Wikipedia:Image sleuthing
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The following Wikipedians have signed up to be image sleuths. |
What is image sleuthing?
There are many thousands of images on Wikipedia. Most are tagged so that we know where they come from and how they are licensed, but some are mysteries, tagged {{unverified}} or {{unknown}} or not tagged at all, with no obvious way to tell whether we can legally use them or not. Eventually, if we can't find out the source and copyright status of an image, we'll have to delete it. But some of these images are useful or attractive, and are begging to be rescued. That's where the image sleuths come in. The sleuths use any methods they have – from Google Image Search to uploader e-mails to secret informants met at midnight – to discover the source and copyright status of an image.
So how does this work?
Below, you will see up to fifteen images with comments to the left of each. Sleuths set to work tracking down the origin, copyright and licence terms associated with each image. If there's general agreement that an image is acceptable – available under free licences, in the public domain, or legitimately a fair use – then you can move all discussion to the image's description page and remove the image from the list below. If the image can't be certified acceptable even after a week of searching, then image should be moved into the deletion process. (Sleuths often try to find suitable free or public domain replacements.)
If an image has been listed for over a week, or if the status of the image has been determined beyond reasonable doubt, then anyone can remove the image from the list and either tag it or list it on ifd. If there are fewer than fifteen images below, anyone can add a new one. Some good place to look are Wikipedia:Untagged images and Category:Images with unknown source.
If you do move an image to the deletion process, please always contact the uploader of each image, on their talk page: do not make the assumption that they are not contactable. More generally, contacting users does sometimes elicit the information and so is considered a good thing™ packed with Wikiquette.
The assignments
- Used in Hanuman
- Everyone who uploads Hindu art says "It must be public domain", though I can't see any reason to believe so. The artist is usually anonymous, and in India copyright continues for 60 years after publication of an anonymous work. 60 years after publication of a photograph, and 60 years after death in other cases.[1] — Zeimusu | Talk 09:39, 3 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- This is an extremely common representation of Hanuman. I've found five different versions in only a few pages of Google Images, each with very slightly different color levels. Does image proliferation imply de facto fair use? — Asbestos | Talk 09:42, 3 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- The use of the image is not relevant, but the nature of the image is significant in making a fairuse claim. I think fair old is possible. — Zeimusu | Talk 09:49, 3 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- The source of these would seem to be the now defuct spritweb.org.. But on wayback that site claims to have got the images free from the internet (especially newsgroups) and not to know anything about the copyright status. — Zeimusu | Talk 10:39, 3 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- Last chance to save this image
- Used in Imre Kertész
- Is this a Wikipedia mirror or did I find it here? haha Nrbelex 20:16, 3 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- Last chance to save this image
- Was this being tagged fair use??? Nrbelex 00:31, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- Yea - I meant the latter - Does the listed site play into that possibility at all? Nrbelex (talk) (sleuth) 02:42, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- No. "Fair use" is a proactive defense. It means we're using something that we know or suspect is under copyright, but we claim we can still use it under the "fair use" provision in certain situations. In this case, it would arguably be somewhat difficult to create a free replacement, so we should be Ok using a copyrighted image for purposes of illustrating a related article. In other cases (important historical events) it is impossible to find a free replacement, so there the fair use claim would be even stronger. Also, fair use depends on the situation. This image is fine as an illustration for an article about Kertesz, but it would (in my non-expert opinion) not be fair use in an article about suits, ties, cuff links, or hand gestures. --MarkSweep 03:26, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- If the source is known, we can tag it ((fairuse)). If not, it's a weaker claim, and we have to tag in ((fuus)), which states that the image should be a replaced if a sourced replacement image is found. Not a real big deal, but still. – Quadell (talk) (sleuth) 03:04, Mar 9, 2005 (UTC)
