Using Wikimedia Commons Photos For Squidoo Lenses

"Wikimedia Commons (or simply Commons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files." [See Wikimedia Commons Link below]. all of the content is either in the public domain or released under free licenses such as the GNU Free Documentation License.

Wikipedia Commons was originally designed to provide illustrations to Wikipedia and other wiki sites, and is considered free content. I find it is best to click on an illustration which I intend to use to make sure there are no restrictions related to my use.

Free content encompasses all works in the public domain and also those copyrighted works whose licenses honor and uphold the freedoms mentioned above. Because the law by default grants copyright holders monopolistic control over their creations, copyrighted content must be explicitly declared free, usually by the referencing or inclusion of licensing statements from within the work.

A common requirement is that you attribute the photo to the commons agreement under which Wikimedia publishes it. For example, the following is a commonly found requirement: "In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of the file under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it under this or a similar cc-by-sa license." It is best to add a link to the licensing agreement under which the illustration is licensed.

Though a work which is in the public domain because its copyright has expired is considered free, it can easily become non-free again with all its derivatives becoming non-free or illegal, if the copyright law changes.

Also, a derivative work of a public domain work may in some cases become copywritable again. Be sure to check out the basis under which each illustration can be used.

If you're not sure what kind of picture you need, you can start by surveying content by topic,location, type, author, license, or source on Wekipedia Commons main page.


One of the best ways to get started is to visit their featured photo archives and spend some time going over them. If you don't find what you want here, it will give you idea of topics to search on. The section is Commons:Featured Pictures/Chronological

Genealogy has been a passion of mine for many years. Recently, I decided to do a Lens on one of my ancestors from 400 years ago. The title was: Reformation, Pietism, and The Apocalypse: Johann Jacob Zimmerman.

The problem: How to find illustrations that made sense for the topic and my specific ancestor. As I researched wekipedia for his name (he was quite famous in his day), I came across some wekimedia photos and drawings.

The results: I found an actual copy of a page in German that came from a publication done by my ancestor, Johann Jacob Zimmerman.

I was able to find other illustrations that related to the "reformation", "pietism", and the "apocalypse". Problem solved.

If you would like to see the illustrations chosen, you can go to the lens.

The second illustration is actually of a lens I am constructing simultaneously with this one. It relates to my travel interests and is on Khajuraho, a village in India.

In 1974, I traveled throughout India and took several thousand "slides". They have survived a fire, hurricane "Andrew" and other disasters, but the quality has deteriorated so that most of these can not be used anymore. Even the ones I have had digitized are not of the best quality.

Khajuraho, India was one of the most memorable places I visited and is noted for its medieval temples covered with erotic carvings. I found myself looking for photos to supplement my own. This was easier.

I found twenty-three photos which are usable for my site. A few of these I intend to use. These can be seen (along with Flickr photos) at that site>