[Foundation-l] [Slashdot] Why the Photos On Wikipedia Are So Bad

[Lennart Guldbrandsson]

2009/7/20 K. Peachey <p858snake at yahoo.com.au>

> Why the Photos On Wikipedia Are So Bad
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> Recent photographs on Wikipedia are almost
> exclusively the work of amateurs who don't mind giving away their
> work. 'Amateur may be too kind a word; their photos tend to be the
> work of fans who happen to have a camera,' opines the Times's author.
> Ultimately the issue for professional photographers who might want to
> donate their work is copyright. 'To me the problem is the Wikipedia
> rule of public use,' says Jerry Avenaim, a celebrity photographer. 'If
> they truly wanted to elevate the image on the site, they should allow
> photographers to maintain the copyright.'"
>
> [1]. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/arts/20funny.html
> [2]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_use_policy
> [3].
> http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/20/0044240/Why-the-Photos-On-Wikipedia-Are-So-Bad
>
> _______________________________________________
> foundation-l mailing list
> foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
>

And if we truly wanted to elevate the text on the site, we should allow
*writers* to maintain the copyright?

This is, I am sorry to say, sloppy thinking. The images have been improved
greatly, but that is not as visible as on the text side - one minute there
is no picture, the next one there is a bad one, and the next minute there is
a better one, and soon somebody comes along and uploads a truly great one.
It takes a little bit more time, because it's a bit harder to contribute a
picture than it is to contribute with proofreading or fact checking - you
actually have to meet the person you want to portrait or go to the
geographical area you want to show. But improvement is certainly on the way
- and I am confident that this trend will improve as a) more amateurs have a
chance to meet celebrities (statistically, even blind chicken find their
food...), b) Commons becomes better known, and c) chapters can learn from
each other how to get museums and archives to donate their pictures.

Best wishes,

-- 
Lennart Guldbrandsson, chair of Wikimedia Sverige and press contact for
Swedish Wikipedia // ordförande för Wikimedia Sverige och presskontakt för
svenskspråkiga Wikipedia