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.
Part of our mission is to:
Empower and Engage 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.
Disseminate this content effectively and globally, free of charge.
Offer websites and technical infrastructure to help you do this.
You are free to:
Read and Print our articles and other media free of charge.
Share and Reuse our articles and other media under free and open licenses.
Contribute To and Edit our various websites or Projects.
Under the following conditions:
Responsibility — You take responsibility for your edits (since we only host your content).
Civility — You support a civil environment and do not harass other users.
Lawful Behavior — You do not violate copyright, post illegal content, or violate other applicable laws that follow human rights principles.
No Harm — You do not harm our technology infrastructure and you follow the policies for that infrastructure.
Terms of Use and Policies — You adhere to the below Terms of Use, to the Universal Code of Conduct, and to the applicable community policies when you visit our websites or Projects or participate in our communities.
With the understanding that:
You License Freely Your Contributions — 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).
No Professional Advice — The content of articles on Wikipedia and other Projects is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice.
If you need help or you want to report a violation of these Terms of Use you can:
Ask for help on our Projects: Click "help" on the left side of most pages.
Ask for help by email: Contact experienced volunteers for help by emailing infowikimediaorg.
Contact the Wikimedia Foundation: You can find information about how to reach us on our contact page.
If you are a new contributor: You can find project policies to help learn how to use the Wikimedia Projects on pages like the primer for newcomers.