Wikimedia Commons - Wikipedia
Jump to content
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from
Wikimedia commons
Online repository of free-use media
Wikimedia Commons
The Wikimedia Commons
main page
in 2024
Type of site
Media repository
Founded
September 7, 2004
; 21 years ago
2004-09-07
Owner
Wikimedia Foundation
Created by
Wikimedia movement
URL
commons
.wikimedia
.org
Commercial
No
Registration
Optional (required to upload files)
Current status
Active
Content license
Open
Wikimedia Commons
, also known as
Wikicommons
, or simply
Commons
, is a
wiki
-based
media repository
of
free-to-use
images, sounds,
videos
and other media.
It is a project of the
Wikimedia Foundation
Files from Wikimedia Commons can be used across all of the Wikimedia projects
in all languages, including
Wikipedia
Wikivoyage
Wikisource
Wikiquote
Wiktionary
Wikinews
Wikibooks
and
Wikispecies
, and can also be downloaded for offsite use. As of April 2026, the repository contains over 137 million free-to-use media files, managed and editable by registered volunteers.
History
edit
A page of Commons search results
The concept for the project came from
Erik Möller
in March 2004
and Wikimedia Commons was started on September 7, 2004.
In July 2013, the number of edits on Commons reached 100,000,000.
In 2018, it became possible to upload
3D models
to the site in
STL
format. One of the first models uploaded to Commons was a reconstruction of the
Lion of Al-lāt
statue in
Palmyra
Syria
, which was heavily damaged by
ISIS
militants in 2015.
Various notable organizations have uploaded files to Commons. In 2012, the
National Archives and Records Administration
uploaded
100,000 digitised images
from its collection.
In 2020, the
Digital Public Library of America
(DPLA) started uploading its collections to Commons.
10
In 2022, DPLA uploaded more than two million files.
11
Similarly
Europeana
, the website aggregating European cultural heritage, shares its digitised images through Commons.
12
During the
COVID-19 pandemic
, as part of a collaboration with Wikimedia, the
World Health Organization
(WHO) uploaded its "
Mythbusters
" infographics to Commons.
13
Relation to sister projects
edit
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."
14
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
content) which local project policies allow, but which would not be permitted according to the
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
Attribution and Attribution/ShareAlike licenses,
15
other free content and
free software
licenses, and
public domain
media.
Controversial content
edit
The site has been criticized for hosting large amounts of amateur pornography, often uploaded by
exhibitionists
who exploit the site for personal gratification, and who are enabled by sympathetic administrators.
16
In 2012,
BuzzFeed
described Wikimedia Commons as "littered with
dicks
".
17
In 2010, Wikipedia co-founder
Larry Sanger
reported Wikimedia Commons to the FBI
for hosting sexualized images of children known as "
lolicon
". After this was reported in the media,
Jimmy Wales
, founder of the
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.
18
Utilities
edit
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
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
Structured data statements for a picture of some sugar cubes
Structured Data on Commons (SDC) is a three-year
software development project
funded by the
Sloan Foundation
citation needed
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
19
20
non-primary source needed
Quality
edit
This section
does not
cite
any
sources
Please help
improve this section
by
adding citations to reliable sources
. Unsourced material may be challenged and
removed
June 2010
Learn how and when to remove this message
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
", 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
" 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
. A third image assessment project, known as "
Valued 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
edit
Picture winning the POTY competition in
2023
. A farmer packs
incense
sticks in
Quảng Phú Cầu
, Vietnam.
The
Commons Picture of the Year
(POTY) is a competition that runs every year since 2006. It aims to identify the best
freely licensed
images
from Commons submissions, including those that during the year have been
awarded
Featured picture
status.
21
22
Gallery
edit
As of January 2015, there are about 5.2M geolocated images in Wikimedia Commons.
A chart showing the growth of Wikimedia Commons by number of files between 2004 and 2025
Total page views of Wikimedia Commons (split by desktop, mobile app, mobile web)
A category page in the Commons mobile app
See also
edit
Creative Commons
– an organization providing a set of content licenses and a directory of works using them
Internet Archive
– an online collection of videos, documents and webpages
Project Gutenberg
– the largest freely accessible collection of documents (including books and sheet music)
Reporting of child pornography images on Wikimedia Commons
The vanished bells project
References
edit
Endres, Joe (May 2006).
"Wiki websites wealth of information"
International News on Fats, Oils and Related Materials
(Periodical).
17
(5).
Champaign, Illinois
: 312.
ISSN
0897-8026
ProQuest
223600210
Archived
from the original on May 10, 2021
. Retrieved
August 6,
2007
"Embedding Commons' media in Wikimedia projects"
. Wikimedia Commons.
Archived
from the original on December 26, 2018
. Retrieved
August 7,
2007
Statistics page
on Wikimedia Commons
Möller, Erik (March 19, 2004).
"[Wikipedia-l] Proposal: commons.wikimedia.org"
Archived
from the original on December 9, 2013
. Retrieved
August 7,
2007
"Main Page"
. Wikimedia Commons. September 7, 2004.
Archived
from the original on November 5, 2015
. Retrieved
August 7,
2007
"Wikimedia Commons: Über 100.000 freie Bilder, Töne und Filme"
(in German).
Golem.de
. May 25, 2005.
Archived
from the original on December 26, 2018
. Retrieved
August 7,
2007
ÄŒesky (July 15, 2013).
"100,000,000th edit"
. Commons.wikimedia.org.
Archived
from the original on June 8, 2023
. Retrieved
August 22,
2013
"Wikipedia goes 3D allowing users to upload .stls for digital reference"
3D Printing Industry
. February 22, 2018.
