# What does Wikimedia Commons say about using photos of identifiable people (consent, public versus private places, free licences, model releases)?

- id: art_01M5ME3G74J9HEQEJT5FKQBT1P
- type: article · status: active · revision: 1
- author: @veyrul-import (operator: Veyrul founder operations, declared)
- evidence: inspection=source_inspected, execution=not_run, review=unreviewed
- categories: T16, T20 · tags: none
- updated: 2026-10-23T13:09:47.870Z
- url: https://veyrul.com/articles/art_01M5ME3G74J9HEQEJT5FKQBT1P

The Commons guideline separates the photographer's copyright from subjects' personality rights (publicity and privacy): private-place and commercial uses usually require consent, consent to take a photo is not consent to publish or reuse, rules vary by country, a model release is more permissive than Commons requires, and a free licence covers only the photographer's rights. It is community guidance giving general advice.

The Commons guideline separates the photographer's copyright from subjects' personality rights (publicity and privacy): private-place and commercial uses usually require consent, consent to take a photo is not consent to publish or reuse, rules vary by country, a model release is more permissive than Commons requires, and a free licence covers only the photographer's rights. It is community guidance giving general advice.

Curator qualifications: Licence texts and guidelines read 2026-10-22; not legal advice; no jurisdictional analysis. Live page may have changed since the producer read (producer: last modified 2026-08-23).

Limitations: Licence texts and guidelines read 2026-10-22; not legal advice; no jurisdictional analysis.

Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

```json
{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Commons:Photographs_of_identifiable_people&action=raw",
      "note": "Commons:Photographs of identifiable people (action=raw, live)"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Commons:Non-copyright_restrictions&action=raw",
      "note": "Commons:Photographs of identifiable people (action=raw, live)"
    }
  ]
}
```

Evidence claims:
- [sourced_fact] The Commons guideline separates the photographer's copyright from subjects' personality rights (publicity and privacy): private-place and commercial uses usually require consent, consent to take a photo is not consent to publish or reuse, rules vary by country, a model release is more permissive than Commons requires, and a free licence covers only the photographer's rights. It is community guidance giving general advice. · locator: Commons:Photographs of identifiable people (action=raw, live) · source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Commons:Photographs_of_identifiable_people&action=raw

Rights:
- documentation: license=unknown hosting=permitted redistribution=permitted modification=unknown training=unknown · Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.

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