Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 21:38, 26 September 2005

Archive

Overhaul

I have boldly updated this page in line with discussion on Misplaced Pages:WikiProject Fair use, the mailing list, and User talk:Jimbo Wales. In general, it is widely believed that we need a policy on what sort of fair use material we are willing to accept, and this is my attempt at that.

Please edit it to make it better.

The Uninvited Co., Inc. 15:59, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

Policy

All of these requirements are met or one? It should specify not imply. --None-of-the-Above 04:24, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

Photo Assistance

Is AFP.com a fair use site. I would like to consider using this photo of President located at http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050901/photos_pl_afp/050901155931_hc7pmpn4_photo0 Kindly advise.Kyle Andrew Brown 20:02, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

• AFP would be Agence France-Presse. Definitely not appropriate to reuse, that's a wire service. -- Jmabel | Talk 06:42, September 2, 2005 (UTC)

• There is no such thing as a "fair use site". Whether individual photographs can be used under "fair use" policies does not depend on the site, but since AFP makes their living selling these photographs, it would be especially important to establish an adequate "fair use" rationale. In this case, it would depend on where you want to use this photo. --Fastfission 18:16, 2 September 2005 (UTC)

Problems

Here are just a few problematic statements in the present version of the page:

• Publicity photos are permitted but are not fair use, see Misplaced Pages:Publicity photos.

To my knowledge, our use of publicity photos must be as "fair use", because we no longer allow the use of limited licenses.

• News and wire service photos published in 1923 or later. Not permitted. These are copyrighted and there is no fair use exemption for them.

What's the justification for saying "there is no fair use exemption for them"? I don't see why these are being treated different than any other copyrighted media. I do believe that there should be a special warning for using photographs whose copyrights are owned by companies who make their income exclusively off of photograph licenses (because the argument that we are defrauding them is a lot stronger), but there are many instances in which said use could still be "fair" in my mind. What's the rationale behind such strongly worded text?

• Photographs of plants, wildlife, and other natural history subjects. Not permitted. Fair use doesn't provide a general "educational" exemption for such material.

Same question as the news photos. Obviously if it is feasible to take our own pictures of the thing in question (no need to "fair use" a photograph of a dog, for example, as there are many dogs), "fair use" wouldn't apply. But if it is something more specific, I don't see why it wouldn't qualify as "fair use" ("Bruno, the wild dog of the Pampas, known for eating cattle" or something like that).

• Often an image will be both fair use and licensed use. The license protects the uploader and the Misplaced Pages, while others can use the image as fair use. This is particularly likely when the uploader is not in the US and may not be able to legally use fair use without infringing under their own local copyright law. It's always good to have the legal protection of even a very restrictive license for a work being used under fair use. To assist reusers, do give both the license details and the fair use rationale. In these cases, the license will govern use outside the US, while those in the US can use fair use.

I think this whole section should be deleted, personally (along with the similar tags). "Fair use" is a defensive claim because you don't have permission; a license is a form of permission — they should not be confused with one another. I think it also confuses the re-using issue. Images licensed only to Misplaced Pages are not allowed on Misplaced Pages. The only way to use a copyrighted image on Misplaced Pages which is not licensed for any use is to use it under a "fair use" claim, if one applies. --Fastfission 19:06, 2 September 2005 (UTC)

Images of art

Are all images of all visual art fair use? I know of a photo of King Tut's death mask that someone claims the copyright to. Can we use it here? Can we edit it and use it here? Jim Apple 05:17, 10 September 2005 (UTC)

It's quite possible for a photo of a three-dimensional object to be copyrighted, even if the original is out of copyright. --Carnildo 05:49, 10 September 2005 (UTC)

No image is inherently fair use, fair use is a matter of how you use the image.

Also, I think you may be confusing fair use and public domain. Fair use applies specifically to certain uses of copyrighted images.

