Jens said:
But I can't understand why this http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image%3A843-870_Europe.jpg is fair use. The map has been created for an encyclopedia or an history textbook. If this is fair use, is there any picture we may not use?
I reply --
This is actually interesting -- when DW (or Elliot) put this up many months ago, I asked for a reference. I claimed then that this map was likely not in fair use. My reasoning was as follows: When I was finishing my thesis in 2000, I was desperate for maps. I found this map, along with a couple others that this person put up, at the UW library. I didn't have time to write for permission, and checked the copyright with the librarians, who said I could only use it under fair use if I altered the image dramatically, because it was still under copyright. Unfortunately, I can't tell you the source -- I had a couple maps copied, traced the parts I needed (the coastlines and rivers) by hand, scanned them, and labeled them as necessary. Anyway, I think we shouldn't use any images unless we can definitively say where they're from -- from what the librarian at my present college says, one still has to credit image sources for fair use, or it isn't fair use.
Julie