PetroWiki:Copyright

This page includes three different aspects of copyright:

• Copyright for this wiki
• Ensuring you do not violate someone else's copyright
• What SPE-copyrighted materials can be used in this wiki

Copyright for this wiki

The content of this wiki is copyrighted by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE). Authors are asked to transfer copyright at the time they save changes to a page. See PetroWiki:Acknowledgements. Materials from this wiki cannot be reused without permission except under certain conditions. See PetroWiki:Permissions.

This wiki includes some materials that have been included with permission and to which SPE does not hold copyright. These materials are indicated as "used by permission," or a different organization is listed as the copyright owner. Use of these materials requires permission from the original source. SPE's permission for use of them in this wiki does not extend to any other use you might make of them.

Materials on pages that begin with Help: are not copyright SPE. They have primarily been adapted from content available on Wikipedia and the MediaWiki site available under a creative commons license. Therefore the content of these pages can likewise be used or adapted without permission from SPE.

Do not violate copyright of others

Since contributors are transferring copyright for the material they contribute to SPE, it is important that the material is their own work. Contributing text or figures from other sources without permissions and acknowledgement in the text violates their copyrights. Confirming that the work is your own or that you have received appropriate permission for its use is part of the acknowledgements that authors make when they submit material to PetroWiki. See PetroWiki:Acknowledgements

If you want to include material that is not your own, you need to seek appropriate permission BEFORE submitting it to PetroWiki. If the figure or text belongs to your company, be sure to check PetroWiki:Retained_rights. For figures, tables, images, and similar content, please email the approval for its inclusion to petrowiki(at)spe.org, indicating the page URL where the material will be contributed. In the caption, indicate the copyright for the material and that is "used by permission."

Linking to materials that are available on a publicly-accessible website is generally preferable to trying to incorporate those materials in PetroWiki and potentially violating someone else's copyright.

Use of SPE-copyrighted materials in this wiki

Just because SPE holds copyright to papers and books does not mean that large passages of text from them can be incorporated into the wiki. Users should be directed to OnePetro for SPE papers. This may occur through the references if a paper is being cited to support a concept or idea, or through the "Noteworthy papers in OnePetro" section. SPE books can be listed in the "External links" section with a link to the book on the SPE bookstore. Wikis are about learning the basics with links to more in-depth resources that can provide more information, not about trying to include everything in the wiki.

What may be included

• A figure, table, or graphic from an SPE paper or book in PetroWiki, as long as the source is identified in the caption.
• 1-2 paragraphs from an SPE paper or book in a PetroWiki article if needed to make a point. For any more material, the reader needs to access the paper or book. Be sure that the paragraph(s) include a footnote pointing to the original source.
• Excerpts from an article in the Journal of Petroleum Technology, Oil and Gas Facilities, The Way Ahead, or other SPE magazine with a footnote to the original source.

What may not be included

• Images of text content from SPE books or papers
• PDFs of SPE papers or books
• Links to file-sharing sites that include SPE materials in violation of SPE copyright
• Long passages from any SPE paper, magazine, journal, or book.