

How eBay could help Wikimedia Commons get more open-licensed images - vgnet
http://pigsonthewing.org.uk/ebay-could-help-wikimedia-commons-open-licensed-images/

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ErrantX
I need to disclaim this post with the comment that Andy and I really don't see
eye to eye over many things on Wikipedia/Wikimedia/Commons :) (mainly to do
with his tone; _after discussion with me and the Wikimedia community_ ).

But I really think this idea is at best a pipe dream and at worst a licensing
disaster.

To highlight this lets look at Flickr. That lets you choose a free (Creative
Commons) license for your material. So Commons regularly grabs useful images
from there to host. And; we still get people complaining that they didn't
understand this meant you could take their image and upload it somewhere else.

And this is from a site where the whole point is to upload images.

Now lets imagine Ebay implemented this; the idea that most of that sites users
would comprehend the extent of a little tick box is, I feel, minimal.

I obviously am 100% behind freely licensing content - and do a lot of the sort
of work he mentions in getting image/content releases by email. But I also
dislike the idea of essentially misleading people and then telling them they
have no way to go back on the license (yes, this happens).

I might be an outlier here in my criticism. But Commons, in my experience,
tends to treat non-Commons people (especially image copyright owners) like
crap. That is what needs to be fixed first, before any pressure is applied to
companies like Ebay...

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neilk
> But Commons, in my experience, tends to treat non-Commons people (especially
> image copyright owners) like crap.

I feel this is unfair. They treat _everybody_ like crap.

On the other hand, they are very scrupulous about obeying licenses.

Anyway, the underlying assumption of the OP is that Wikimedia Commons actually
wants more images. Surprisingly, this is not the case, at least, it's not a
universal sentiment among Commons volunteers. Many of them believe they are
curating a set of the best free images, not making an indiscriminate
collection. Some see Commons as just a set of images to illustrate Wikipedia
with, and don't believe it has a separate mission to collect other free
imagery.

Also, Commons is already overwhelmed policing the content that gets uploaded.
Unlike Flickr or other image hosts, there's no mission of self-expression
there; instead, they believe every image must be correctly licensed, well
categorized, and useful to someone else (and not spam or otherwise
inappropriate). What's needed right now are more community tools for managing
the influx.

You're right that there's no way we can explain CC licensing to eBayers. We
can't even get that right on Flickr, and there are significant problems even
on Wikimedia Commons itself. No matter what you tell people, make them click
on, whatever, they persist in a primitive folk belief - by creating the image,
they get to control who does what with it in perpetuity.

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zdw
This is a great idea, but...

One of the big problem with many of the eBay auctions is that they don't use
original material - for example, if you're selling a copy of a game or movie,
often you won't bother to take a picture of your copy - you'll search online
and find the best one you can, slap it in the auction and call it a day.

This happens all the time, and as auctions are very time limited, it often
doesn't raise the ire of the original source of the media.

If they had some sort of dedupe/anti-"stock photo"/anti-"professional product
shot" thing in there, this could probably work.

~~~
simonbrown
Presumably someone wanting to use the image could use something like Google's
image search to check if it was posted in other places that pre-date it.

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minouye
Cool idea, but this would never happen because sellers would hate it. One of
the main reasons eBay sellers brand their images with obnoxious image graffiti
(overlayed text and/or styling) is that competitors have no qualms about
stealing images. eBay plans to formally restricts the use of image graffiti
later this fall
([http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/news/newlistingrequi...](http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/news/newlistingrequirements.html#pic)).
I doubt that a seller who takes product photography seriously would like to
hear that their competitors are legally entitled to use their photos,
regardless of whether or not the practice is opt-in.

