Wikipedia:Text copyright violations 101

If you are a bit less in a hurry and the article has been tagged for investigation rather than speedy deletion, you can:

• Double-check the source. Look for a specific statement that it is public domain or has been licensed compatibly with
  article's entry on the Copyright Problems board to the licensing statement so that somebody else can. Even if there isn't a specific statement, you can check against Wikipedia:Public domain
  to see if the content looks usable. If you aren't sure if it's usable, you can add a note of explanation at the Copyright Problems board listing for an administrator to evaluate.
• Identify with what edit the dubious content has been copy-pasted, and mention that on the article's talk page and / or on the
  article's entry on the Copyright Problems board
  .
• Once you identify when the dubious content entered, check to see if other content entered at the same time or by the same contributor looks like a problem. If it seems like the copy-paste problem exists in only one part of the article, you can place the {{subst:copyvio|url=link to source}} template at the beginning of the problematic text and add a </div> at the end of the problematic text. If they added other text, you can check to see if you find other sources that have been copied.
• Check the talk page of the contributor who added the content. Are there other warnings? Consider whether it is appropriate to request a
  Contributor Copyright Investigation
  .
• You can also click on the link for temporary space and rewrite the problematic text. If you do, mention it on the article's talk page.

If the copyvio or the processes for handling them are unclear, you can do the same as above and the admins who work at

• Copyvios might be unclear if:
  • The source has a license, but you are unsure if it is compatible. (Note that GFDL-only compatible texts imported before 1 November 2008 are acceptable, but texts from GFDL-only compatible sources imported on or after that date are not.)
  • The source may have copied from Wikipedia, but there is not enough evidence for you to decide that it is a {{
    backwardscopyvio
    }}.

Partial infringement

If the copyvio only concerns a part of the article and has been added in a manner that it can be reverted to easily without also removing non-infringing content added in other parts of the article, handle this as though it were a Complete infringement (below).

If the copyvio only concerns a part of the article that cannot immediately be reverted to (because other parts of the article have been expanded in the meantime):

1. excise the copyvio
2. use the {{subst:cclean|url=link to source}} tag on the talk page to indicate that you did.
3. check to make sure that the contributor (if registered or recent IP) has been properly warned about the infringement and consider whether additional actions, such as a
   Contributor Copyright Investigation is necessary. (See Wikipedia:Copyright violations
   )
4. if appropriate request revision deletion of the reverted edits by adding {{copyvio-revdel}}

Complete infringement

Articles that seem to be complete infringements are handled in one of three ways:

• If the infringement is foundational copyvio (there since the article's creation) and there is no reason to believe that permission could be forthcoming:
  • process through speedy deletion in accordance with
    WP:CSD#G12
• If there is reason to believe that permission could be forthcoming (foundational or not):
  • Tag the article with {{
    WP:CP
    and use the notification generated by the template to let the contributor know how to verify. It will be processed when permission arrives or, failing that, after a week.
• If the infringement is not foundational and there is no reason to believe that permission could be forthcoming:
  1. Revert the article to the last known good version with a relevant edit summary
  2. Recover any non-creative content you can (references, infoboxes, ELs, CATs and other)
  3. Enter the article's history
  4. Tick the checkbox for the last version before your revert
  5. Hold the shift key and tick the checkbox of the version where the copyvio was inserted
  6. Click the "Del / Undel Selected Revisions" button
  7. In the
     Revision Deletion interface
     , set "Hide revision text" to yes, and leave the rest untouched.
  8. Pick Criterion RD1
  9. Submit and exit.