[WikiEN-l] Re: Images on user pages

Thu Sep 15 04:38:55 UTC 2005

Alphax wrote:

>Michael Snow wrote:
>  
>
>>The problem overlaps somewhat with the problem of including images in
>>templates, when those images are not truly free in every sense. For
>>instance, consider the popular user boxes that are cropping up all over
>>the place (for some examples, see [[User:NSR/userboxes]]). Many of these
>>include images that are tagged as fair use.
>>    
>>
>For the most part, they *are* fair use - they illustrate the product.
>  
>
Illustrating the product is hardly a free ticket to fair use, even if 
that's what the images do here. I don't particularly buy that either; 
the images are logos that identify the user with the product, not actual 
illustrations of the product. Also, fair use arguments for user pages 
are a serious stretch. In most cases, the use has no relationship to the 
purposes enumerated in the Copyright Act (criticism, comment, 
scholarship, research, etc.).

>The only one which has serious copyright concerns is the
>Wikipedia/Firefox "logo", which infringes two trademarks (and some
>people are claiming is a "parody"). If someone will draw their own
>version of this, please do so and put it on commons, it's quite cute...
>  
>
It may be cute, but as I understand it such images aren't eligible for 
inclusion on Commons, nor do I get how you think that someone "draw[ing] 
their own version" will avoid the legal problems.

--Michael Snow