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

[Sam Korn]

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 know
> someone has been indefinitely blocked in the past because he did not
> license his user page under the GFDL.

It's quite simple really.  Wikipedia's biggest reason for qualifying
for fair use is that it is a free educational resource.  Userpages are
just not educational.  User pages would, if I read the situation
right, be very little different from a GeoCities website or the
equivilent.  Image use would not qualify as fair use there; why should
it here?

I would really appreciate if some statement from on high could clarify
this point, as people don't seem likely to listen otherwise.

--
Sam