Image talk:Vostok.jpg

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of a fair use image as a replaceable image. Please do not modify it.

The result of the debate was to Delete the image. No evidence of restrictions on taking photographs in the Minsk metro. What happens in St. Petersburg and Moscow is irrelevant; they're not even in the same country as Minsk. —Angr 08:01, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

Image fails to meet fair use criterion #1. --Oden 23:13, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

{{Replaceable fair use disputed |Because so far there have not been many many people that have been able to take photographs in Minsk Metro, nor is this material copyrighted as such...}}

I am not sure about Minsk, but in Saint Petersburg's Metro all unauthorized photografy is forbidden. The reason they cited was that the subway stations consider as security-related installations: as possible shelter in the case of a nuclear war, a known target for the terrorist attacks, etc. My attempt to make a complete collections of photos of SPb stations for Kubam Kazak's metro project costed me 500roubles (~$20) fine and an hour of scolding in their police office. I guess it is still possible to trick the police by using camera phones, but I am not sure it is ethical. Thus, I guess the metro station's photos are not easily replaceable Alex Bakharev 06:50, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

A search on Flickr gets 199 photos results for "S:t Petersburg metro" (here), so some people (tourists?) seem to be getting away with it. (There's some very nice artwork down there!) A search for "Moscow metro yields 2500+ images on Flickr (here).

On the other hand the caption on this image would support the statement that photography is not permitted. I also find it strange that the official website for the Saint Petersburg Metro shows images from the metro, they apparently don't extend this rule to apply on their own website. An alternate theory is that a photography fee is required, the Wikitravel page for Saint Petersburg makes reference to such a fee at several locations in the city.

The Moscow metro seems like a safer bet, see this website. If photography is not permitted in a location then any image licensed under a fair use license is not replaceable. Also, if a photograph actually compromises security it is likely that such it would be speedily deleted under a office action. --Oden 18:48, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Different city has different policies, Moscow Metro for example has no restrictions on Metro photography... However with Minsk I am not sure... There is a gallery in the Commons, however it does not contain photographs of THIS station, and to be honest with all ex-Soviet Metro stations it is their architectural ensemble that is the feature not the transport role... which is why IMO it is essential that all stations have photographs...

Now wrt to WP:OA and Saint Petersburg Metro then it is not illegal to publish photographs... as that does compromise Russian free Speech laws, but its forbidden to take them, unless you have a press license which some of the photographers got and specifically dedicated websites to them. [1]. In any case Minsk does not seem to have such strict laws.

And besides I think you are making a big mistake on deleting media instead of enriching wiki by adding more media to it particularly wrt to the criterion #1 of fair use images (in a case when they meet all others). --Kuban Cossack 01:12, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it.