[Wikipedia-l] China WP access (was: What would Richard Stallman say?)

Fri Feb 20 15:37:20 UTC 2004

Gareth Owen wrote:
> Incidentally the following is a perfect example of an image used
> under Fair Use provision :
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Tianasquare.jpg I think wikipedia
> would be much worse without it.

Gareth, although I'm certainly of the 'hardliner' faction here, I
agree with you.  I think this is a case of an image that is perfectly
o.k. for us to use.

This is one of a handful of images that are of unique historical
importance.  This is an image that defines for most people what is
important about the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.  The lone
unarmed individual standing with courage against the overwhelming
power of a totalitarian state is what that event means to most people.

I think that in this case, there is no plausible alternative to fair
use (although a really good illustration is possible, I think that the
actual photo is what has impact), but also the factors governing fair
use all go in the right direction here.

In other cases, though, and [[Drew Barrymore]] is my favorite for
today, there is no free alternative only in the sense that there's no
immediately convenient free alternative.

--Jimbo