Logo selection procedure

Logo submission rules

Eligibility. You can submit logos for consideration only if (i) you are the original creator, or (ii) they are attributed modifications of other logos submitted through this process. By submitting, you implicitly acknowledge that you have read and agree to these rules.
Agreement implicit upon submission.
- (a) By uploading logos, you agree to enter into a contract to assign and license all of your rights in your submission to the Wikimedia Foundation. You acknowledge and agree to grant to the Wikimedia Foundation an exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, fully paid-up license to use, reproduce, and exploit in any way without limitation all copyright, trademark, publicity, and any other intellectual property or other proprietary rights in your logo.
- (b) You must already have the rights to the submission in order to license them; therefore, you warrant that, unless your submission is an attributed modification of a logo design submitted for consideration by someone else, you are the owner of all copyright, trademark, moral, publicity, and other intellectual and proprietary rights to the proposed logo design and that it does not violate such rights of any third party.
- (c) If your submission is a modification of a logo design submitted for consideration by someone else, you warrant that you have fully attributed the original with reference to the original submitter’s name and a link to that submission, and that you are the owner of all copyright, trademark, moral, publicity, and other intellectual and proprietary rights to your contributions to the logo design, and that it does not violate such rights of any third party.
Disputes. While we hope that there is no dispute between you and the Wikimedia Foundation, we need to set some rules about how any disputes that may arise will be handled. By participating in the logo selection process, you agree that your submission, your license of rights in it, and any dispute shall be governed by the laws of the United States of America and will be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction in the City and County of San Francisco, California.

Logo selection procedure

Submission period. There is no voting during the two-week submission period, but discussion is encouraged. Images may be modified during this period, and derivatives may be submitted. All images must accord to the logo submission rules (see below).
Elimination round. After the submission period, entries are presented in randomized display for one week of voting. Each voter may choose a first, second and third preference.
Finalist review. After the top three usable submissions by vote are determined – the Wikimedia Foundation may be required to eliminate candidates for legal and technical issues (see rules below) – there will be another community discussion and review of up to five business days. By talk-page consensus, up to two modified versions of a logo finalist may be entered along with the finalist for the final vote. Any modified versions selected will be reviewed again by the Foundation before the final vote.
Final vote. As many as nine logos (three originals and up to two modifications of each) may be entered into the one-week final vote and presented in randomized display for voting. Winners should be announced within about two business days of the close of voting.

General logo selection process rules

Number of submissions. During the submission period you may upload as many logos as you wish.
No modifications of originals by others. Original uploaders are encouraged to modify their submission during the submission period, if they choose. Others should not modify the original image, but may upload their own clearly attributed derivatives based on the original image.
First-round voting. All contributors to any Wikimedia project registered before [date of the announcement of the opening of the process] may cast a vote during the process. Handling of votes will differ according to whether or not the community for whom the logo is being selected has come to consensus for weighted participation to ensure fair representation of their specific community. This decision must be made either during or before the submission process but in any case prior to the actual voting. You may vote for up to three submissions. Voters who vote for more than one submission will be required to indicate whether a respective vote is first, second, or third choice.
Vote tallying.
- (a) Unweighted voting: At the end of the voting period, using a modification of the instant-runoff system, the first (or only) choice of each voter will be counted and used to order the submissions by preference. Each first (or only) choice counts as one vote for the chosen submission. Once all the first choices are counted, if there are at least three but no more than six top vote scorers, those submissions will be entered for finalist review. If there is no clear preference, the submission that holds the fewest first choices will be eliminated and the second choice of those who had selected that submissions will be counted as their votes. This process will repeat until the number of submissions is reduced to at least three, but no more than six.
- (b) Weighted voting: Voters will be sorted into two groups: those who have participated in the project for which the logo is being selected prior to the date of the contest announcement or participated prior to that date with a certain threshold of contribution (Group A) and those who have not (Group B). Weighted voting is not applicable in selecting Wikimedia-wide logos. Submissions will be ranked by the same process described in paragraph (a) for unweighted voting, except that if any submission has more than 50% of votes from Group B, the votes from Group B will be adjusted to equal the votes from Group A. This will eliminate from running any submissions that have no votes at any choice level from the Group A which is directly effected by the decision. If members of Group A have chosen these submissions as second or third choice, they will be retained for consideration until the runoff system is complete.
Finalist review.
- (a) The top three vote-scoring logos will be assessed by Wikimedia Foundation staff, who will analyze them for legal issues (such as infringement of any existing trademark) and technical issues (such as suitability for reproduction). The staff may, at their sole discretion, eliminate submissions based on that analysis. People whose submissions are eliminated in this WMF review will receive a clear explanation of why. If any of the top three are eliminated, they will be replaced by the next highest ranking of the top six, which will then be assessed.
- (b) After the finalist review, the top three logos after elimination will be announced. In the case of a tie, there may be more than three finalists.
- (c) After the vote winners are announced, there will be a final community review period of five business days, during which submissions may be further discussed and modifications proposed. For each vote winner, the community may select up to two modifications to run along with the original for the final vote. A simple majority poll on the talk page is required for consensus to run a modification. Modifications are subject to assessment and elimination by Wikimedia Foundation staff for legal or technical issues.
Final vote. Handling of votes will differ according to whether or not the community for whom the logo is being selected (if it is not a Wikimedia-wide logo) has come to consensus for weighted participation to ensure fair representation of their specific community. This decision must be made during or before the submission process, before voting begins. In either event, you may vote for up to three submissions. Voters who vote for more than one submission will be required to indicate whether a vote is first, second, or third choice.
- (a) Unweighted voting: The first (or only) choice of each voter will be counted and used to order the finalists by preference. If there is clear majority, the winner will be the logo that has the most first (or only) votes. If there is not a clear majority, the finalist that holds the fewest first (or only) choices will be eliminated and the second choice of those who had selected that submission will be counted as their votes. This process will repeat as necessary. The winner will be the logo with clear majority.
- (b) Weighted voting: Voters will be sorted into two groups: those who have participated in the project for which the logo is being selected prior to the date of the contest announcement or participated prior to that date with a certain threshold of contribution (Group A) and those who have not (Group B). Weighted voting is not applicable in selecting Wikimedia-wide logos. Submissions will be ranked by the same process described in paragraph (a) for unweighted voting, except that if any submission has more than 50% of votes from Group B, the votes from Group B will be adjusted to equal the votes from Group A. This will eliminate from running any submissions that have no votes at any choice level from Group A. If members of Group A have chosen these submissions as second or third choice, they will be retained for consideration until the runoff system is complete.

Example timeline

This timeline uses dates for the proposed process for the Wikivoyage logo selection (see talk and Wikivoyage logo announcement).

July 10, 2013: Submission period opens.
July 24, 2013: Submission period closes; elimination round voting begins.
July 31, 2013: Voting closes; vote tally begins.
August 5, 2013: Wikimedia Foundation review of top selected submissions.
August 10, 2013: Final modification period.
August 17, 2013: Finalists submitted for WMF review (if modifications chosen).
August 22, 2013: Final vote opens.
August 29, 2013: Final vote closes; vote tally begins.
August 31, 2013: New logo officially announced.