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Detect duplicate file from other projects during upload to Commons and convert to FileImport
Open, Needs TriagePublicFeature

Description

Feature summary (what you would like to be able to do and where): When an editor attempts to upload a file to Commons, automatically detect this and convert the upload into a FileImport

Use case(s) (list the steps that you performed to discover that problem, and describe the actual underlying problem which you want to solve. Do not describe only a solution): Problem is editors breaking attribution/edit history by uploading files uploaded to other projects as their own.

Benefits (why should this be implemented?): Would help maintain CC-BY-SA 3.0/GFDL compliance by ensuring attribution/edit history is maintained across projects.

Event Timeline

Converting the upload into an import would be unexpected and quite confusing, for example what should happen with the description provided by the uploader? (Should it be discarded? Should it overwrite the original description?) It would be much easier UX-wise to just detect the situation and warn the user (or maybe disallow uploading and force the user to use FileImporter, but not use it automatically).

A prompt to import would work, with a decline to accept a straight upload. This is already the behavior (at least on Commons) when someone attempts to upload a duplicate file.