# Wikimedia Commons
> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Wikimedia_Commons
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Wikimedia_Commons.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Commons
> Source revision: 1356789967
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
{{Short description|Online repository of free-use media}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2025}}{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox website
| logo = 120px|alt=Wikimedia Commons logo with text: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS|Wikimedia Commons logo
| collapsible =
| caption = The Wikimedia Commons [main page](/source/commons%3AMain_Page) in 2024
| url = {{URL|https://commons.wikimedia.org}}
| commercial = No
| type = [Media repository](/source/Digital_library)
| registration = Optional (required to upload files)
| owner = [Wikimedia Foundation](/source/Wikimedia_Foundation)
| author = [Wikimedia movement](/source/Wikimedia_movement)
| revenue =
| alexa =
| name = Wikimedia Commons
| screenshot = Commons screenshot (cropped).png
| founded = {{Start date and age|2004|9|7}}
| current_status = Active
| content_license = [Open](/source/Open_license)
}}
'''Wikimedia Commons''', also known as '''Wikicommons''', or simply '''Commons''', is a [wiki](/source/wiki)-based [media repository](/source/Digital_library) of [free-to-use](/source/Open_content) images, sounds, [videos](/source/videos) and other media.[{{cite web |url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:First_steps/Reuse#Embedding_Commons'_media_in_Wikimedia_projects |title=Embedding Commons' media in Wikimedia projects |publisher=Wikimedia Commons |access-date=August 7, 2007 |archive-date=December 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226132722/https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:First_steps/Reuse#Embedding_Commons'_media_in_Wikimedia_projects |url-status=live }}] in all languages, including [Wikipedia](/source/Wikipedia), [Wikivoyage](/source/Wikivoyage), [Wikisource](/source/Wikisource), [Wikiquote](/source/Wikiquote), [Wiktionary](/source/Wiktionary), [Wikinews](/source/Wikinews), [Wikibooks](/source/Wikibooks) and [Wikispecies](/source/Wikispecies), and can also be downloaded for offsite use. As of May 2026, the repository contains over 141 million free-to-use media files, managed and editable by registered volunteers.[[Statistics page](/source/commons%3ASpecial%3AStatistics) on Wikimedia Commons]
== History ==
thumb|A page of Commons search results
The concept for the project came from [Erik Möller](/source/Erik_M%C3%B6ller) in March 2004[{{cite web |author=ÄŒesky |date=July 15, 2013 |title=100,000,000th edit |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Village_pump/Archive/2013/07#100.2C000.2C000th_edit |access-date=August 22, 2013 |publisher=Commons.wikimedia.org |archive-date=June 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608232232/https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Village_pump/Archive/2013/07#100.2C000.2C000th_edit |url-status=live }}] In 2018, it became possible to upload [3D models](/source/3D_models) to the site in [STL](/source/STL_(file_format)) format. One of the first models uploaded to Commons was a reconstruction of the [Lion of Al-lāt](/source/Lion_of_Al-l%C4%81t) statue in [Palmyra](/source/Palmyra), [Syria](/source/Syria), which was heavily damaged by [ISIS](/source/Islamic_State) militants in 2015.[{{Cite web |date=2018-02-22 |title=Wikipedia goes 3D allowing users to upload .stls for digital reference |url=https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/wikipedia-goes-3d-allowing-users-upload-stls-digital-reference-129340/ |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=3D Printing Industry |language=en-US |archive-date=March 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308095753/https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/wikipedia-goes-3d-allowing-users-upload-stls-digital-reference-129340/ |url-status=live }}]