- Used in Indian Point nuclear power plant
- Looks like part of a pdf from the International Atomic Energy Commission, which I believe is now the International Atomic Energy Agency. I haven't worked out whether they permit re-distribution of their images yet. — Asbestos | Talk 16:36, 3 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- Last chance to save this image
- Has noone tried contacting User:Bird yet? I'll try right now, before this gets deleted (though he didn't seem to leave to project on the best of terms). I'd also argue that the image should stay through fair use, as it looks like a relevent image, would be a small proportion of any published work, published here for educational purposes, no effect on the value of the work, most likely falls under the IAEE's redistribution policy (as per photos) and we could make the resolution lower. Anyway, I'll see if I can contact them as well. Give me a couple of days for responses from Bird and IAEE. — Asbestos | Talk 16:42, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- Used in Vandalism
- I've left a message on the uploader's talk page. --Tagishsimon (talk)
- If it's copyrighted, I don't think a fair use claim would cut it in this article. – Quadell (talk) (sleuth) 05:38, Mar 5, 2005 (UTC)
- A public domain replacement is here, though it's black-and-white and not of as high quality. – Quadell (talk) (sleuth) 16:06, Mar 6, 2005 (UTC)
- Last chance to save this image
- We could use Image:Egypt.AbuSimbel.01.jpg from the Abu_Simbel article. OR we could use [2], [3]. or [4] from NYPL Digital Gallery. Copyright info here. --MaxPower 16:18, 2005 Mar 9 (UTC)
- Used in AT&T Corporate Center
- Looks hand rolled to me - I've left a message on the uploader's talk page. Image:AT&T Corporate Center Lobby.jpeg might also be taken into consideration...--Tagishsimon (talk)
- From here. I don't know about the lobby. Foobaz·✐ 06:58, 5 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- I believe both this photo and the photo of the lobby come originally from here. If this qualifies as fair use i think we should replace it with this high resolution version. Foobaz·✐ 02:53, 6 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- The fact that we could replace this image with a gfdl image (if someone goes out and takes it) makes a fair use claim difficult. I don't think this is a promotion image, and the site quoted above reserves all rights. (mind you, no harm in asking) — Zeimusu | Talk 14:25, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- Used in 1620 Geographos
- Have left message on the uploader's talk page. --Tagishsimon (talk)
- It came from here, but that isn't much help. These images were created by Scott Hudson, a radar scientist, but I have been unable to locate a specific source for this particular image. The Singing Badger 20:50, 4 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- I've emailed Scott Hudson to ask for permission.
- It came from here, but that isn't much help. These images were created by Scott Hudson, a radar scientist, but I have been unable to locate a specific source for this particular image. The Singing Badger 20:50, 4 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- It may be worth noting that on Scott's college homepage he notes that his work on asteroids is NASA funded. Scotts version on wayback [5] — Zeimusu | Talk 00:57, 5 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- Used in Newport Gwent Dragons, and there are many similar images used in various sports pages.
- Uploader is no longer active. – Quadell (talk) (sleuth) 05:28, Mar 5, 2005 (UTC)
- Looked all over... nothing. Nrbelex 01:00, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- It looks to me like the uploader (who is now, unfortunately, unreachable) created these. I'm very tempted to tag as GFDL. – Quadell (talk) (sleuth) 01:53, Mar 9, 2005 (UTC)
- Ditto - and he did a pretty good job too... or we could find a promo shot from the team... Nrbelex (talk) (sleuth) 02:44, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- Used in Perth, Western Australia
- Uploader said:
- "I can't tag the above image because I can't remember where I got it from on the net! I think it might have been from sxc.hu, with its licence at first glance resembling public domain (but on closer inspection actually imposing usage limitations in the wording of the terms of use). Maybe it's best tp just delete it. What do you think?" - Mark 06:55, 5 Mar 2005 (UTC)
Image:Musician-stub.gif and many others like it
- Used in Template:Musician-stub. There are a ton of other images used in stubs that come from User:500LL: [6]
- "This icon comes from the free content site Leo's IconArchive.com [[7]]" But is that free as in speech, or free as in beer? I can't tell, looking at the site.
