[WikiEN-l] Copyright dispute

[Will Beback]

This issue reminds me of a similar dispute. Let me try to summarize its 
elements briefly:

1) User:SF (a pseudo username) previously uploaded several old photos of 
a public figure, claiming to have taken them himself. A comparison of 
his stated age and the dates of the photos made the claim impossible, 
but he insisted on it without explaining the discrepancy. However he 
eventually stopped repeating the claims and allowed the images to be 
deleted.

2) Another user uploaded embarrassing recent photos of the same public 
figure that had been widely posted on blogs, etc. That user made a 
dubious claim of ownership. User:Sf demanded to see proof of the 
ownership and when none was forthcoming he instigated the deletion of 
the images.

3) User:SF uploaded a diagram that he claims to have created which also 
appears on several websites across the world and has for several years. 
I've asked him for proof of his ownership. He has asked me what kind of 
proof I require and I replied by asking him what proof he can offer.

Based on the discussion here it sounds like I can hand this issue over 
to the OTRS/permission system. Aside from the concern that an OTRS 
volunteer won't know of this user's previous bad faith claims, I'm not 
sure how anyone can establish the provenance of an Illustrator image or 
diagram. I'd imagine that ownership of photos could often be established 
if the purported owner has other, unpublished photos taken in the same 
place and time. How do we establish ownership of a diagram?

Will Beback