On 5/21/06, Peter Mackay <peter.mackay(a)bigpond.com> wrote:
The
"ethics" of it are of no concern for us.
In the case of attributing
ownership to creative works?
Nope! Just the legal aspect is enough, thanks. That's enough, without
worrying about ethics. Let the person uploading the photo worry about
the ethics.
I disagree. When the photographs are obviously NOT
taken by the subject, the
question of copyright becomes non-trivial.
Sorry, it's pretty trivial in this case. If the picture in question
was being used to make big bucks somewhere, or was at least the work
of a professional, sure, it might be worth worrying about. But for
casual shots, it is not only unnecessary to doubt the word of the user
in these cases about the copyright status, but the risk of legal
intervention is so low as to be nil. Additionally, in a case like
this, it will be absolutely clear to the copyright owner who to
complain to. I think this sort of thing is very, very low priority.
If it were an exceptionally "artistic" photograph -- perhaps it would
be worth checking in with the user to make sure they have permission
from the photographer. But if it's just a "here I am, there is a
statue" sort of thing, it seems pretty unnecessary to get up in arms
about it.
FF