Template talk:Fair use disputed

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[edit] New look

I have given the template a change in design, to match other "Image in trouble" templates. I also added the copyright symbol, as the images using it are definitely copyrighted. I hope this is a good idea... Wcquidditch 00:42, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

I later withdrew the symbol since all images with this template have a fair use template. --WCQuidditch ☎ ✎ 21:03, 26 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] This is being poorly implemented

I've seen this applied to book and album cover scans, where the fair use tag itself provides the same rationale that will apply to every usage in an article on the author or product itself; the only thing the uploader did not do was restate that rationale with the variables "in article X" punched in. How is it more productive for someone to apply this template than to just fix the problem themselves? Particularly since this template practically screams "please sue Wikimedia for copying this image we don't even think we have a right to use." The fair use tags serve as our declaration to the copyright owner of our good faith rights to use the image, whether or not that declaration is restated with specific reference to the articles; we should not undercut that declaration (and thereby our good faith) needlessly.

The biggest problem I think is when this tag is just applied to the image description page and no one is told about it. Notifying the uploader is woefully insufficient. The articles in which an image is used are clearly stated at the bottom of the page; a notice should be posted on the talk pages of any such articles requesting a fair use rationale for that usage if it is actually more complicated than just plugging in the article names into a fair use rationale that is standard for that type of image. Postdlf 18:23, 21 November 2006 (UTC)