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I'm starting to write a book on . Since I've been contributing on this tag for a long time, I had the opportunity to read & answer several interesting threads on Stackoverflow related to this technology.

I would like to discuss some of the interesting cases published on Stackoverflow in my book, and I wonder if I could use the images and code shared on those threads in it.

I'm hoping somebody from StackExchange could clarify about the copyright status of the material shared on Stackoverflow questions/answers.

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    All user-contributed content is licensed under the cc-wiki license with attribution required - this is quite a common question. Take a look at this question.
    – Qantas 94 Heavy
    Commented Sep 4, 2013 at 14:48
  • You might want to make sure it was original content or not otherwise licensed when posted on SO though. You don't want to end up with the hassle of having to explain republished images from a resource other than SO.
    – Bart
    Commented Sep 4, 2013 at 17:14

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I wonder if I could use the images and code shared on those threads in it.

Yes, you can, so long as you attribute them, as described in this blog post.

All posts on Stack Exchange are cc-wiki licensed, as the footer tells:

cc wiki!

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  • ...and so long as you and your publisher are ok with the "share-alike" provision that requires your book to also be cc-wiki!
    – Wooble
    Commented Sep 4, 2013 at 15:55
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From the blog post explaining the license:

If you republish this content, we require that you:

  • Visually indicate that the content is from Stack Overflow, Meta Stack Overflow, Server Fault, or Super User in some way. It doesn’t have to be obnoxious; a discreet text blurb is fine.
  • Hyperlink directly to the original question on the source site (e.g., https://stackoverflow.com/questions/12345)
  • Show the author names for every question and answer
  • Hyperlink each author name directly back to their user profile page on the source site (e.g., https://stackoverflow.com/users/12345/username)

So, as long as you provide links back to the material, you should be fine.

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    That's for online reposts. What about a printed book - the same but with hyperlinks omitted?
    – Dan Hanly
    Commented Sep 4, 2013 at 14:50
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    @danielhanly.com - no. The hyperlinks are still required. And must be clickable.
    – Oded StaffMod
    Commented Sep 4, 2013 at 14:51
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    This is not just for online reposts. You can still put a hyperlink into a PDF version of the book, or put the URL in the footnotes. The license itself does not distinguish between different publication media.
    – slhck
    Commented Sep 4, 2013 at 14:51
  • I did add a tongue in cheek comment, about wording, then @Oded added the 'and must be clickable' but and I realised, that was what he did in the first place, and to avoid possible tongue-in-cheek-ception, I removed the comment... Whew, we just avoided a biggie!
    – Dan Hanly
    Commented Sep 4, 2013 at 14:54

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