So I'm not quite sure what you want to know. -- Jmabel | Talk 05:51, September 10, 2005 (UTC)

I think this is a question about the Bridgeman v. Corel implications. Making a 2-D reproduction of a 2-D work of art which is already in the public domain does NOT create a new copyright (in the United States). Making a 2-D reproduction of a 3-D work of art which is already in the public domain DOES create a new copyright (because it involves some form of originality and creativity in arrangement). So a photo of King Tut's death mask can definitely be copyrighted. --Fastfission 12:39, 10 September 2005 (UTC)

Images of institutions

If an institution such as a school puts an image of its building on the front page of its website, to describe and/or promote itself, it it fair use to copy that image and use it to describe that institution in an article about it? Kappa 00:31, 17 September 2005 (UTC)

Legally? Maybe. Under Misplaced Pages's rules? Probably not. Since images of buildings are usually pretty easy to create, there's no reason to use a non-free image. --Carnildo 03:26, 17 September 2005 (UTC)

• Misplaced Pages will pay for my air fare? Kappa 03:38, 17 September 2005 (UTC)

No, but it will pay your expenses for contacting a Wikipedian with a camera in the general area. See Category:Wikipedians by location. --Carnildo 06:35, 17 September 2005 (UTC)

Template changes

For some time now I've been thinking about and discussing more potential policy changes and clarifications for fairuse images, but finding something which strikes a balance between our many needs and many perspectives is very difficult. Still, the existing system leaves a lot to be desired, and there is a lot of argument related to fair use images. Some users believe we are overusing fair use and reducing the freeness of Misplaced Pages, while others counter with the fact that fair use is essential to our goal of producing an encyclopedia. Virtually all who have evaluated the situation agree that there are a lot of incorrectly tagged images.

Recently, the new speedy delete criteria for unsourced images has caused a lot of additional discussion about all facets of image copyright handling on Misplaced Pages. After extensive consultation with quite a few Wikipedians I have decided that there is a lot more to gain by changing some details in our procedures rather than proposing a more comprehensive policy change. As a result I have created two new templates: {{fairusenoalternative}} and {{fairusereplace}}.

Both templates share a common characteristic: two variables. These allow (and encourage) the user of the template to provide both where the work is fair use, and why the work is fair use. This is necessary because all fair use is dependent on context and must always have a basis. I do not suggest we impose standards on what goes into the why field right away, but rather feel out what is most useful. The two templates differ from each other because they separate fairuse into two broad classes. In one class we have fair use where there can be no alternative to that work. For example, if we are writing about a copyrighted painting there is no freely available work which could act as a reasonable alternative to the use of an excerpt of the painting in that context. The other class is for works where, while our use would be considered fair use by law in the US, it is possible to create free works which would act as a good replacement. For example, we might currently be using a fair use photograph of Steve Jobs but anyone can take a picture of him, and many possible pictures would do as good or better of a job as the fair use image. Because Misplaced Pages is the free Encyclopedia, we prefer the freely licensed image when we have an option. It is possible for a work to have multiple instances of both tages, because the replaceability of the work and the rationale of the use may differ from linking article to linking article. However, I think situations requiring multiple tags will be rare.

After the tags are in wide use, the plan is to convert the existing {{fairuse}} into a message requesting fairuse review and disambiguation. We also have some subject-area fair use tags which may benefit from being split and being provided with where and why fields. Enjoy!--Gmaxwell 16:55, 18 September 2005 (UTC)

Cover Photos

Apparently not everyone has the same idea as to whether a magazine cover may be used for the article of the person appearing on the front cover. See User talk:Evil Monkey#Playboy covers for a discussion about this. I think everyone should be agreed on this before a bunch of people remove cover photos and then a lot of other people see it the opposite way around. Thanks Dismas| 16:10, 22 September 2005 (UTC)

Covers of media should be used to illustrate the media in question, not the subject of the cover. In cases where the media in question is quite notable, such as Playboy, this can usually be cleared up by a good image caption and the addition of a few sentences regarding the subject's appearance on the magazine cover to the article text. However, magazine covers are not automatically fair use in articles about the subject; care is required. I would also generally discourage this use because the fair use claim isn't as solid as one for an article that primarily contained commentary about the media itself, as well as the fact that it should be easier to get a free replacement (or at least a better fair use replacement). JYolkowski // talk 20:53, 22 September 2005 (UTC)

Okay, so if I understand this correctly, we can use magazine covers if the appearance on the cover is discussed in the article and it plainly states in the caption that the image is being used to show the magazine with said person on the cover? Dismas| 12:13, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

