Jimmy Wales (jwales@wikia.com) [050710 01:42]:
Zoney wrote:
a) Fair use? We're using a news broadcaster's photos for our *news coverage* without permission? Hah! Yeah right that's fair use!
You are right that this was wrong. I would say that it was still legally fair use *for us*, i.e. not a legal problem, but my position is that just because it is legal, this is not enough for us to use something. It is a particularly good example of excessive use of fair use because there were and are a great many free images available on the web yesterday.
However, useing another broadcaster's news images is in fact fair use and entirely appropriate in a lot of cases. This is why newscasters cover their stuff in their logo.
I would suggest there's a clear anti-copyright agenda* at play in allowing "fair use" images to continue to be used at Wikipedia.
Well, I wouldn't say that. I would say that I do personally take the position that "fair use" _is a good policy_. The legal rights of copyright holders should not extend so far as to be able to forbid all uses, particularly of the sort encompassed by fair use. So I think it's important for our global mission to stand up for fair use as a principle, but at the same time, using it as a crutch because we can, or to say we don't care about downstream reusers is a mistake.
Yes. I think it's entirely in Wikimedia's mission, for example, to speak out on behalf of the public domain, reduced reach of copyright and so forth, because such things would directly help our work. But the Foundation will of course want to tread carefully before setting out on such a path.
At the moment, yes people are harsh on untagged images. But mostly if the image is relevant - and someone tags it fair use - it stays.
I think we should only use pictures under fair use if it is *cleanly* fair use and if the photo is of significant historical importance and there is no possibility of getting a free alternative. (Not "it would be difficult" but "no possibility".) This is not our current policy and not something that's coming from me as a directive, but I think it's the right direction for us to move as we mature.
I think this can be done by guidelines, editorial decision and good sense for the moment.
- d.