I have no role or participation on Commons, but from my work on English WP I'm aware of the very real copyright status of "free as a practical matter although someone could theoretically make a disputed technical argument otherwise."
One solution, where there is a good-faith argument the image is free and no rights-holder claiming otherwise, would be a disclaimer. Perhaps something along the lines of "It is believed this image is in the public domain [or, the status of this image depends on resolution of an open legal issue, or whatever] and therefore eligible for inclusion on Wikimedia Commons and for re-use. However, it is possible that the free status of this image could be disputed because [brief explanation of reason]. Potential re-users should therefore proceed cautiously." I hasten to add that this would be appropriate only where the impediment to freedom is seen as mostly theoretical, not to screw over legitimate claims by rightsholders or by people with privacy interests implicated by the image. Newyorkbrad On Monday, December 30, 2013, geni <geni...@gmail.com> wrote: > On 30 December 2013 11:26, Gerard Meijssen <gerard.meijs...@gmail.com >wrote: > >> Hoi Tomasz, >> >> You have a really strong opinion. When you read this thread, you will >> notice that it is not appreciated by many and seen as disruptive. Can you >> appreciate it in this way? >> >> You argument about re-users is valid when you turn around the argument as >> well; as long as we do NOT have a take down notice re-users are better >> served by the continuation of the presence of images. >> Thanks, >> GerardM >> >> > No because then reusers also get hit which a bunch of takedown notices (or > lawsuits) which is decidedly disruptive for them. > > > -- > geni > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>