- As in beer. This icon is at [8] and the readme states "These icons may not be used for any commercial purposes." — Zeimusu | Talk 07:34, 5 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- That sucks. Okay. – Quadell (talk) (sleuth) 14:24, Mar 5, 2005 (UTC)
- Well, as we're not commercial I'm not certain that it's a problem. The owner asks people who want to use it on personal pages to email him, so I did that. Will wait for response. — Asbestos | Talk 17:33, 5 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- Hmmmm... Well, neither the email address nor the homepage listed at [9] exist any longer. I will try to find out current contact information, but may take a while as there are other things needing to be done IRL. — Asbestos | Talk 17:47, 5 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- This might be a great chance to drop a request to the graphic designers and see if wikipedia can get a consistant set of stub icons? Or maybe at least some guidelines for creating new ones? --MaxPower 15:02, 2005 Mar 6 (UTC)
- No luck finding the current whereabouts of "G_Brown". We could either assume Wikipedia falls outside the limitations imposed by the artist, ask other icon-creaters listed at [10] for clues (seems to be a community), or ask Wikipedia's own artists if they'd like to come up with a set of stub images. — Asbestos | Talk 10:25, 7 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- Hmmmm... Well, neither the email address nor the homepage listed at [9] exist any longer. I will try to find out current contact information, but may take a while as there are other things needing to be done IRL. — Asbestos | Talk 17:47, 5 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- Used in John Kerr.
- I'm guessing it's a scaled down of image 12 (The Trio) on this page. Since that version is higher resolution, i uploaded a cropped version to Image:Fraser with Kerr.jpg and put it in John Kerr to replace the image on the right. I hope it counts as fair use, or both images are worthless. Foobaz·✐ 01:24, 6 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- Used in Grant Hackett.
- There is a higher resolution version of the same image on this page. Foobaz·✐ 01:33, 6 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- Why has he got a roll of sticky tape attached to his finger? And why does he look so pleased about it? --Tagishsimon (talk)
- Portrait of Charles de Gaulle, used in European Theatre of World War II.
- Please contact the uploader, User:J.J., in case it has to be deleted.
- Appears to be a cropped version of image on [11]. Similar version also here. The former has some text at the bottom that may help with copyright info, but it's too low resolution for me to be able to read it - Estel (talk) 19:16, Mar 8, 2005 (UTC)
- From what I understand, this site claims the image is from the book C'etait de Gualle by Alain Peyrefitte, latest edition was in 2000. Not certain if that really is what the first site is implying, though, and have no idea where Peyrefitte got the image from. I've found scores of copies on the net, so tracking down the original will be difficult. — Asbestos | Talk 15:56, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)
Three images of Hugo Chávez
- Image:Chavez6.jpg is used in Hugo Chávez.
- Please contact the uploader, User:J.J., in case it has to be deleted.
- If we find a source, I think fairuse could certainly be applied to at least one of the images. — Asbestos | Talk 09:20, 7 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- Tell me if I have this right: Unless the site (if we ever find it) is hoping to make a profit simply by using these pictures, (I don't see how unless it's selling them and it took them) this should be fair use. Right? Nrbelex 03:29, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- The use of one (or maybe two) of these images is fair use. Although the source is unknown, it is believed to be a copyrighted image. This image is reduced in resolution from the original photograph, it is being used to illustrate a biographical article to which it contributes significantly and there is little possiblity of us obtaining an equivalent free or pd image or writing a textual replacement. The image is an news type image, not relating to a current news story. Futhermore wikipedia is a non-profit organization. Use of a second image may be fair use if it illustrates a significantly different aspect of the subject. (tag as fairuseunknownsource) — Zeimusu | Talk 14:48, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- I had read the fair use article but it still can't help with every situation and seeing as some of you guys seem to be copyright officionados I thought I'd ask you. Thanks for that Zeimusu. Nrbelex 00:19, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- Used in The Sixties
- Believe I found it here with the copyright cropped off. COPYVIO Nrbelex 00:26, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- Non-free replacement (only under a fair use claim): [12]; according to [13], it's a UPI wire service image. In general I suspect it will be difficult to find free replacements, since creators are most likely still alive and definitely not dead for more than 70 years. --MarkSweep 00:46, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)
![[12]](http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/cph/3c20000/3c22000/3c22600/3c22635v.jpg){kind=link}
- Used in Independent State of Croatia
- Uploader asked. — Zeimusu | Talk 15:44, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)