Various notable organizations have uploaded files to Commons. In 2012, the [National Archives and Records Administration](/source/National_Archives_and_Records_Administration) uploaded [100,000 digitised images](/source/commons%3ACategory%3AImages_from_the_National_Archives_and_Records_Administration) from its collection.[{{Cite web |last=Schultz |first=Colin |title=The National Archives Wants to Put Its Whole Collection on Wikimedia Commons |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/national-archives-wants-put-everything-wikimedia-commons-180951952/ |access-date=2022-03-06 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en |archive-date=March 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306165430/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/national-archives-wants-put-everything-wikimedia-commons-180951952/ |url-status=live }}] In 2020, the [Digital Public Library of America](/source/Digital_Public_Library_of_America) (DPLA) started uploading its collections to Commons.[{{Cite web |title=DPLA cultural artifacts coming to Wikipedia through new collaboration with Wikimedia Foundation |url=https://dp.la/news/dpla-cultural-artifacts-coming-to-wikipedia-through-new-collaboration-with-wikimedia-foundation |access-date=2022-03-06 |website=Digital Public Library of America |language=en |archive-date=March 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331231235/https://dp.la/news/dpla-cultural-artifacts-coming-to-wikipedia-through-new-collaboration-with-wikimedia-foundation |url-status=live }}] In 2022, DPLA uploaded more than two million files.[{{Cite web |title=Commons:Digital Public Library of America - Wikimedia Commons |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Digital_Public_Library_of_America |access-date=2022-12-22 |website=commons.wikimedia.org |language=en |archive-date=November 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221124043851/https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Digital_Public_Library_of_America |url-status=live }}] Similarly [Europeana](/source/Europeana), the website aggregating European cultural heritage, shares its digitised images through Commons.[{{Cite web |title=Europeana and Wikimedia partnership update |url=https://pro.europeana.eu/post/europeana-and-wikimedia-partnership-update |access-date=2022-03-06 |website=Europeana Pro |language=en-GB |archive-date=August 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812063724/https://pro.europeana.eu/post/europeana-and-wikimedia-partnership-update |url-status=live }}] During the [COVID-19 pandemic](/source/COVID-19_pandemic), as part of a collaboration with Wikimedia, the [World Health Organization](/source/World_Health_Organization) (WHO) uploaded its "[Mythbusters](/source/commons%3ACategory%3AWorld_Health_Organization_COVID-19_disinformation_infographics)" infographics to Commons.[{{Cite news |last=McNeil |first=Donald G. Jr. |date=2020-10-22 |title=Wikipedia and W.H.O. Join to Combat Covid-19 Misinformation |language=en-US |work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/22/health/wikipedia-who-coronavirus-health.html |access-date=2022-03-06 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=December 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227064918/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/22/health/wikipedia-who-coronavirus-health.html |url-status=live }}]
== Relation to sister projects ==
The stated aim of Wikimedia Commons is to provide a media file repository "that makes available public domain and freely-licensed educational media content to all, and that acts as a common repository for the various projects of the Wikimedia Foundation."[{{Cite web|title=Commons:Project scope|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Project_scope|access-date=2021-11-15|website=Wikimedia Commons|archive-date=December 21, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231221183712/https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Project_scope|url-status=live}}]
Most Wikimedia projects still allow local uploads which are not visible to other projects or languages, but this option is meant to be used primarily for material (such as [fair use](/source/fair_use) content) which local project policies allow, but which would not be permitted according to the [copyright](/source/copyright) policy of Commons. For this reason, Wikimedia Commons deletes copyright violations and aims to only host freely licensed media, such as media licensed with the [Creative Commons](/source/Creative_Commons_license) Attribution and Attribution/ShareAlike licenses,[{{Cite web|title=About The Licenses - Creative Commons|url=https://creativecommons.org/licenses/|access-date=2021-10-22|website=creativecommons.org|language=en-US|archive-date=July 26, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150726003931/http://creativecommons.org/licenses/|url-status=live}}] other free content and [free software](/source/free_software) licenses, and [public domain](/source/public_domain) media.
