Wikimedia Foundation Terms of Use

NOTED

DATED 2014-06-16 · VERSION 20260816_rev01 · COMPARED WITH 20260811_rev01

What changed, in plain language

Nothing about your rights changed. The only difference is a tiny technical tweak to the page's HTML: the Wikimedia logo image now loads "lazily" (only when it scrolls into view), which makes the page load a bit faster. No wording in the Terms of Use was added, removed, or reworded.

This change appears to be cosmetic (formatting, typos, or contact details).

Changelog

± CHANGEDLogo image now loads only when needed
The Wikimedia logo picture in the summary box was given a setting that tells the browser to wait until the image is on screen before loading it. This is a page-speed tweak in the website code and does not change any term or condition.
decoding="async" width="75" height="75"
decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="75" height="75"

Full text changes — 20260811_rev01 to 20260816_rev01

COLOUR MARKS THE SEVERITY OF A FLAGGED CLAUSE · + AND − MARK ADDED AND REMOVED

117	117	- [中文](https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Terms_of_Use/zh)
118	118	- [日本語](https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Terms_of_Use/ja)
119	119	- [閩南語 / Bân-lâm-gí](https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Terms_of_Use/nan)
120	120	- [ꠍꠤꠟꠐꠤ](https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Terms_of_Use/syl)
121	121	- [한국어](https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Terms_of_Use/ko)
122	122
123		<table role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td></td><td><p>Wikimedia Foundation Terms of Use</p><p><b>This is a <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms_of_Use/Summary" title="Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms of Use/Summary">summary</a> of the Terms of Use. To read the full terms, scroll down or <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms_of_Use#introduction" title="Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms of Use">click here</a>.</b></p><figure typeof="mw:File"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimedia-logo.svg"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Wikimedia-logo.svg/120px-Wikimedia-logo.svg.png?utm_source=foundation.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=parser&utm_content=thumbnail" decoding="async" width="75" height="75" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Wikimedia-logo.svg/250px-Wikimedia-logo.svg.png?utm_source=foundation.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=parser&utm_content=thumbnail 2x" data-file-width="1024" data-file-height="1024"></a><figcaption></figcaption></figure><p>This is a human-readable <b>summary</b> of the Terms of Use.</p><p>Disclaimer: This summary is not a part of the Terms of Use and is not a legal document. It is simply a handy reference for understanding the full terms. Think of it as the user-friendly interface to the legal language of our Terms of Use.</p><div><p><b>Part of our mission is to</b>:</p><ul><li><b>Empower and Engage</b> people around the world to collect and develop educational content and either publish it under a free license or dedicate it to the public domain.</li><li><b>Disseminate</b> this content effectively and globally, free of charge.</li><li><b>Offer</b> websites and technical infrastructure to help you do this.<br></li></ul><p><b>You are free to</b>:</p><ul><li><b>Read and Print</b> our articles and other media free of charge.</li><li><b>Share and Reuse</b> our articles and other media under free and open licenses.</li><li><b>Contribute To and Edit</b> our various websites or Projects.<br></li></ul><p><b>Under the following conditions</b>:</p><ul><li><b>Responsibility</b> - You take responsibility for your edits (since we only <i>host</i> your content).</li><li><b>Civility</b> - You support a civil environment and do not harass other users.</li><li><b>Lawful Behavior</b> - You do not violate copyright, post illegal content, or violate other applicable laws that follow human rights principles.</li><li><b>No Harm</b> - You do not harm our technology infrastructure and you follow the policies for that infrastructure.</li><li><b>Terms of Use and Policies</b> - You adhere to the below Terms of Use, to the <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Universal_Code_of_Conduct" title="Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Universal Code of Conduct">Universal Code of Conduct</a>, and to the applicable community policies when you visit our websites or Projects or participate in our communities.<br></li></ul><p><b>With the understanding that</b>:</p><ul><li><b>You License Freely Your Contributions</b> - You generally must license your contributions and edits to our websites or Projects under a free and open license (unless your contribution is in the public domain).</li><li><b>No Professional Advice</b> - The content of articles on Wikipedia and other Projects is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice.</li></ul><p><b>If you need help or you want to report a violation of these Terms of Use you can</b>:</p></div></td></tr></tbody></table>
	123	<table role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td></td><td><p>Wikimedia Foundation Terms of Use</p><p><b>This is a <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms_of_Use/Summary" title="Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms of Use/Summary">summary</a> of the Terms of Use. To read the full terms, scroll down or <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms_of_Use#introduction" title="Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms of Use">click here</a>.</b></p><figure typeof="mw:File"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimedia-logo.svg"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Wikimedia-logo.svg/120px-Wikimedia-logo.svg.png?utm_source=foundation.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=parser&utm_content=thumbnail" decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="75" height="75" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Wikimedia-logo.svg/250px-Wikimedia-logo.svg.png?utm_source=foundation.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=parser&utm_content=thumbnail 2x" data-file-width="1024" data-file-height="1024"></a><figcaption></figcaption></figure><p>This is a human-readable <b>summary</b> of the Terms of Use.</p><p>Disclaimer: This summary is not a part of the Terms of Use and is not a legal document. It is simply a handy reference for understanding the full terms. Think of it as the user-friendly interface to the legal language of our Terms of Use.</p><div><p><b>Part of our mission is to</b>:</p><ul><li><b>Empower and Engage</b> people around the world to collect and develop educational content and either publish it under a free license or dedicate it to the public domain.</li><li><b>Disseminate</b> this content effectively and globally, free of charge.</li><li><b>Offer</b> websites and technical infrastructure to help you do this.<br></li></ul><p><b>You are free to</b>:</p><ul><li><b>Read and Print</b> our articles and other media free of charge.</li><li><b>Share and Reuse</b> our articles and other media under free and open licenses.</li><li><b>Contribute To and Edit</b> our various websites or Projects.<br></li></ul><p><b>Under the following conditions</b>:</p><ul><li><b>Responsibility</b> - You take responsibility for your edits (since we only <i>host</i> your content).</li><li><b>Civility</b> - You support a civil environment and do not harass other users.</li><li><b>Lawful Behavior</b> - You do not violate copyright, post illegal content, or violate other applicable laws that follow human rights principles.</li><li><b>No Harm</b> - You do not harm our technology infrastructure and you follow the policies for that infrastructure.</li><li><b>Terms of Use and Policies</b> - You adhere to the below Terms of Use, to the <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Universal_Code_of_Conduct" title="Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Universal Code of Conduct">Universal Code of Conduct</a>, and to the applicable community policies when you visit our websites or Projects or participate in our communities.<br></li></ul><p><b>With the understanding that</b>:</p><ul><li><b>You License Freely Your Contributions</b> - You generally must license your contributions and edits to our websites or Projects under a free and open license (unless your contribution is in the public domain).</li><li><b>No Professional Advice</b> - The content of articles on Wikipedia and other Projects is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice.</li></ul><p><b>If you need help or you want to report a violation of these Terms of Use you can</b>:</p></div></td></tr></tbody></table>
124	124
125	125	Our Terms of Use
126	126
127	127	_Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. That's our commitment._ - [Our Vision Statement](https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/vision)
128	128
129	129	Welcome to Wikimedia! The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. ("we" or "us" or "Foundation"), is a non-profit charitable organization, headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States, [whose mission](https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/mission) is to empower and engage people around the world to collect and develop content [under a free license](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_content) or in the public domain, and to disseminate it effectively and globally, free of charge.