Tools

Wikipedia has several tools that may be useful in checking for copyright problems.

• Earwig's Copyvio Detector will scan an article against the internet, excluding known mirrors (though not less common ones), and against its external links. It displays a percentage of text copied from the original source and highlights copies. It also can be used to compare articles against each other and individual URLs.
• Wikiblame. Accessible under the "history" tab of every page on Wikipedia as "Revision history search", this tool can be useful in determining when a run of text first entered an article.
• User:Enterprisey/cv-revdel – Script to aid in tagging articles for revision deletion.
  • User:Red-tailed hawk/cv revdel.js
• There's a list of administrators willing to assist with copyvio work at Category:Wikipedia administrators willing to investigate copyright matters.

Notes

•  This article incorporates text by the Creative Commons available under the CC BY 4.0 license.