== Controversial content ==
The site has been criticized for hosting large amounts of amateur pornography, often uploaded by [exhibitionists](/source/exhibitionism) who exploit the site for personal gratification, and who are enabled by sympathetic administrators.[{{cite web|url=http://www.dailydot.com/technology/wikimedia-commons-photos-jimmy-wales-broken/|first=Kevin|last=Morris|title=The Daily Dot – How Wikimedia Commons became a massive amateur porn hub|website=[The Daily Dot](/source/The_Daily_Dot)|date=June 25, 2013|access-date=June 26, 2013|archive-date=September 19, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130919223733/http://www.dailydot.com/technology/wikimedia-commons-photos-jimmy-wales-broken/|url-status=live}}] In 2012, [BuzzFeed](/source/BuzzFeed) described Wikimedia Commons as "littered with [dicks](/source/human_penis)".[{{cite web|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/jackstuef/inside-the-seedy-world-of-wikipedia-exhibitionism|title=The Epic Battle For Wikipedia's Autofellatio Page|website=[BuzzFeed](/source/BuzzFeed)|date=March 26, 2012|access-date=September 18, 2017|archive-date=September 30, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930132140/https://www.buzzfeed.com/jackstuef/inside-the-seedy-world-of-wikipedia-exhibitionism|url-status=live}}]
In 2010, Wikipedia co-founder [Larry Sanger](/source/Larry_Sanger) [reported Wikimedia Commons to the FBI](/source/Reporting_of_child_pornography_images_on_Wikimedia_Commons) for hosting sexualized images of children known as "[lolicon](/source/lolicon)". After this was reported in the media, [Jimmy Wales](/source/Jimmy_Wales), founder of the [Wikimedia Foundation](/source/Wikimedia_Foundation) which hosts Commons, used his administrator status to delete several images without discussion from the Commons community. Wales responded to the backlash from the Commons community by voluntarily relinquishing some site privileges, including the ability to delete files.[{{cite web|title=Wikimedia's Wales gives up some top-level controls|url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20005082-93.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025174556/http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20005082-93.html|archive-date=October 25, 2012}}]
== Utilities ==
Over time, additional functionality has been developed to interface Wikimedia Commons with the other Wikimedia projects. For instance, there exists a community-maintained Commons [mobile app](/source/List_of_Wikipedia_mobile_applications) which allows uploading of photos that document the world, especially notable objects findable in the map in the Nearby List in the app (displaying Wikidata items with coordinates). The app launched in 2012 as an official Wikimedia app and since May 2016, it uses the official Wikimedia Commons name and logo.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}
thumb|Structured data statements for a picture of some sugar cubes
Structured Data on Commons (SDC) is a three-year [software development project](/source/Software_development_process) funded by the [Sloan Foundation](/source/Sloan_Foundation){{citation needed|date=February 2024}} to provide the infrastructure for Wikimedia Commons volunteers to organize data about media files in a consistent manner. This data is structured more and is made [machine-readable](/source/Machine-readable_data).[{{Cite web|url=https://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/Submissions/Structured_Commons:_what_changes_are_coming%3F|title=Submissions/Structured Commons: what changes are coming?|website=Wikimania|access-date=January 14, 2020|archive-date=March 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200317030734/https://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/Submissions/Structured_Commons:_what_changes_are_coming%3F|url-status=live}}][{{Cite web|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Structured_data|title=Commons:Structured data|website=Wikimedia Commons|access-date=January 14, 2020|archive-date=January 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200118204049/https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Structured_data|url-status=live}}]{{Primary source inline|date=February 2024}}
== Quality ==
{{unreferenced section|date=June 2010}}
thumb|Successful featured picture nominations per month (2004–2019)
There are three mechanisms on the site for recognizing high-quality works. One is known as "[Featured pictures](/source/commons%3ACommons%3AFeatured_pictures)", where works are nominated and other community members vote to accept or reject the nomination. This process began in November 2004. Another process known as "[Quality images](/source/commons%3ACommons%3AQuality_Images)" began in June 2006, and has a simpler nomination process comparable to "Featured pictures". "Quality images" only accepts works created by Wikimedia users, whereas "Featured pictures" additionally accepts nominations of works by third parties such as [NASA](/source/NASA). A third image assessment project, known as "[Valued images](/source/commons%3ACommons%3AValued_images)", began on June 1, 2008, with the purpose of recognizing "the most valued illustration of its kind", in contrast to the other two processes which assess images mainly on technical quality.
===Wikimedia Commons Pictures of the Year===
[[File:Incense_in_Vietnam.jpg|thumb|Picture winning the POTY competition in [2023](/source/commons%3ACommons%3APicture_of_the_Year%2F2023). A farmer packs [incense](/source/incense) sticks in [Quảng Phú Cầu](/source/Qu%E1%BA%A3ng_Ph%C3%BA_C%E1%BA%A7u), Vietnam.]]
