StrategyWiki:Copyrights

This page will detail the copyright status of various types of content, and their usability here.

If you encounter Strategy Wiki pages with copyrighted content extracted from another source, please use the template (or  template if you have a URL) to mark the page as a possible copyright violation.

Other FAQs/walkthroughs
In general, outside FAQs and guides cannot be used here unless they are released into the public domain (with no restrictions on derivative works) or else are under the GNU Free Documentation License. You can of course write to an author and ask for their permission (reminding them that their work will be mercilessly edited and improved by others), however if you do so it's best to note this on the talk page so your submission isn't assumed to be a copyright violation.

Screenshots
StrategyWiki is of the opinion that screenshots for the purpose of game guide creation are very strong fair use and in no way harms copyright holders' ability to distribute the work in question. In other words, feel free to use as many screenshots as you feel you need, without worrying about the sorts of limits Wikipedia and the like recommend.

Screenshots by others
Despite what some claim, the copyright of screenshots belongs solely to the copyright holder of the graphic elements reproduced therein, unless the screenshot reflects significant enough creativity. For example a screenshot of a house mod for The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind would be considered to be partly the property of its author as their creative expression went into its creation, whereas a screenshot of Link from Zelda: Ocarina of Time performing a backflip would not be, as that is an everyday game function.

In general, if you see a screenshot on another website that you like and it doesn't appear to have any special creative qualities it's probably OK to use it here. And, again, crediting your source is not a legal requirement.

Watermarks
Watermarked screenshots may not be used here, as the watermark is likely copyrighted and the presentation of an alternate logo might confuse visitors. If you cannot find an unwatermarked equivalent you will need to cut it off if you still want to use the image. As established above, the presence of a watermark does not necessarily reflect ownership of the screenshot it is applied to.

Boxes/artwork/maps/etc.
As with screenshots, the use of box and character artwork to illustrate a point in a guide is considered fair use. Maps, however, are an exception; some companies (such as Bethesda Softworks) have objected to the use of scanned maps at such a resolution that they could be used to play from; therefore it is preferable to either use low-resolution scans or else heavily annotated ones. In the case where the ingame map is comparable to the printed one it is preferable to use a screenshot collage instead to avoid any potential problems.

Cheat device patch codes
Despite what many claim, according to United States copyright law (which StrategyWiki operates under) cheat device patch codes are not considered to be copyrightable. The law is that facts cannot be copyrighted, however the creative expression of those facts can be. For instance the Master Sword dealing 3 damage would be a fact, and that damage rating being stored in the memory address 7FFFFF would also be a fact, and therefore neither is copyrightable.

In other words picking out a couple of useful codes from a fansite or even the official cheat device website is considered legal as long as you avoid using their descriptions or presentation or reproducing the very same specific selection of codes they chose to provide. Crediting those who originally discovered these codes is the honorable thing to do, however there is no legal requirement to, since (as established above) they hold no power over them.

Tricks/glitches/secrets
Tricks and secrets given on other websites may be reproduced here as long as they are rewritten first. As with cheat device patch codes only the specific wording of the find, not the find itself, are copyrightable. Once again, crediting the person who found it is considered the right thing to do but is not required.