Content License & Attribution Guide

1. Every piece carries a license

Every content detail page on Knowledge Commons displays a License block in the meta sidebar. The license is set by the contributing organisation and may differ from item to item — there is no Commons-wide default.

Always check the license before you copy, translate, distribute, or build on a piece of content.

2. License families you will see

• All rights reserved — reuse requires permission from the contributor. Quotation under fair-use / fair-dealing exceptions may still apply in your jurisdiction.
• Public domain — no copyright restrictions. Attribution still appreciated as a courtesy.
• CC0 1.0 — the contributor has waived all copyright; treat as public domain worldwide.
• CC BY 4.0 — reuse freely with attribution.
• CC BY-SA 4.0 — reuse with attribution; derivatives must be released under the same license.
• CC BY-ND 4.0 — reuse with attribution; no derivative works.
• CC BY-NC 4.0 — reuse with attribution; non-commercial only.
• CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — reuse with attribution; non-commercial; derivatives under the same license.
• CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 — reuse with attribution; non-commercial; no derivatives.
• Custom license — the contributor has supplied bespoke license text shown verbatim in the License block.

3. How to attribute correctly

The License block on every detail page includes a "How to cite" expander with a copy-paste citation string. The recommended format is:

When a contributor has supplied custom attribution text (e.g. "Photo: Jane Doe / Wikimedia Commons"), use that instead. The License block always reflects the contributor's preferred attribution.

4. Originally published elsewhere

When the contributor flags a piece as imported from an external source, the License block shows an "Originally published at …" link. The license that applies is the one the contributor has set on Knowledge Commons, but the original publication should also be acknowledged when you reuse the material.

5. If in doubt, contact the contributor

Each contributing organisation has a public profile on Knowledge Commons with contact details. For unusual reuse — translation, large-scale distribution, commercial publication — contact them directly to confirm.