Mark Gallagher wrote:
When we say "that's policy", what we're *really* saying is "because I and a few other people said so". Learning the *reason* why we do things, so that a) we can do them properly, and b) we can explain them to others, is vital.
The image use policy page said all that three years ago when I started at WP, and it still does; I didn't have any trouble understanding it after working on WP for a couple weeks. The upload page has all manner of links and warnings, which link to even further explanations, eventually going back to first principles for those that want to learn all about copyright law.
While I want to assume good faith in all of this, in actually looking through a random swath of recent untagged uploads, the explanations that come to mind are either that we have many editors with the IQ of a turnip, or they are deliberately ignoring the policy and explanations we're putting in front of them. Whichever the case, their uploads are not helping build the encyclopedia, and we need to stop making excuses for them.
Stan