Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 03:39, 11 January 2007

The SecondLife client was just open-sourced. I'm going to be quite busy for the forseeable future.

If you're here about an image, try asking your question at Misplaced Pages:Media copyright questions.

Archives: The beginning through April 22, 2005 April 22, 2005 to August 3, 2005 August 3, 2005 to November 4, 2005 November 5, 2005 to January 24, 2006 January 24, 2006 to February 15, 2006 February 15, 2006 to April 13, 2006 April 13, 2006 to June 30, 2006 June 30 to December 1 December 1, 2006 to January 6, 2007

Answers to common questions

Why did you delete my image?

The simple answer: I didn't. Someone else did.

The full answer: If you're coming here to ask about an image, it probably was deleted because you forgot to note where you got the image from, or you forgot to indicate the copyright status of the image. See Misplaced Pages:Image use policy for more information on what you need to do when uploading images.

It says that anyone can copy this image. Why is it being deleted?

The image is not under a free license. There are three things that the image creator needs to permit for an image to be under a free license:

1. They need to permit distribution
2. They need to permit modification and incorporation into other works (the creation of derivative works)
3. They need to permit distribution of derivative works

A permission to copy covers #1, but does not permit #2 (which is what lets Misplaced Pages use it in an article), and does not permit #3 (which is what permits us to distribute Misplaced Pages, and what permits people to re-use Misplaced Pages content).

I got permission to use this image in Misplaced Pages. Why is it being deleted?

Simple permission is not good enough. The image owner could revoke permission at any time, and the image can't be reused anywhere else: not in Wiktionary, not in Wikibooks, and possibly not in the other languages Misplaced Pages is available in. It also prevents people from re-using Misplaced Pages content. Misplaced Pages is a free content encyclopedia, so any image should be under a free license. Simple permission fails all three points of what constitutes a free license.

It says that anyone can use this image for noncommercial purposes. Misplaced Pages is non-commercial, so that means it's okay, right?

The Wikimedia Foundation, the organization that runs Misplaced Pages, is registered as a non-profit organization. That doesn't mean it's noncommercial, though: the German Misplaced Pages, for example, sells copies of the encyclopedia on CD-ROM as a fundraising measure. Further, Misplaced Pages is a free content encyclopedia, so any image should be under a free license. Any license with a "no commercial use" clause fails all three points of what constitutes a free license.

It says that anyone can use this image for educational purposes. Misplaced Pages is educational, so that means it's okay, right?

Misplaced Pages articles are intended to educate, yes. But "educational purposes" is a very vague term. The creator of the image could mean that they only want the image to be used by universities and the like, or they might object to Misplaced Pages's coverage of popular culture. It's best to stay away from images with such vague terms.

Further, Misplaced Pages is a free content encyclopedia, so any image should be under a free license. Any license with an "educational use only" clause fails all three points of what constitutes a free license.

The web page I found this image on doesn't say anything about copyright. That means it's free to use, right?

Wrong. In the United States, under the Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988, every tangible work of creative effort created after March 1, 1989 is automatically copyrighted. Including a copyright statement gives you a stronger position if you file a copyright infringement lawsuit, and you need to register your copyright with the Library of Congress to file the lawsuit, but neither step is needed to get a copyright in the first place.

I found this image on the Internet. Anyone can see it, so that means it's in the public domain, right?

Wrong. Anyone can see a book in a public library, or a painting in an art gallery, but that doesn't mean those are in the public domain. The Internet is no different.

The image was created 50 years ago. It can't possibly still be copyrighted, can it?

Wrong. In the United States, copyright lasts a very long time. As a rule of thumb, everything published in 1929 or later is copyrighted.

Bug in OrphanBot

Hi, your bot left a message on my talk page about Image:Ac.davidkemp.jpg and claimed that I uploaded it, which I didn't. I think you should fix this, seeing as there is next to zero chance that I could dig up the source for the image. — Timwi 20:54, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

You're the most recent uploader on record for that image, so OrphanBot notified you. --Carnildo 00:02, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

Surely the least recent uploader is the one that is most likely to be able to provide the copyright information? — Timwi 00:29, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Not really. Except in the case of reverts (and OrphanBot handles those just fine), the most recent uploader is certain to have had some contribution to the currently-displayed image. The first uploader, on the other hand, may have nothing to do with the currently-displayed image: see Image:Map 1914 WWI Alliances.jpg for an example of this. --Carnildo 00:50, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

The fair use rationale template

You need to configure OrphanBot so it picks up the new {{fair use rationale}} template. Image:Action Park looping water slide.jpg has it, and I got a message all the same. Daniel Case 23:33, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

Only if the template is modified so that leaving all the fields blank automatically tags the image for deletion. One of the two most common responses I see to OrphanBot tagging an image with {{no rationale}} is for the tag to be replaced with {{fair use rationale}}, the other being replacing the tag with {{rationale}}. --Carnildo 00:56, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Somewebsite

It was brought up on Template talk:Somewebsite#This tag that a lot of the images tagged with this have had just the no source tagged removed. From the ones I looked at it seemed like they were either autotagged at upload, or by orphanbot, then someone removed the deletion tag without actually updating the info.

