I Wrote:
I completely agree with your point, but I think you have grasped the wrong end of the stick. It is precisely the pride people feel about contributing and being acknowledged as contributing to our great charitable work, that is laying the golden eggs. Attribution is not a killer, it is what gives our projects life.
And in reply Gerrard mejsen top-posted:
Hoi, I could not disagree more with you. People who work on Wikipedia do this because they make a difference. This making a difference is what I think is of paramount importance, what makes people proud of this endeavour. When people use my pictures and my ,it makes a difference how they use it. But essentially I do not really care as long as my ideal of more and better information or more people is realised.
I in fact agree with this. It can even be proven by the success of such sites as Distributed Proofreaders, where people do not edit as editors at all, but are merely faithfully reproducing works to which they have no copyright (or even copyleft) that there is no shortage of people willing to work without their contribution being acknowledged in the finished product ; and yes, I count myself among those who do that kind of work, and really will never be credited for participating in creating an as faithful reproduction as possible of for instance an early printing of William Tyndale's translation of Genesis, in any lasting form.
No-one can deny that we would not lack in contributors if we turned away everybody who wanted to see their name with the work.
But human nature is such, that lots of good work can be had from people who *do* work from completely selfish motives of pride. Not all such work is of course of good quality. To this effect too, proofs can be had from Distributed Proofreaders. Some there do the work hastily, and without care, just because they want their name to shine on the list of people who do much work.
I do disagree that those people should be actively discouraged from helping us.
Obviously I like it that my picture of a wild boar is used on a Russian website. They asked, nice. But I take more pride in KNOWING this than in having my name on their website.
When I print a poster, and the license and the contributors have to be printed on it as well, the image of the picture is spoiled for me. This would be a reason for me to return the printed poster. So let us be practical, WHERE do you want to have all the information that is so dear to you? What are the costs and is this feasible.. Are you not killing the goose that lays the golden eggs ? Thanks,
Now this though, I cannot understand at all. How is the image spoiled, if we know who created it?
Yours,
Jussi-Ville Heiskanen