[Wikipedia-l] What would Richard Stallman say?

Fri Feb 20 14:22:04 UTC 2004

Caroline Ford wrote:
> Contributors can only take photos of things such as places, or objects. 
> They cannot take pictures of  things that no longer exist, or of famous 
> people.

If the things that no longer exist are old enough, then any existing
photographs will be public domain.  For things that are more recent,
illustrations provide an excellent alternative.  If we need
illustrations, then we should think of ways to empower artistic
volunteers to help us by creating and contributing them.

For famous people, I think it's generally not true that contributors
can't take pictures of them.  Again, we just need to publicize our
need and work a little harder to empower volunteers.  Almost all
famous people make public appearances.  Movies stars appear in public
in Hollywood, New York, Cannes, and other film festivals.  Politicians
make speechs to public audiences.  Famous intellectuals are generally
accessible.

All famous people have an interest in publicity -- fame is power and
money.  So if for some reason we can't get a photo from a public
appearance, they ought to be very amenable to releasing a single
publicity shot under the GNU FDL.

We are big and getting bigger.  Millions of people see our work each
year.  Millions of people love what we are doing, love the idea of it,
and would love to help.  We need to give them tools and incentives to
do exactly that.

We have great tools for people who like to write.  I propose that we
develop great tools for amateur paparazzi, amateur illustrators, and
amateur photographers.

--Jimbo