Image talk:RobertSpano2007.jpg

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[edit] Fair Use and Replaceability

In general I don't understand the assertion that because a subject is a living person, a "free license" image of them is easily obtainable. Certainly freely viewable images can be found, for instance, via Google Images. However from the web pages linked there it is almost always impossible to determine even the origin of the image, much less the copyright status. That's been my experience in looking for an appropriate image of this subject -- both through Google and through several of the links offered at WP:PDIMG -- and that was part of the rationale for choosing this image, which is both attributable, and explicitly offered for reproduction.

There does exist another image of this subject at Image:Spano-Robert.jpg. It was uploaded in 2005, by an editor with 3 total edits in their history, and doesn't seem ever to have been linked to an article. The image page contains a bald assertion that the copyright holder has "irrevocably released all rights" to the image, and placed it de facto in the public domain. This claim is not explained or documented in any way. My conclusion is that the copyright status of that image is at best dubious, and its use is not advisable, leaving aside any aesthetic considerations. [Moot; the image mentioned has been tagged for deletion.Turangalila 3/28]

Thus I don't consider this image to be readily replaceable by free-licence content.

I plan to more or less duplicate this at WP:MCQ.
--Turangalila (talk) 00:04, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

On Wikipedia, replaceability is not used to mean "easily obtainable". It means that a free alternative is available or could be created. With a few exceptions (like Osama bin Laden or J. D. Salinger), it is possible to take pictures of living people. ShadowHalo 02:32, 27 March 2007 (UTC)