What about a radio button set in the form that forces uses to choose a particular license when uploaded?
Michael Snow said:
Jimmy Wales wrote:
Michael Snow wrote:
We still need to get a system in place that requires people to provide source information when uploading images. For the types of uses for which US copyright law allows "fair use", the Berne Convention requires that the source of the work be mentioned. We cannot justify fair use if we aren't able to determine where the stuff comes from.
While it would be nice to have a "system" that's all database-happy, wouldn't it be nearly as effective, and immediately possible, to simply update the text of the upload page to ask people to give as much detail as they possibly can as to the source of the upload? They can be warned that if they don't do so, there is a strong risk of deletion.
It is immediately possible, but I question its effectiveness. For about the past two months, the upload text has included, "If you are uploading an image under the doctrine of fair use, please place the text '{{msg:fairuse}}' in the image description and give the source of the image." Adding a warning about the risk of deletion for not citing the source would be nice too, but somebody else needs to do it because I can't.
Nevertheless, my impression from scanning recent uploads is that many images, including those claiming fair use, do not provide source information. This is almost certainly because the upload page has two fields (plus the checkbox for affirming the license). Those fields are called "Filename:" and "Summary:". And the content provided with most uploads is, not surprisingly, a simple summary of what the upload is. Sometimes the source is mentioned, but often not.
Many people who upload stuff probably do so regularly, and are unlikely to read the upload instructions carefully every time, or notice if they change. They *will* notice if we add fields where they are expected to input information.
We need to add a field specifically called "Source:". I realize that may not happen immediately, but it needs to be done. It would be nice if this field also did not allow null content, although I realize that's not very effective against the joker who says his source is "df39rhjufuasl2".
And we should, again with an appropriate lead-time to allow people to try to fix existing problems without edit wars over deletion, just start deleting stuff that doesn't have proper attribution. (I'm not asking people to start deleting stuff today, because a good-faith effort to do the right thing all around will take a bit of time.)
I would expect that even stuff without proper attribution should go through a deletion procedure with community involvement, in case somebody can provide the information needed. And any large-scale effort to clean out non-compliant images should wait until people are more aware of the need to provide attribution.
But I reiterate that the way to let everyone know what's expected, so that we have people trying to do the right thing, is to have a separate field that requires source information.
--Michael Snow
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