Local uploads have been disabled on the English Wikinews from the start.
Uploads are only possible through the Wikimedia Commons. This is meant
to make the upload of "fair use" images as well as images under other
non-free licenses impossible, and generally encourage use of the
Commons. The decision to disable uploads on the English Wikinews was
made in accord with Jimmy. Uploads on the other wikis were only enabled
to begin with in order to allow them to replace the logo. Since that has
now happened, local uploads are disabled there as well.
In order to nicely integrate a link to the Commons into the sidebar, I
suggest using [[MediaWiki:Currentevents]] as well as
[[MediaWiki:Currentevents-url]], which are pointless in Wikinews anyway
since the entire wiki is about Current Events. You can point those
directly to [[Commons:Special:Upload]], which will then put users on the
Commons upload form if they are logged in.
The decision to disable uploads is not permanent and subject to change.
The reasoning behind this decision is as follows. Wikinews is a project
which directly competes with major news organizations, magazines and
newspapers. It also allows and encourages commercial use of its content.
Fair use of photos from a news agency, for example, is very difficult to
justify under these circumstances. But regardless of the legal
arguments, there is also the practical argument that Wikinews will soon
be perceived as a threat, because most of its stories are based on
reporting done by others -- and we give it away for free, while they
charge money. These people will eventually try to stop us by all means
necessary.
There is a distinct possibility that we will face issues similar to SCO
v. Linux, where a competitor accuses us of stealing content -- even if
we didn't. Fair use, being so volatile in its definition, makes a
successful attack more likely and opens us up to additional legal risks.
That is why uploads will not be enabled until it is fully clear under
what circumstances non-free licenses can be allowed.
Work is currently being done on the English Wikinews to formulate a
"fair use" policy. I encourage other Wikinews editions to do the same.
Fair use on Wikinews could encompass things like logos, graphics,
screenshots -- or photos that have not been produced by competing
organizations and companies. Once that policy is written, we shall
submit it to the Board for approval and possibly legal review. If it
passes that review, uploads will be re-enabled. The same goes for all
the other Wikinews editions.
In the meantime, I ask you to only upload images under free licenses or
in the public domain, directly to the Wikimedia Commons. Uploading them
there does not affect the image syntax at all -- you can use them like
you would use a local image. But they will not show up in Wikinews
Recent Changes.
If the Board would like this decision to be reverted, please let me
know. Otherwise I will coordinate the next steps as described.
All best,
Erik