Gregory Maxwell:
The vast majority of the images we have taken from
stock exchange are
mediocre images of everyday objects
Have you performed a survey? SXC is a community project just like
Wikimedia. Besides everyday objects, it includes photos from all around
the world, e.g.:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Orthodox_monk_in_curch%2C_Romania.j…
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Conquistador%27s_monument_in_Lisbon…
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Alhambra_Grenade_mlkfj.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Autumn_on_lake%2C_Cottonwood%2C_Ari…
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Ataturk%27s_Mausoleum_in_Ankara_%28…
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Taj_Mahal_1_by_alexfurr.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Medina_tower_in_Sousse%2C_Tunisia.j…
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Andes_Mountain_by_Apile.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Mekong_by_skawimp.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Truli_houses_in_Alberobello%2C_Ital…
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Temple_of_Komombo_in_the_late_after…
If you can manage to take equivalent photos of all these locations in
one afternoon, I'll be seriously impressed.
In its terms and marketing, SXC is clearly intended as a free (as in
speech) content repository. As a community, we have decided that the
most sensible policy is to follow the *usage terms stated on the image
description pages*.
I agree with you that, if a photographer states contradictory terms in
their profile, we should generally get in touch with them and clarify
the situation. But photos which are unambiguously flagged as "no usage
restrictions" are perfectly fine. There's no grey area here. It's not
our job to proactively make sure that users have not mistakenly made
their material available as free content.
However, SXC photos should *not* be labeled public domain. If you see
them tagged as such, please change it to {{CopyrightedFreeUse}}.
Erik