[WikiEN-l] Fair use images on user pages and enforcement

[jayjg]

On 1/12/06, Chris Jenkinson <chris at starglade.org> wrote:
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> I'm just curious whether we have a policy on the use of fair use images
> on user pages, rather than a guideline, and if so, what our procedure is
> for enforcement of that policy if it says no such images permitted.
> Obviously discussion is the first stepping stone, but if the user in
> question refuses to remove it, what actions should admins take in order
> to do so? I'm thinking of page protection and blocking here.


I'm a little concerned here.  While I think policy should be followed, I've
been disturbed by the way this has been handled recently.  Whether or not an
image is "fair use" is sometimes disputed, and in any event handling this in
a friendly way is far preferable to heavy-handed and drastic actions which
might well drive good contributors from the project.  If it's not an
emergency (and, given that these images have been on user pages for months,
if not years, I don't see how it could be), then I think delicacy and
diplomacy is the right way to go.

Jay.