[WikiEN-l] Non-free images, there has to be a better way

Mon Jul 4 15:04:57 UTC 2005

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Maury Markowitz wrote:
> More recently I went back to the article and found all the images 
> deleted. The deleter added a note, but as far as I can tell did so
> AFTER deleting them ( I can't get history on the image itself, of
> course).. He stated I should have tagged them differently. Yes, well,
> thanks for that,  maybe someone should have told me that in the month
> between me uploading them and them being deleted so I could have
> actually DONE that.
> 

It is considered courteous for the uploader to be notified when an image
is listed on [[WP:PUI]]. In fact, the image deletion process is normally
quite long and requires the uploader to be contacted, original copyright
holder to be contacted requesting permission if there is any possibility
of release under a free licence, etc. Not doing so in this case seems
rather rude. I am curious to see what exactly the confirmation of
permission was. I have been through the process of requesting permission
for an image that had become featured because it was wrongly assumed
that it was under a free license, and the image ended up being deleted
when permission was refused.

> My complaint here is the completely arbitrary and largely invisible 
> nature of this decision and its ramifications. The entire dicussion 
> appears to have take place offline. If there was a public online 
> dicussion, it was rather well hidden. I certainly was not privvy to
> it until AFTER the decision was made. Further, reading over the
> discussion here, it seems no dissenting views were considered. Nor is
> there any real reason given, other than "we don't like them". I asked
> for someone to explain it to me, but no one did, and they were simply
> deleted.
> 

The only images that are acceptable are those that are either fair use
or under a free license. Anything else is shot on sight, and rightly so.
[[Special:Upload]] states (possibly not quite clearly enough):

> Please do not upload files under a "non-commercial use only" or
> "copyrighted, used by permission" licence. Such files will be
> deleted.

If the image was uploaded before May 19, it should have gone onto
[[WP:PUI]] before being deleted, not just speedied on sight.

> What's particularily baffling is that the deleter suggested I simply 
> re-tag them to PermissionAndFairUse. This strikes me as absolutely 
> rediculous. First of all, why are these OK and not ones used with 
> permission? And if these are OK, why didn't it say so in the warning
> on the Permission tag? And finally why didn't anyone bother to tell
> anyone the answers to these, and all the other questions?
> 

Again, the upload warning needs changing, and the uploaders need notifying.

I think this highlights a larger problem here - admins don't know what
the hell they are doing. They see an image with a non-free license, an
article which they think is nonsense, a user making nonsense edits, a
revert war brewing - they don't take the sensible options of notifying
the uploader, asking for a second opinion, or warning the user(s) - they
just delete, delete, block, revert and protect pages to their hearts
content.

I've done RC patrol, I've seen the nonsense articles, the unfree images,
the revert wars brewing, the vandalism - and every time, I've done my
best to remain courteous, leave notes on talk pages, and seek a second
opinion, because it's the only option available to me. Maybe you're just
tired and bitter, but I wonder what some of the admins would do if they
were forced to do the same instead of using their awesome powers.

- --
Alphax
OpenPGP key: 0xF874C613 - http://tinyurl.com/cc9up
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Alphax
There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,'
and those to whom God says, 'All right, then, have it your way.' - C. S.
Lewis
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