Editing Encyclopedia:Image use policy (section)

====Fair-use/Non-free images====
{{main|Wikipedia:Non-free content}}<!-- policy has priority-->
Some usage of copyrighted materials without permission of the copyright holder can qualify as [[fair use]] in the United States (but not in most other [[jurisdiction]]s). However, since Wikipedia aims to be a free-content encyclopedia, not every image that qualifies as fair-use may be appropriate. As [[wmf:Resolution:Licensing policy|required by the Wikimedia Foundation]] to meet the goals of a free content work, the English Wikipedia has adopted a purposely-stricter standard for fair-use of copyrighted images and other works, called the [[WP:NFCC|non-free content criteria]]. In general, if the image cannot be reused (including with redistribution and modification rights) by any entity, including commercial users, then the image must be considered non-free.

Use of copyrighted material under an invalid claim of a non-free rationale constitutes [[copyright infringement]] and is illegal. Media which are mistagged as non-free or are a flagrant copyright violation can be removed on sight. Editors who notice correctable errors in non-free tags or rationales are urged to fix them, if able. Voluntarily fixing such problems is helpful to Wikipedia, though many errors may be impossible to fix, such as the original source or copyright owner. A user may be banned for repeatedly uploading material which is neither free nor follows the requirements for non-free images.

See also:
* {{section link|Wikipedia:Copyrights|Image guidelines}}
* [[Wikipedia:File copyright tags]]
* [[Wikipedia:Logos]]