User:KTo288/Sandbox

Free files at Flickr and other sites

 QuestionGiven that files are loaded at Flickr and at other sites, e.g. Geograph with Commons compatiable licenses, why copy them to Commons, they are just as educational and available to users outside of the Wikimedia projects where they are. If we find one that is useful for a particular wikimedia project, why can't we just load that one file to Commons, rather than hoovering up all that we can find by bot.

 CommentAlthough some Flickr users are no doubt flattered to find their images used in Wikipedia articles, others have been horrified by the way their images have been characterised and of derivative works created from them. This is in no small part due to some users not really understanding the implications of the licenses that they apply to their images. To maintain control of their images, and also perhaps encouraged by Flickr's attempt to monetise content, some Flckr users are revoking the original Commons compatiable licenses and applying less permissive ones to files old and new. It is my subjective experience that Commons compatiable licenses are becoming increasingly rare at Flickr.

 QuestionWe should grab every free file that we can, while we can then, and keep them all. Tough luck if someone changes their mind licenses cannot be revoked.

 CommentNo. While legally we would be entitled to do so, such a mindset in my opinion is self defeating. I see Commons as being here for the long term, I hope for it, and the work we have put into it, to survive long after we have gone. The consequences of this is that Commons' relationship with the world at large must also be for the long term.