Our fair use policy states -- correctly, I think -- that we should not use fair use for generic images and should remove any non-licensed images which can be reasonably re-created as free images. The goal behind this was to discourage unnecessary invocations of the fair use clause, as well as to encourage free content to be created whenever possible.
That's all well and good. But does this mean that NO images of people who are currently alive can be used under "fair use"? After all, if they are alive, potentially one could take a picture of them and license it as GFDL.
It sounds like an absurd interpretation of the intention of our "fair use" policy to me, but this is how people have been insisting on interpreting it at the Wikipedia:Fair Use talk page. I think this is foolish on many levels -- it has absolutely nothing to do with either legal issues or free content, it effectively results in the jettisoning of many perfectly fine "fair use" images which just happen to be of living people, and it focuses people attention on the most immaterial fact-y aspects of "fair use" policy rather than trying to actually understand how to implement it or why it works the way it does. I think it is a policy which will cause more trouble that it will benefits.
That particular interpretation of the policy slipped into the main policy without any discussion.
I've given up on trying to participate in this discussion, though, as it has, in my opinion, been hijacked by people who really just see this as a way to get rid of "fair use" media on the English Wikipedia. While I can see the ups and downs of "fair use" usage, I think that's a separate issue that should not be what comes into play in discussions of policy implementation. If the explicit desire is to get rid of fair use alltogether, this should be handled in a direct fashion, not in these indirect, five-and-dime approaches.
I'm just posting it here so that people who care about either our "fair use" policy or about whether Wikipedia has sensible policies or not can participate either way on the discussion. What disturbs me the most about it is that many of these changes which will have vast effects on the use of "fair use" media on Wikipedia are only being discussed among a very small group of very interested people. In my opinion if one is to make such a draconian rule as "no living people allowed", one must gain a certain amount of legitimacy for it, either by showing it to be in accord with a substantial popular opinion or from our non-popular authority structures (i.e. by fiat of a recognized authority).
Just FYI. Discussions taking place at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Fair_use http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Images_of_living_people
The criteria in question is FUC #1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Fair_use_criteria
You can find a long rant from me about it -- with more eloquence than this little note here, in my opinion -- at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Fair_use_criteria#FUC.231_and_pe...
At this point I don't care either way about it as I've gotten really sick of even trying to participate in en policymaking especially in the "fair use" area, as it has gotten clogged with extremists of all opinions and nobody seems to have much of an interest in creating sensible, rational policy (I'm aware not everyone will share my interpretations or cocerns). I just want to open up the discussion a bit so that people won't be surprised when the day comes that when five people at WP:FU change our policies and start deleting images left and right.
I don't think Wikipedia is a waste of time but it certainly caters to those with time to waste.
FF