On 10/5/06, Andrew Gray <shimgray(a)gmail.com> wrote:
As well as being a detriment to us in that we only
have a limited
amount of resources to play with, this sort of thing can lead to
interesting unintentional biases - a disproportionately high number of
images on en.wp have uniformed US servicemen in them, often in the
most unexpected contexts. I wonder if we can use this sort of thing to
our advantage? "Look how many of the freely-available images of major
humanitarian operations have American flags all over them. Yes, I know
the French government gave more aid after the tsunami than the
Americans. But they didn't release ten thousand photographs of it all
as part of their normal practice. This sort of thing can pay off."
The problem is that most goverments hold the copyright on things of
significant value and as such are unlikely to release them directly
into the public domain. Most will consider it enough to allow use for
non comercail uses or for educational uses. Or will produce something
like the british crown copyright system.
--
geni