YouTube is a video hosting platform, considered the largest one in the world (see itsWikipedia article).Many YouTube videos have been uploaded to Commons (seeCategory:YouTube), although most YouTube videos arenot eligible to be uploaded here.
Most YouTube videos arenot eligible for upload to Wikimedia Commons because they are still copyrighted and are only offered under the Standard YouTube License, which is not accepted here because it is not free enough.
However, YouTube offers its uploaders theoption to license their videos under the free license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY) which is compatible with Commons. UnderCommons policies, these videos may be transferred to Wikimedia Commons, with the usual caution that you should not upload work that appears to be plagiarized or isout of scope.Be also aware of YouTube's terms of service.
Some other videos don't use this license option, but include it:
Uploaded videos should be tagged with{{LicenseReview}} to request alicense review to permanently document that the video really was available under that license.If they are released under CC BY 3.0, you can add the license template{{YouTube CC-BY}}.Additionally, you can use{{From YouTube}} to format the source information.
Search videos licensed as Creative Commons on YouTube by doing a search there.Then a filter menu will show up with one of the choices being "Creative Commons".You can also useVera's Tool to find all open-licenced videos in a given YouTube channel or theSearchFreeMedia gadget to open the search page more quickly.
Screenshots are similarly handled.That is, video stills might be acceptable only if the videos are freely licensed or in the public domain.
To see license information for YouTube shorts, change the URL from "youtube.com/shorts/..." to "youtube.com/watch?v=ID", where the ID is the unique video ID in the original URL.
Some YouTube channels may upload videos they don't have the rights to and then incorrectly license those videos under CC BY. This means one should exercise caution when uploading videos from YouTube and first check whether the set CC BY license is plausible.
When Commons users with YouTube accounts upload videos to YouTube with an incorrect CC BY license in an attempt to upload non-free videos to Commons, this is known as a form oflicense laundering.
Commons:Questionable YouTube videos lists YouTube channels and discussions where we have concluded that certain videos marked with "free" CC licenses on YouTube (or Public Domain marks) are too questionably licensed for Wikimedia Commons.
For advanced options, seeCommons:YouTube files/Downloading.
This easy tool to directly upload videos from source is helpful:video2commons.Please check if the video has a free license before uploading.A Wikimedia account is required.
To upload videos from YouTube with the Upload Wizard or alternative upload forms, first download the video in the appropriate format or convert it to an appropriate format (webm is recommended) and then upload it like any other file.
To change the licence of your own videos on YouTube, so you can use the above tool to copy them to Commons, use this process (valid as of November 2020) on a desktop machine:
You can also change the default license for new uploads to YouTube:
In the opposite case, if you want to reuse a Commons video or image as part of your new YouTube video, you must:
{{helpme}} onyour talk page, a volunteer will visit you there as soon as possible!