Talk:Uploading files or images

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"Licensed Freely" Images and FHL Employees
Wikipedia explains that they only allow image uploads that are licensed freely. I assume wiki.familysearch.org will soon adopt a similar policy. I have questions about how licensed freely works if I am a Family History Library employee.

Since I work for the Family History Library, will almost every image I use in wiki.familysearch.org need permission, attribution, and license statements in connection with the Department or Church?

This last week I uploaded to wiki.familysearch.org an image of a document I created last year for a Family History Library class. It is an example of a filled-in homemade research log for one of my ancestors. I use it as an example in a wiki article about research logs. It now occurs to me that since it was created on work time, I should assume the Department or Church has some kind of intellectual property claim.

1. If original document creation, image uploading, and link to the wiki all occur on work time, what is the appropriate attribution, permission, and license for the image? 2. What should I do to obtain (after the fact) the appropriate permission to upload it to the wiki? 3. If I had my own way, I would prefer to license it freely into the Public Domain. Would it be possible, and what would I need to do to get permission from the Department/Church to do this?

4. If I were to a. create documents/images on my own time and b. upload them to wiki.familysearch.org on my own time licensed freely, and c. on work time I create wiki articles that use those images does that turn those images into property of the Department/Church? If so, what kind of attributions, permissions, and licenses are appropriate?

Diltsgd 13:19, 18 January 2008 (MST)

Images, Permissions, Attributions, Ethics, and Copyrights
I've been charging ahead adding images to several wiki.familysearch.org articles for the last few days. I was experimenting to see what is possible and how to do it. I'm not much of a graphics guy and hadn't thought much about it before. I just wanted to have some nice illustrations for articles I helped create.

Tonight I started poking around on Wikipedia.com to see how they do images.

WOW!

Wikipedia tends to have an elaborate package for most images. One of the most impressive parts is the section showing EXACTLY what permission they have for using that image. I hadn't thought much about permission and attributions until I saw Wikipedia. I think we probably need to set up a protocol or proceedure to do the same for our wiki.familysearch.org images. The Wikipedia model looks like a good place to start.

Policing.And somebody needs to be in charge of notifying (in an encouraging way) new image uploaders like me of their responsibilities to get and post the correct permissions.

I have avoided anything that was a clear-cut copyright violation. But now that I step back and think about it I wonder if all my image choices are ethically wise. So some guidance would be appropriate.


 * Is it okay to upload-copy an image of blank 1930 Soundex index cards off of a government (no copyright) National Archives Internet site if I attribute the original image? What is proper attribution? Do I have to seek permission from NARA?
 * Is it okay to upload-copy a fraction (1/8th) of one 1930 census page off a commercial site like Ancestry.com. I believe the census is public domain. Is a fraction of a page a violation of copyright? How do I go about getting permission (from Ancestry, or from NARA?) Does the Church copyrights group need to be involved, or can I go ahead and seek permission on my own? And what do we do when it is a non-LDS-Church employee that uploads the image?
 * If I'm discussing an Internet site in an article to explain how it (like Morse's One Step 1930 Census site) works, is it okay to upload-copy an image from part of that site? If so, how much? A full screen, or part of a screen? Again how do I attribute it. What the proper channel for getting permission?
 * What are the rules about uploading-copying images (Early Church Information File cards) that were originally published in an LDS Church FHL paper publication. Do I need permission from our Copyright office if I am basically transcribing that publication onto the wiki?
 * Is permission needed to upload-copy a blank form like a research log from the Family History Library?
 * If I upload-copy a filled-in homemade research log of my own making, how do I create a permission statement for its use? I sure like the way Wikipedia does that sort of thing.
 * If I upload-copy images from Personal Ancestral File which show my own genealogy data do I need permission from both PAF (our Copyright office) and from myself? How do I attribute it? How do I create my own permission statement?
 * Do alterations make any difference. If I want to add a red oval or arrow to emphasize some part of the image I'm trying to explain, does that affect copyright or permission responsibilities in any way?
 * Shouldn't we ask that all the proper permissions and attributions be taken care of BEFORE the images appear? If so, should I take down my illustrations until then? And how do we encourage others to do it right without smothering their creative fires?
 * If someone messes up and somehow violates a copyright law or crosses an ethical boundary on this wiki, are they acting as their own agent, or as an agent of the Family History Department? And how are possible problems spotted/enforced/worked-out/corrected on a wiki?

Diltsgd 23:38, 17 January 2008 (MST)

Great questions! We are actively working on these issues. I have made our product manager aware of your questions. Molliewog 07:47, 18 January 2008 (MST)

Text wrap around an image
I added an image to the Ireland page using the options: thumbnail, left. The image does not have the text flowing around it as described by the wikipedia guide http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Extended_image_syntax. I am wondering if there are some features not enabled or if we are using a different version of Wiki Media than described in the Wikipedia help section.

How do I get text to wrap around an image?

Darris 14:38, 31 December 2007 (MST)

Example site for photo issues
Fotolia has some very detailed material concerning the legal issues surrounding the use of images.

Howell 19:42, 19 January 2008 (MST)