[WikiEN-l] Non-free content policy - Wikimedia images?

[Florence Devouard]

cohesion wrote:
> On 5/6/07, David Gerard <dgerard at gmail.com> wrote:
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Non-free_content#Policy
>>
>> As worded, this appears to apply to Wikimedia images on user pages -
>> which aren't using someone else's work as "fair use", but aren't free
>> content. Is that the case?
>>
>> If Wikimedia images aren't forbidden on user pages, what says so?
>>
>> What about derived versions of Wikimedia images on user pages?
> 
> Yeah, this is a gray area. If the Foundation would say something about
> how the logo can be used on the project that would be great. There are
> obviously a lot of templates that use the logo, and I think most
> people think that's fine. On the other hand derived versions of the
> logo usually get deleted as being non licensed derivative works. The
> visual identity guideline says no derivatives can be published without
> prior foundation approval, but whether this means all logos or only
> the foundation logo is unclear.

Correct. This needs to be updated.


> http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Wikimedia_visual_identity_guidelines
> 
> I would like to see some policy saying that the logo can be used for
> any reason as long as it falls within the functioning of wikipedia,
> but as I am not the copyright holder... :) Also some guidance on
> wikipedia logo derivatives would be great, I kinda lean towards no
> derivatives for style consistency reasons, but that's just my opinion.
> 
> Judson
> [[:en:User:Cohesion]]


A community logo has been created specifically for that reason: 
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Wikimedia_Community_Logo.svg

"The community logo concept is based on the principle that various 
initiatives and groups of Wikimedians want to have some sort of 
graphical element to represent themselves.
The natural course of action for them was to use one of the official 
Wikimedia projects' logos or the Wikimedia Foundation logo. Since those 
logos are copyrighted and are trademarks of WMF, their use would imply 
official endorsement by WMF. Hence, this practice is generally frowned 
upon by WMF.
Instead, the community is encouraged to use the freely-licensed 
Wikimedia Community Logo or one of its derivatives shown below, or 
create a new one on their basis to serve as a graphical representation 
for a user group (admins, deletionists, etc.) or community project.
The community logo concept has been proposed by WarX."

You may find various derivatives here: 
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Wikimedia_Community_Logos

And yes, please, avoid creating derivatives of the Wikipedia logo (or 
any other wikimedia project logo).

Thanks

Anthere