It seems to me that the only sensible solution to the image problems we being discussed is the tagging of images as "GNU FDL" or "fair use".
The remaining question I have is whether we should also support "special permission" images (that are not free for use outside Wikipedia).
If the only way we can illustrate a topic is by using such images (or other media), then I think we should do so. Provided we have a mechanism by which reusers of our content can avoid downloading them, it doesn't seem to be a problem. I do, however, recommend we accept their use only if it is the only way to provide such images for an article.
One point WRT "special permission" images is the minimum rights we should require before accepting it. Should we require the ability to reproduce the image in paper or CD editions? The ability to use in other Wikimedia projects (such as history textbooks and the like) perhaps?
Robert Graham Merkel wrote:
If the only way we can illustrate a topic is by using such images (or other media), then I think we should do so. Provided we have a mechanism by which reusers of our content can avoid downloading them, it doesn't seem to be a problem. I do, however, recommend we accept their use only if it is the only way to provide such images for an article.
I don't like this idea, because it makes the Wikipedia website seem like the end product we're trying to produce, which in my view it is not. We're trying to produce a free encyclopedia, and one way it will be published is on wikipedia.org. If an image is only allowed to be published by us, it is not part of the free encyclopedia, but an addition to the free encyclopedia only available on one specific website.
Using such images will also tend to discourage the creation or location of actually free images.
-Mark