Help:Photographers

Help:Contents

Help for BelieveTheSign Photographers



Where do I start?

  1. Contributing to BelieveTheSign provides a guide on ways to get involved in editing.
  2. Take the BelieveTheSign tutorial
  3. Simplified ruleset, essential information to understand when editing articles (for new editors).
  4. The BelieveTheSign Glossary can help you understand BelieveTheSign jargon.
  5. Image Tutorial
  6. Image and Media Guide
  7. For more detailed rules of BelieveTheSign, see policies and guidelines.
  8. List of all of the articles on BelieveTheSign - note that articles in italics are redirects (i.e. not real articles)
  9. Photograph Request

How can I help?

Click here for a list of requested pictures

Where possible, all photographs, images, audio files, and video files on Believethesign should be public domain, and not subject to any copyright. We are looking for photographers who would be willing to:

  • Donate existing original images or media files to the public domain, or specifically allow Believethesign to use the image or media file,
  • Create new images or media files for Believethesign,

It is best to indicate who took the photograph, and what rights and restrictions are attached to the photograph. For example, if 'My Name' took a photograph and contributed it to the public domain, it should be stated that:


This image has been (or is hereby) released into the public domain by its author, [[::User:My Name|My Name]]. This applies worldwide.

In some countries this is not legally possible; if so:
[[::User:My Name|My Name]] grants anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.


To create this disclaimer, simply type {{PD-user|My Name}} .

Example Use of Copyright Photograph

In certain situations only a copyrighted photo is available. An example of this is the Photograph of 'Stanley the Driverless car' in the prophecies section taken from the press kit from Stanford University (the university that developed the car). There is no alternative photograph available, and the university's press kit allows non-profit use of the photograph. If you click on the image in Believethesign you will find the following disclaimer:


This work is copyrighted and unlicensed. It does not fall into one of the blanket fair use categories. However, it is believed that the use of this work in the article "Driverless Cars":

  • To illustrate the object in question
  • Where no free equivalent is available or could be created that would adequately give the same information
  • On non-profit BelievetheSign.org and BelievetheSign.com sites,

qualifies as fair use under United States copyright law and fair dealing under Canadian copyright law. Any other uses of this image may be copyright infringement.

To create this disclaimer, simply type {{Copyright 1|Name of article}} . The source of the file is also provided by a link to the stanford university by typing Source: [http://www-cs.stanford.edu/group/roadrunner/presskit.html Stanford Press Kit].


If 'John Doe' took the photograph and grants Belivethesign rights to use the image, but does not want the photograph to be public domain, it should be stated that:

If only copyright photos are available on certain topics:

  1. Determine if someone can take a new photograph of the same subject.
  2. Where this is not possible, we need to ensure the use of the photograph qualifies as a 'fair use' of the photograph even if it is subject to copyright, and the following should be stated.