The [Commons Picture of the Year](/source/%3Ac%3ACommons%3APicture_of_the_Year) (POTY) is a competition that runs every year since 2006. It aims to identify the best [freely licensed](/source/Free_license) [images](/source/images) from Commons submissions, including those that during the year have been [award](/source/award)ed [Featured picture](/source/%3Ac%3AFeatured_picture) status.[{{cite web|language=en|title=Commons:Picture of the Year|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year|website=Wikimedia Commons|access-date=2020-04-08|archive-date=April 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200412135954/https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year|url-status=live}}][{{cite news |last1=Morris |first1=Kevin |title=Wikimedia's 12 best photos take you to the ends of the Earth |url=https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/wikimedia-commons-12-best-photos/ |access-date=28 October 2021 |work=The Daily Dot |date=28 February 2013 |archive-date=October 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028174728/https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/wikimedia-commons-12-best-photos/ |url-status=live }}]
{{clear}}
== Gallery ==
File:Geolocated images in Wikimedia Commons 2015-01-07.png|As of January 2015, there are about 5.2M geolocated images in Wikimedia Commons.
File:Anzahl der Dateien in Wikimedia Commons über Zeit.svg|A chart showing the growth of Wikimedia Commons by number of files between 2004 and 2025
File:Total page views of Wikimedia Commons (split by desktop, mobile app, mobile web).png|Total page views of Wikimedia Commons (split by desktop, mobile app, mobile web)
File:A Commons category in the Commons mobile app.jpg|A category page in the Commons mobile app
== See also ==
* [Creative Commons](/source/Creative_Commons) – an organization providing a set of content licenses and a directory of works using them
* [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive) – an online collection of videos, documents and webpages
* [Project Gutenberg](/source/Project_Gutenberg) – the largest freely accessible collection of documents (including books and sheet music)
* [Reporting of child pornography images on Wikimedia Commons](/source/Reporting_of_child_pornography_images_on_Wikimedia_Commons)
* [The vanished bells project](/source/The_vanished_bells_project)
== References ==
[{{Cite journal |last=Endres |first=Joe |title=Wiki websites wealth of information |journal=International News on Fats, Oils and Related Materials |location=[Champaign, Illinois](/source/Champaign%2C_Illinois) |date=May 2006 |volume=17 |issue=5 |pages=312 |type=Periodical |issn=0897-8026 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/223600210 |access-date=August 6, 2007 |id={{ProQuest|223600210}} |archive-date=May 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510224519/https://www.proquest.com/docview/223600210 |url-status=live }}]
[{{cite web |url=http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikipedia-l/2004-March/014885.html |title=[Wikipedia-l] Proposal: commons.wikimedia.org |last=Möller |first=Erik |date=March 19, 2004 |access-date=August 7, 2007 |archive-date=December 9, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131209124611/http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikipedia-l/2004-March/014885.html |url-status=live }}]
[{{cite web |url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Main_Page&oldid=50 |title=Main Page |publisher=Wikimedia Commons |date=September 7, 2004 |access-date=August 7, 2007 |archive-date=November 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151105173459/https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Main_Page&oldid=50 |url-status=live }}]
[{{cite web |url=http://www.golem.de/0505/38234.html |title=Wikimedia Commons: Über 100.000 freie Bilder, Töne und Filme |date=May 25, 2005 |access-date=August 7, 2007 |language=de |publisher=[Golem.de](/source/%3Ade%3AGolem.de) |archive-date=December 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226132726/https://www.golem.de/0505/38234.html |url-status=live }}]
== External links ==
{{sister project links|d=Q565|voy=no|mw=no|m=Wikimedia Commons|species=no|wikt=no|n=no|q=no|s=no|b=Wikimedia|v=Commons}}
* {{Official website}}
* [https://archive.org/details/wikimediacommons Mirror of Wikimedia Commons] by [WikiTeam](/source/WikiTeam)
{{Wikimedia Foundation}}
{{Creative Commons topic}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Articles containing video clips
Category:Free content
Category:Image-sharing websites
Category:Internet properties established in 2004
Category:MediaWiki websites
Category:Multilingual websites
Category:Open content projects
Category:Photo archives
Category:Stock photography
Category:Video hosting
Category:Wikimedia projects
Category:Stock media
Category:Free image galleries
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Wikimedia Commons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Commons) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Commons?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.