On 5/21/06, Peter Mackay peter.mackay@bigpond.com wrote:
The "ethics" of it are of no concern for us.
In the case of attributing ownership to creative works?
Nope! Just the legal aspect is enough, thanks. That's enough, without worrying about ethics. Let the person uploading the photo worry about the ethics.
I disagree. When the photographs are obviously NOT taken by the subject, the question of copyright becomes non-trivial.
Sorry, it's pretty trivial in this case. If the picture in question was being used to make big bucks somewhere, or was at least the work of a professional, sure, it might be worth worrying about. But for casual shots, it is not only unnecessary to doubt the word of the user in these cases about the copyright status, but the risk of legal intervention is so low as to be nil. Additionally, in a case like this, it will be absolutely clear to the copyright owner who to complain to. I think this sort of thing is very, very low priority.
If it were an exceptionally "artistic" photograph -- perhaps it would be worth checking in with the user to make sure they have permission from the photographer. But if it's just a "here I am, there is a statue" sort of thing, it seems pretty unnecessary to get up in arms about it.
FF