# Wikimedia Commons

> Wikimedia Commons as searched by Video Assets Server: About 400k freely licensed videos: nature, science, history, documentary footage and timelapses. Licence recorded per file (CC0, public domain, CC BY, CC BY-SA); files are WebM/Ogg with WebM renditions up to 4K.

- Website: https://commons.wikimedia.org
- Best for: About 400k freely licensed videos: nature, science, history, documentary footage and timelapses. Licence recorded per file (CC0, public domain, CC BY, CC BY-SA); files are WebM/Ogg with WebM renditions up to 4K.
- Categories: Nature, City & urban, People, Aerial & drone, Space, Science & data, Technology, Transport, Food & drink, Archive & vintage, Backgrounds
- Pricing: free
- Licence: set per clip
- How it is searched: api
- Direct download through Video Assets Server: yes
- Restrict a search to it: `https://video.shep.bot/v1/search?q=...&providers=wikimediacommons`

## What it is

Wikimedia Commons is the media library behind Wikipedia, with about four hundred thousand video files uploaded by individuals, institutions and archives: nature, science, timelapses, history and documentary footage. Every file records its licence and author, and the site transcodes uploads into WebM renditions from 240p up to 4K.

## Best for

Nature and timelapse footage, scientific and educational clips, historic footage that institutions have digitised, and anything encyclopedic. Originals are WebM or Ogg Theora, never MP4.

## Licence

Set per file and recorded by Commons: CC0, public domain, CC BY and CC BY-SA are the most common. CC BY clips need a credit line, which each result carries. CC BY-SA is marked restricted, because a video that includes it would have to be released under the same licence. Commons' community reviews uploads and deletes files whose licence can't be confirmed, so licences there are more reliable than an anonymous upload elsewhere, but not infallible.

## How Video Assets Server searches it

Through the public MediaWiki API, one request per search with each file's original, size, length, poster, licence and transcodes. A minimum resolution goes into the search itself. Wikimedia limits anonymous API clients, so this server sends a descriptive User-Agent, retries once on a short rate limit and caches results.

## Example searches

- [Ocean waves](https://video.shep.bot/search?q=ocean+waves&category=nature.ocean&providers=wikimediacommons)
- [Timelapses](https://video.shep.bot/search?q=timelapse&providers=wikimediacommons)
- [Cities at night](https://video.shep.bot/search?q=city+night&providers=wikimediacommons)
- [Wildlife](https://video.shep.bot/search?q=bird&category=nature.animals&providers=wikimediacommons)
- [CC0 and public domain only](https://video.shep.bot/search?q=clouds&commercial=true&providers=wikimediacommons)

Guides: https://video.shep.bot/guides/credit-cc-by-video.md, https://video.shep.bot/guides/free-stock-footage-commercial-use.md, https://video.shep.bot/guides/video-resolution-codecs-containers.md

## In these collections

- [Earth from space videos: orbit views and globes](https://video.shep.bot/footage/earth-from-space-videos.md): 13 of 36
- [NASA data visualisations and science animations](https://video.shep.bot/footage/nasa-data-visualizations.md): 13 of 36

## Examples

- [The Earth 4K Extended Edition](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Earth_4K_Extended_Edition.webm) (`wikimediacommons:The_Earth_4K_Extended_Edition.webm`, Public domain)
- [Science in Wales - a video by the Welsh Government](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Science_in_Wales_-_a_video_by_the_Welsh_Government.webm) (`wikimediacommons:Science_in_Wales_-_a_video_by_the_Welsh_Government.webm`, CC BY 3.0)
- [View of Planet Earth (4K)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:View_of_Planet_Earth_(4K).webm) (`wikimediacommons:View_of_Planet_Earth_(4K).webm`, Public domain)
- [MammalWeb citizen science project](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MammalWeb_citizen_science_project.webm) (`wikimediacommons:MammalWeb_citizen_science_project.webm`, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- [DSCOVR EPIC Earth Rotation](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DSCOVR_EPIC_Earth_Rotation.webm) (`wikimediacommons:DSCOVR_EPIC_Earth_Rotation.webm`, Public domain)
- [Focus on Science - your guide to the Wiki Science photography competition for Australia and New Zealand](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Focus_on_Science_-_your_guide_to_the_Wiki_Science_photography_competition_for_Australia_and_New_Zealand.webm) (`wikimediacommons:Focus_on_Science_-_your_guide_to_the_Wiki_Science_photography_competition_for_Australia_and_New_Zealand.webm`, CC BY 4.0)
- [ISS 4K Crew Earth Observations](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ISS_4K_Crew_Earth_Observations.webm) (`wikimediacommons:ISS_4K_Crew_Earth_Observations.webm`, Public domain)
- [National Science Foundation Science & Technology PSA (1988)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:National_Science_Foundation_Science_%26_Technology_PSA_(1988).webm) (`wikimediacommons:National_Science_Foundation_Science_&_Technology_PSA_(1988).webm`, Public domain)
- [View of the Earth from the ISS (8K)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:View_of_the_Earth_from_the_ISS_(8K).webm) (`wikimediacommons:View_of_the_Earth_from_the_ISS_(8K).webm`, Public domain)
- [MammalWeb citizen science project (short)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MammalWeb_citizen_science_project_(short).webm) (`wikimediacommons:MammalWeb_citizen_science_project_(short).webm`, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- [Artemis I Orion First Imagery of Earth (KSC-20221116-MH-NAS01-0001-Artemis I Orion First Imagery of Earth-3314595)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Artemis_I_Orion_First_Imagery_of_Earth_(KSC-20221116-MH-NAS01-0001-Artemis_I_Orion_First_Imagery_of_Earth-3314595).webm) (`wikimediacommons:Artemis_I_Orion_First_Imagery_of_Earth_(KSC-20221116-MH-NAS01-0001-Artemis_I_Orion_First_Imagery_of_Earth-3314595).webm`, Public domain)
- [Science On a Sphere- 4 Years of Biosphere (SVS5474 - biosphere 4096x204830p sos)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Science_On_a_Sphere-_4_Years_of_Biosphere_(SVS5474_-_biosphere_4096x204830p_sos).webm) (`wikimediacommons:Science_On_a_Sphere-_4_Years_of_Biosphere_(SVS5474_-_biosphere_4096x204830p_sos).webm`, Public domain)

All sources: https://video.shep.bot/docs/sources.md

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Source: https://video.shep.bot/sources/wikimediacommons