Anyway, would it be possible to run through that category with orphanbot (Category:Uploader unsure of copyright status) and retag anything with only the {{somewebsite}} or {{Don't know}} tags with a no license or something? I did a random check and it seems like a pretty high amount actually. (<50% but still)  :) - cohesion 19:52, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Re: Image copyright problem with Image:Wmsburg_seal.gif

Please discontinue use of your stupid OrphanBot program. It is not working properly. It tagged an image on a city article as not being tagged properly with copyright information, when the image in question is the official city seal of the city of Williamsburg, Virginia. This image is in use by the CITY GOVERNMENT and is in the public domain. Your mal-programmed bot does not understand this. This is not the first time this happened. Furthermore, I was not given adequate time to address the issue before the file was deleted. The file itself was also deleted without taking the links to the image off of the page, which left dead links!!!! This is a serious quality issue for Misplaced Pages. Please address this. Dr. Cash 02:59, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

In recognition

		The Purple Star
		Given in recognition for having one of the most vandalised user pages. Timrollpickering 03:32, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Image:Re-ignition

I have given source, author and explanation for fair use, why is it still persisting in telling me I haven't added those things? I figured it may be a bug, so I bought it to your attention. Thanks, Hole in the wall 12:10, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

OrphanBot is labling images properly tagged

OrphanBot tagged and image tagged as PD-USGov-Military-Navy-NHC as unsourced, please fix. --71Demon 15:40, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Same error with Image:Brickwork.JPG, which is properly sourced and licensed.Fishdecoy 13:15, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Yes, Image:Brickwork.JPG was tagged due to a bug. I've turned off OrphanBot's tagging until I can figure out what happened.

Image:USS Barbour County.jpg, on the other hand, was tagged correctly. The {{PD-USGov-Military-Navy-NHC}} tag by itself is not an adequate source because there is no way to verify that the tag is correct. --Carnildo 20:13, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Carnildo, what is the point in having tags then? We tag them, so this doesn't happend, then your Bot marks them anyway. I get photos taken by the US Navy from the National Archives in DC for some of my projects. I mark them with {PD-USGov-Military-Navy-NHC} which is correct, beyond that not much I can do. Your bot should not be ignoring that lable, otherwise what is the point of the lable? --71Demon 14:40, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

The point of having tags is to make it clear what the copyright status is. Before the standardized tagging system was developed, every uploader had their own way of indicating the copyright status, and it often wasn't clear what the license on a particular image was.

Adding the tag is equivalent to adding the phrase "this image is in the public domain as a work of the Navy Historical Center". Neither provides any evidence of where the image came from. --Carnildo 19:26, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages:Miscellany_for_deletion/Signature_Shops

I deleted your image block, with flashing text and porn links yet. I won't revert war over it, but I do believe it may be a canonical example of disrupting Misplaced Pages to illustrate a point. Come on, now. Please. Be good. AnonEMouse 21:09, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

OrphanBot question

Hey, Carnildo. OrphanBot apparently made this edit to a user notifying him of an orphaned image, but apparently never tagged the image, as it's still sitting out there as an orphan since October. Did something go wrong? User:Zoe|(talk) 21:49, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

I don't see anything wrong there. Are you sure you've got the right link? OrphanBot tagged Image:K12r logo fixed.gif on October 11, and notified the user less than ten seconds later. The image was deleted on October 20. --Carnildo 23:44, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Whoops, sorry, I was looking at the wrong image. The same User uploaded Image:Logo new.gif, which never got tagged. User:Zoe|(talk) 23:46, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

The history of Image:Logo new.gif is a right royal mess. It looks like it was uploaded sometime before the existance of upload logs, tagged as a logo on April 7, manually tagged as orphaned fairuse on May 20, deleted on May 29, uploaded on July 8 by User:Halenaz, tagged as unsourced by OrphanBot twenty minutes later (the uploader was not notified because OrphanBot had already notified him about Image:Frontpage image.jpg two minutes earlier), removed from articles by OrphanBot on July 12, deleted on July 16, uploaded on September 13 by User:Freightdog, tagged by OrphanBot half an hour later (the uploader was not notified because OrphanBot had notified him about Image:Amererair.gif three minutes earlier), deleted on September 26, uploaded on October 11 with what looks like a perfectly good tag of {{logo}}. OrphanBot doesn't tag new uploads as orphaned fairuse because CSD I3 gives users seven days to get the image into articles, and OrphanBot looks at images within an hour of their being uploaded. --Carnildo 03:33, 11 January 2007 (UTC)