Editing Wikipedia (section)

=== Content licensing ===
When the project was started in 2001, all text in Wikipedia was covered by the [[GNU Free Documentation License]] (GFDL), a [[copyleft]] license permitting the redistribution, creation of derivative works, and commercial use of content while authors retain copyright of their work.<ref name="WP copyright and commerciality 1">{{srlink|Wikipedia:Copyrights}}</ref> The GFDL was created for software manuals that come with [[free software]] programs licensed under the GPL. This made it a poor choice for a general reference work: for example, the GFDL requires the reprints of materials from Wikipedia to come with a full copy of the GFDL text. In December 2002, the [[Creative Commons license]] was released: it was specifically designed for creative works in general, not just for software manuals. The license gained popularity among bloggers and others distributing creative works on the Web. The Wikipedia project sought the switch to the Creative Commons.<ref name="WPF switch to CC">{{cite web |url=https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:License_update |title = Resolution:License update |year = 2007 |first = Walter |last = Vermeir |publisher = Wikizine |access-date = December 4, 2007}}</ref> Because the two licenses, GFDL and Creative Commons, were incompatible, in November 2008, following the request of the project, the [[Free Software Foundation]] (FSF) released a new version of the GFDL designed specifically to allow Wikipedia to {{srlink|Wikipedia:Licensing update|relicense its content to CC BY-SA}} by August 1, 2009. (A new version of the GFDL automatically covers Wikipedia contents.) In April 2009, Wikipedia and its sister projects held a community-wide referendum which decided the switch in June 2009.<ref name="voteresult" /><ref name="MW licensing QA">{{cite web |url=https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Licensing_update/Questions_and_Answers |title = Licensing update/Questions and Answers |website = Wikimedia Meta |publisher = Wikimedia Foundation |access-date = February 15, 2009}}</ref><ref name="MW licensing timeline 1">{{cite web |url=https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Licensing_update/Timeline |title = Licensing_update/Timeline |website = Wikimedia Meta |publisher = Wikimedia Foundation |access-date = April 5, 2009}}</ref><ref name="WP blog license migration">{{cite web |url=https://diff.wikimedia.org/2009/05/21/wikimedia-community-approves-license-migration |title = Wikimedia community approves license migration |website = Wikimedia Foundation |access-date = May 21, 2009}}</ref>

The handling of media files (e.g. image files) varies across language editions. Some language editions, such as the English Wikipedia, include non-free image files under [[fair use]] doctrine, while the others have opted not to, in part because of the lack of fair use doctrines in their home countries (e.g. in [[copyright law of Japan|Japanese copyright law]]). Media files covered by [[free content]] licenses (e.g. [[Creative Commons]]' CC BY-SA) are shared across language editions via [[Wikimedia Commons]] repository, a project operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikipedia's accommodation of varying international copyright laws regarding images has led some to observe that its photographic coverage of topics lags behind the quality of the encyclopedic text.<ref name="NYT photos on WP">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/arts/20funny.html |title = Wikipedia May Be a Font of Facts, but It's a Desert for Photos |date = July 19, 2009 |last = Cohen |first = Noam |author-link=Noam Cohen |work = [[The New York Times]] |access-date = March 9, 2013}}</ref>

The Wikimedia Foundation is not a licensor of content, but merely a hosting service for the contributors (and licensors) of the Wikipedia. This position has been successfully defended in court.<ref name="reuters French defamation case">{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSL0280486220071102 |title = Wikipedia cleared in French defamation case |work = Reuters |date = November 2, 2007 |access-date = November 2, 2007}}</ref><ref name="ars tech WP dumb suing case">{{cite web |url=https://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080502-dumb-idea-suing-wikipedia-for-calling-you-dumb.html |title = Dumb idea: suing Wikipedia for calling you "dumb" |first = Nate |last = Anderson |website = Ars Technica |date = May 2, 2008 |access-date = May 4, 2008}}</ref>