On 23 March 2017 at 15:08 Steve Bowbrick <steve.bowbrick@bbc.co.uk> wrote:


Hi all,

Very occasional post from a long-time subscriber here!

I run social media for the BBC's speech and classical radio stations and for some of the BBC's classical brands (orchestras, Proms etc.).

We have a constant need for images. We use the usual mixed bag of sources: commercial picture libraries, the BBC archive, commissioned photos, some public domain and cc sources.

We have a pretty cast-iron rule forbidding the use of Wikimedia Commons images. Historically, we've felt that there was sufficient uncertainty about the ownership of some Commons images that it would be safest for us to steer clear all together (sometimes, for instance, we find images in commercial libraries like Hulton Getty that are also in the Commons and this creates the kind of doubt about ownership that stops us from using them).

So, in the interests of updating my knowledge (and possibly our policy), is there any up-to-date advice for organisations like the BBC about the safe usage of content from the Wikimedia Commons? Should we rely on Commons images more often? Is there any guidance for how to judge the ownership of a Commons image reliably? And 

Thank you!

That's a number of questions!

In some order:

Q1: What's Wikipedia's policy about the use of these images in entries?

A: As far as Wikipedia is concerned, relevant Commons images can appear in articles. Clearly, if the image is found not to belong on Commons, it should be removed from Wikipedia, but that is an automatic take-down. (Details skipped.)

Q2: Is there any up-to-date advice for organisations like the BBC about the safe usage of content from the Wikimedia Commons?

A: It depends what level of prudential advice you are seeking. Free advice from the Web never trumps what you can get from an intellectual property professional. 

Q3: Should the BBC rely on Commons images more often?

If the BBC doesn't use them at all now, the answer, almost certainly, is "yes". But some attribution is going to be needed.

Q4: Is there any guidance for how to judge the ownership of a Commons image reliably?

A: Take the metadata provided on the file description page with a pinch of salt. The source of the image should be provided, and in some cases that will tell you what you need. If there is no source, or if the information is scanty (happens often enough with uploads from a while back), there is cause for concern. In general Wikimedia Commons is more scrupulous than the mainstream media in researching photographers' details, for example. 

Q5: What about overlaps with commercial image libraries?

A: Don't assume an image in both Commons and a stock image library is actually in copyright, whatever you're told. It is certainly sometimes the case that copyright is claimed in older images without too much basis. 

Well, it is hard to give really accurate advice, because international copyright is genuinely tricky. But there are probably classes of images that would be OK for the BBC to use.

Charles