[Wikipedia-l] Copyright violations

[lcrocker at nupedia.com]

>> Comments?  I think Imran has a point.

> How about adding a column img_license to the image table
> and requiring the user to specify a license during upload:

That's precisely what the image's description page is for,
and its already being used for that (or should be wherever
it's not).  The Wikipedia:Copyrights page is about as clear
as I can make the muddy situation.  Yes, included images
may not be covered by the GFDL.  We cannot accept /text/
that is not licensable under the GFDL, but images are
different.  They are easy to separate, denying ourselves
"fair use" would be a great hardship, fair use wouuld apply
to most of our licensees anyway (though not all), and using
images does not detract from our goal of creating free text.

I think it /would/ be a mistake to use a non-free image
that the article /depended/ on (say, a diagram).  If there
are any cases like that, I think we should replace it with
our own image under GFDL.  But images that are just
illustrations to otherwise complete articles (like the
album covers) are fine.