Jimmy Wales wrote:
We need a clear statement [...] that the photos are released _by the
copyright holders_ under the GNU FDL. "It's fine to use this" is not
enough.
Unfortunately, many people in this thread have forgotten the option of
public domain. If you just ask the copyright holder something like "do
you forgo your copyright?" or perhaps even "can anyone use it for any
purpose whatsoever?" then they are not only much more likely to give an
informed answer, but in the case of a "yes" it's even more useful. We
all know that the problems with the GNU FDL are even worse for images.
How would you use a GFDL image in a (new) printed document?
The images I have contributed are [crap, but at least] public domain. :)