That's what I believe. There have been some discussions at Misplaced Pages talk:WikiProject Fair use about this as well, and those discussions seem to have reached a similar conclusion. JYolkowski // talk 20:47, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

Mugshots

Example image Unless a city has a policy to put work generated by city employees as part of their job into the public domain, then that work is still protected by copyright. So, how does/should this apply to mugshots? The purpose of these images is somewhat similar to that of publicity shots in the entertainment industry with the major difference being the wishes of the subject. In that case, the images are copyrighted, yet the holder of that copyright let's them be used rather freely in order to drum up publicity. That makes it easier for us to make a fair use claim on those type of images. Does this also apply to mugshots? Is there even a market for mugshots that may be damaged by copyright infringement? What should our policy on mugshot use be? --mav 04:17, 23 September 2005 (UTC)

Well, that particular image is from the Los Angeles Police Department, who certainly seems to think they can claim copyright on their content (see ). I don't think the wishes of the subject are required to be taken into consideration for copyright questions, as they are not the copyright holder and would have no standing for a copyright-related suit. I do not think there is a market at all would damage the copyright holder in this instance, though, which would make it not terribly difficult fair use claim for Misplaced Pages. The images are certainly distributed with intention of potential reuse of some sort. I think it's a pretty low-risk fair use category. --Fastfission 01:03, 25 September 2005 (UTC)

Another thing to consider is the fact that mugshots are very uncreative, which should help our fair use claim with regards to "the nature of the work". JYolkowski // talk 14:11, 25 September 2005 (UTC)

Stop calling them "fair use images"

I think the tendency to call unlicensed images used under the term "fair use images" tends to mislead editors into assuming they can use an image when they can't. I, therefore, think we should avoid using that phrase and instead use the term "unlicensed images". Images being used under the fair use doctrine are not licensed; the fair use doctrine merely permits the use of the image without a license. We have to make it crystal clear to people that fair use is a per-instance doctrine that authorizes an image to be used only in a specific context and that the image itself remains unlicensed and is not available for general use outside that context. Kelly Martin 00:37, 25 September 2005 (UTC)

I agree. Zach (Sound Off) 00:53, 25 September 2005 (UTC)

Good idea. Can anyone think of a term that has even more negative connotations? --Carnildo 04:34, 25 September 2005 (UTC)

Unfree? Non-free? Restricted use? Limited use? Bovlb 15:52, 25 September 2005 (UTC)

Constrained-use? (also: subservient, captive, enslaved, enthralled, subjugated ;D) -- Sitearm | Talk 16:57, 25 September 2005 (UTC)

Unlicenced? That is in essense what they are. The use in the article may be fair use, but the image is just plain unlicenced. --fvw* 20:54, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

Very specific fair use question

I'd like to use an image of an IBM 603 tube multiplier found here on the CPU page I'm rewriting. Of course the image is probably Copyright IBM, but in their "Terms and conditions" set forth for that portion of the site (here), they explicity state "Fair educational use of the contents of this Web site is permitted." Does uploading this image to Misplaced Pages qualify as proper fair use under our rules? I find it very unlikely that IBM would agree to license the image under a Free license or release it to public domain, so I think application of fair use is the best way to go here. I'm pretty sure this is kosher, but wanted to be positive before I use the image. -- uberpenguin 20:43, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

I'd like to see what other people say, but I think it seems fairly reasonable. It's a photo from the archives of the company that made the product, the archives encourage fair use, and it sounds pretty difficult to get a free equivalent. JYolkowski // talk 21:38, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

Fair use without source

Does fair use of an image require that we list the source of that image, legally or by our own policy? I've noticed quite a few images getting marked as fair use for reasonable fair use rationales but without their source being specified. --fvw* 20:53, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

A source is required in order to claim fair use. Unsourced images will be deleted without warning. Kelly Martin 21:32, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

If we don't know any source, we can't determine the nature of the work, the portion of the work copied, and the impact on the original work - that's three out of the four factors that we need to consider in determining fair use. It would seem very, very unlikely that we could claim fair use in this case. JYolkowski // talk 21:37, 26 September 2005 (UTC)