A debate has erupted on en.wiki regarding the use of a particular montage of 38 fair use images being used as a navigational aid on an article. The image in question is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Companions.jpg The article it is used on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Companion_(Doctor_Who) The debate: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Images_and_media_for_deletion/2008_Oc...

Of particular note relevant to the Foundation is a proposal late in the debate to approach the Foundation regarding the issue in abstract. See Masem's 00:33, 30 October 2008 (UTC) comments, and my response.

In a nutshell, the situation is that the debates regarding fair use image use on the local en.wiki project have been going on virtually ceaselessly for a very, very long time now. There's little in the way of consensus on fair use issues. Probably the only absolutely consensus is that there is no consensus.

It is recognized that the Foundation does not get involved in local project policy debates. It is also recognized that the local project ArbCom does not get involved in such policy debates either. This results in a situation of perpetual tail chasing that has never shown any signs of ending, nor is it likely to.

This is damaging to the project in a number of ways: - Huge amount of wasted effort debating fair use - Inconsistent application of what policies there are - Due to inconsistent application, lack of adherence to the Foundation's stance at http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Licensing_policy

I do not propose any solutions here, but would like to hear some input on the abstract issue.

-Hammersoft