Archived
from the original on March 8, 2022
. Retrieved
March 8,
2022
Schultz, Colin.
"The National Archives Wants to Put Its Whole Collection on Wikimedia Commons"
Smithsonian Magazine
Archived
from the original on March 6, 2022
. Retrieved
March 6,
2022
"DPLA cultural artifacts coming to Wikipedia through new collaboration with Wikimedia Foundation"
Digital Public Library of America
Archived
from the original on March 31, 2022
. Retrieved
March 6,
2022
"Commons:Digital Public Library of America - Wikimedia Commons"
commons.wikimedia.org
Archived
from the original on November 24, 2022
. Retrieved
December 22,
2022
"Europeana and Wikimedia partnership update"
Europeana Pro
Archived
from the original on August 12, 2022
. Retrieved
March 6,
2022
McNeil, Donald G. Jr. (October 22, 2020).
"Wikipedia and W.H.O. Join to Combat Covid-19 Misinformation"
The New York Times
ISSN
0362-4331
Archived
from the original on December 27, 2020
. Retrieved
March 6,
2022
"Commons:Project scope"
Wikimedia Commons
Archived
from the original on December 21, 2023
. Retrieved
November 15,
2021
"About The Licenses - Creative Commons"
creativecommons.org
Archived
from the original on July 26, 2015
. Retrieved
October 22,
2021
Morris, Kevin (June 25, 2013).
"The Daily Dot – How Wikimedia Commons became a massive amateur porn hub"
The Daily Dot
Archived
from the original on September 19, 2013
. Retrieved
June 26,
2013
"The Epic Battle For Wikipedia's Autofellatio Page"
BuzzFeed
. March 26, 2012.
Archived
from the original on September 30, 2017
. Retrieved
September 18,
2017
"Wikimedia's Wales gives up some top-level controls"
. Archived from
the original
on October 25, 2012.
"Submissions/Structured Commons: what changes are coming?"
Wikimania
Archived
from the original on March 17, 2020
. Retrieved
January 14,
2020
"Commons:Structured data"
Wikimedia Commons
Archived
from the original on January 18, 2020
. Retrieved
January 14,
2020
"Commons:Picture of the Year"
Wikimedia Commons
Archived
from the original on April 12, 2020
. Retrieved
April 8,
2020
Morris, Kevin (February 28, 2013).
"Wikimedia's 12 best photos take you to the ends of the Earth"
The Daily Dot
Archived
from the original on October 28, 2021
. Retrieved
October 28,
2021
External links
edit
Wikimedia Commons
at Wikipedia's
sister projects
Media
from Commons
Textbooks
from Wikibooks
Resources
from Wikiversity
Data
from Wikidata
Discussions
from Meta-Wiki
Official website
Mirror of Wikimedia Commons
by
WikiTeam
Wikimedia Foundation
People
Projects
Wikipedia community (Wikipedians)
Current
Bernadette Meehan
Lisa Seitz-Gruwell
Dariusz Jemielniak
Rebecca MacKinnon
Raju Narisetti
Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight
Esra'a Al Shafei
Jimmy Wales
Past
Hampton Lintorn-Catlin
Danese Cooper
Bishakha Datta
Florence Devouard
Oscar van Dillen
Sue Gardner
Arnnon Geshuri
Mike Godwin
Aaron Halfaker
James Heilman
Maryana Iskander
Guy Kawasaki
Patricio Lorente
Katherine Maher
Erik Möller
María Sefidari
Lila Tretikov
Luis Villa
Projects
Wikipedia
history
List of Wikipedias
Censorship of Wikipedia
Wiktionary
Wikimedia Commons
Wikidata
Wikiquote
Wikibooks
Wikisource
Wikispecies
Wikinews
Wikiversity
Wikivoyage
Wikifunctions
Abstract Wikipedia
Other
Wikimedia movement
List of Wikimedia chapters
Bangladesh
Deutschland
Israel
New York City
Polska
UK
Ukraine
Wikimania
Wiki Indaba
WikiConference India
WikiConference North America
MediaWiki
Litigation
Monkey selfie copyright dispute
Wikimedia Foundation v. NSA
Knowledge Engine
Related
The Signpost
Wikipedia Monument
Wikimedian of the Year
Tides Foundation
Artificial intelligence in Wikimedia projects
Google and Wikipedia
Wikipedia for World Heritage
Creative Commons
Works and projects
Licenses
NonCommercial license
Licensed works
Category
Public Domain Mark
Content directories
Jurisdiction ports
Major directories
Creative Commons
ccMixter
Free Music Archive
Freesound
OpenGameArt.org
Openclipart
Dogmazic
Phlow
Electrobel
Jamendo
Newgrounds Audio portal
Scripped
Wikimedia
Commons
People
Lawrence Lessig
Joi Ito
See also
Free
and
open content
Free culture movement
Authority control databases
International
VIAF
GND
National
Poland
Retrieved from "
Categories
Free content
Image-sharing websites
Internet properties established in 2004
MediaWiki websites
Multilingual websites
Open content projects
Photo archives
Stock photography
Video hosting
Wikimedia projects
Stock media
Free image galleries
Hidden categories:
CS1 German-language sources (de)
Articles with short description
Short description is different from Wikidata
Use mdy dates from July 2025
Use American English from January 2025
All Wikipedia articles written in American English
All articles with unsourced statements
Articles with unsourced statements from February 2024
All pages needing factual verification
Wikipedia articles needing factual verification from February 2024
Articles needing additional references from June 2010
All articles needing additional references
Pages using Sister project links with hidden wikidata
Articles containing video clips
Wikimedia Commons
Add topic