[WikiEN-l] electronic reproduction permission request -- Nick Ut's "naked girl running from napalm attack" photograph of Kim Phuc Phan Thi

Sun Aug 8 14:25:15 UTC 2004

Dear Sir/Madam of the Associated Press,

	cc: English Wikipedia Mailing List <wikiEN-L at Wikipedia.org>

I am writing on behalf of the Wikipedia, the free Internet encyclopedia 
(http://wikipedia.org), of which I am a contributor.

An anonymous contributor has recently uploaded the following image -- 
of which I believe you hold the copyright  -- to the Wikipedia:
	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:TrangBang.jpg
In case the picture is already deleted by the time you access that link:
The picture in question is Huynh Cong (Nick) Ut's "naked girl running 
after napalm attack" photograph of Kim Phuc Phan Thi.

As we have become aware of potential copyright issues with the 
aforesaid photograph, proceedings have been initiated to delete the 
picture.
However I would like to kindly ask you, on behalf of Wikipedia, to 
please consider granting us permission for reproduction of the said 
picture on the Wikipedia.

The Wikipedia is an Internet based free volunteer project by the 
non-profit Wikipedia Foundation. As such we cannot unfortunately offer 
payment.
However, I would like to make the following points in favour of 
licensing the picture for Wikipedia use:

- You would leave a lasting very positive impression of the Associated 
Press to Wikipedia users and Internet users worldwide. An appropriate 
caption could be added to that effect.
- You would not loose any rights to the picture, as NOT all pictures on 
the Wikipedia are in the public domain and neither does the GNU Free 
Documentation License always apply. Copyrighted pictures have been 
licensed for Wikipedia use before. A caption could clearly state this 
and even made part of the picture.
- You would do the public a service and combat disinformation: The 
picture is at the center of various disputes on Wikipedia, with those 
contributors most emphatically seeking its removal having a politicized 
edit history: For example, they have denied that the U.S. strike 
documented by the picture was carried out by the U.S.; this despite the 
fact that Kim Phuc's meeting with John Plummer is well documented.
- Please also consider that by licensing the picture for Wikipedia use, 
you would NOT loose potential revenue -- due to the volunteer nature of 
the project, Wikipedia cannot incorporate any for-fee material (like 
conventional encyclopedias can). If we cannot convince you to kindly 
grant permission, we would simply have to refrain from using the 
picture.
- Also, the image file which was uploaded to us is low resolution and 
unfit for print publication. Thus, hypothetically, even if some party 
intended to maliciously copy the file from the Wikipedia for further 
reproduction, they would find it of rather limited use.

Please be invited to visit http://en.wikipedia.org to find out more 
about the Wikipedia.

(The Wikipedia is also available in many languages other than English 
-- including Vietnamese:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page#Wikipedia_in_other_languages , 
http://vi.wikipedia.org.)

Thanks and regards,
Jens Ropers

There are two types of IT techs: The ones who watch soap operas and the 
ones who watch progress bars.
http://www.ropersonline.com/elmo/#108681741955837683

PS: I am writing all this on the assumption that you are indeed the 
current copyright holder and that the picture's use with Wikipedia is 
not covered under the "fair use" principle. Should I be wrong, then I 
don't mean to make any misrepresentation one way or the other. I am 
again assuming that you hold the copyright and that we cannot use the 
picture without your permission, but I have no special insight into the 
matter. Should you choose to deny us permission to use the picture, I 
would urgently pass that message on to the relevant admins, where such 
clarification from your side will certainly lead to a speedy resolution 
of the issue.
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