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This is not directed at anyone specifically, the moderators have just noted an increase in the number of incidences of this from a number of contributors. Everyone's contribution here is incredibly valuable, and this is done for well intentioned purposes, so please do not take this the wrong way.

There are a number of websites on the internet, such as Wikipedia and IMDB that people use to look up information about Movies and TV shows. When using content from many sites, please be aware that they are usually covered by Copyright Law, and each site probably has a specific usage policy. There are 'fair use' aspects to copyright law, but for instance Wikipedia specifically places conditions of acknowledging the source of the material:

This is easy to do in a Question or Answer, by acknowledging wikipedia as the source, and preferably having a link back to the article concerned. This actually adds to the post here, as it allows users to more quickly read more, so I would encourage that.

However it is harder for Tag Wiki elements - and this is where we see the most use of unattributed copyrighted material. Please try to not just copy material for these, but to write the content in your own words. If you are reviewing Tag Wiki material and think it might be copied, quickly check it out (by searching for the text - usually finds the source very quickly), and reject the edit using the 'copied material' reason.

Thank you.

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    +1 thanks for posting this!
    – Reactgular
    Commented Dec 18, 2012 at 16:40
  • 2
    It seems to me that using content from Wikipedia in a tag wiki should be accepted. Isn't there some way to satisfy the attribution requirement?
    – svick
    Commented Jul 8, 2014 at 14:32
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    @svick - the only way would be to provide a link back to the originating wikipedia article (see meta.stackexchange.com/questions/79000/…). This might work on the longer description, but the short summary would not.
    – iandotkelly Mod
    Commented Jul 8, 2014 at 17:57

2 Answers 2

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Thanks for posting this information. It is important for our site's growth that we not become vulnerable to copyright issues. All users/editors should keep that in mind before using copyright content. Some questions regarding this:

  1. Should we give links for reference of copyright content in answer?
  2. What should we do regarding giving some statistics for question from IMDB or Wiki?
  3. Images, audio, video of movie or TV also have copyrights. Shouldn't we post it in question or answer?
  4. If entire question/answer violates copyright law, then should we edit it or flag for moderation attention to delete it?
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    1) Yes, always. 2) Cite them always. 3) See here 4) Yes, flag for mod attention with a custom message explaining why you are flagging it.
    – Tablemaker Mod
    Commented Dec 26, 2012 at 13:21
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Please try to not just copy material for these, but to write the content in your own words.

Also, most of the content from other pages does not belong in a tag wiki to begin with, regardless of copyright. For example, the tag wiki of should be about , not about Sherlock. This does include some information to be found elsewhere, e.g., what helps to unambiguously identify this series and some links. But most of the information any other site on the Internet provides will be exclusively about Sherlock, and not about . Hence it does not belong in a tag wiki.

If you are reviewing Tag Wiki material and think it might be copied, quickly check it out (by searching for the text - usually finds the source very quickly), and reject the edit using the 'copied material' reason.

Moreover, if more than a few lines of text look like they could appear on any other web page, they very likely do not belong in a tag wiki anyway due to the above reasons.

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