[Wikipedia-l] morguefile.com image use

[Jimmy (Jimbo) Wales]

But this sort of permission is inadequate for us.  We need a free license.

Magnus Manske wrote:

> <Farnsworth>Good news, everyone!</Farnsworth>
> 
> I contacted Michael Connors from www.morguefile.com, a free image 
> repository, about use of the images on wikipedia. Short answer: Go 
> ahead! Long answer: below...
> 
> Happy image-hunting!
> 
> Magnus
> 
> -------- Original Message --------
> 
> Hey mangus, first off for a site like Wikipedia, you can certainly use any
> image photographed by mconnors free and clear of all terms or by-lines and
> you have my written permission. The problem is that I don't own these
> images, I only have permission to redistribute them. Or at least all of the
> images that I haven't photographed. And I wrote the disclaimer myself, which
> is why it's so shoddy. (even more so then the coding) You are correct, what
> I plan to do is have a lawyer provide us with proper terms. My only real
> concern was preventing someone from downloading the entire collection and
> finding a morgeufile CD for sale at wal-mart. And I have gotten request from
> people who want to just rip off as many prints as they can and sell them at
> every street vendor in NYC, in which case I tell them they should at least
> stick a calendar on it. If your using the images on a webpage, that's really
> not the same- they would be really bad prints. The intent of the site was
> definitely to serve sites not unlike wikipedia, so I think you should run
> with using the images, I honestly believe the contributors would be tickled
> to know there work is being used by your site. Give me another 6 months to
> hire the lawyers and we'll have a solid license. For now you can contact the
> contributor of a specific photo- I'm sure you won't have any problems
> getting permission. Thanks a lot for the advice, it is greatly appreciated.
> mconnors
> 
> 
> On 8/25/04 3:43 AM, "Magnus Manske" <magnus.manske at web.de> wrote:
> 
> >Hi,
> >
> >I am writing you on behalf of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> >(http://www.wikipedia.org ).
> >
> >I recently found your great site at http://www.morguefile.com and
> >thought it would be a wonderful source for images on Wikipedia. However,
> >we are a little uncertain about the copyright policy.
> >
> >You *do* state that the images on your site are free to use, even for
> >commercial projects. The Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free
> >Documentation License, the equivalent of the GPL (think Linux) for
> >written text. The GFDL allows for commercial use as well, no problem so 
> >far.
> >
> >But, you also state on your About page "Although selling prints, selling
> >the images directly or claiming the photo is yours is prohibited." Of
> >course we will appropriately credit the image source, but by "just"
> >using an image of yours on our site, someone might produce single prints
> >and sell them, which is good with the GFDL, but violates your terms of use.
> >
> >A solution would be for you to co-license all your images under GFDL,
> >which would ensure that the information stays free (as in "free speech",
> >not "free beer":-) but this is of course entirely your decision. IMHO,
> >it would seem to fit the spirit of your site, though.
> >
> >Anyhow, if you allow us to use some of your images on Wikipedia, please
> >supply us with a short note we can put on the image description below
> >the source citing, similar to
> >  "This image is *not* under GFDL. You are free to use it in any way
> >except for selling high-quality versions of it digitally or in print,
> >and as long as you cite the source."
> >
> >Thank you in advance for your time, and for a great image resource.
> >
> >Magnus Manske
> >
> 
> 
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"La nèfle est un fruit." - first words of 50,000th article on fr.wikipedia.org