Image templates and Image Policy FAQ

[rbarenblat]

Hi everyone! We've been hard at work on refining our proposed Image Policy FAQ, and at long last, here it is -- below the cut. We hope that it answers your questions about images on Fanlore (ranging from "How do I add an image to a Fanlore page?" to "What kinds of images on Fanlore can I expect to have warnings?") Along with this FAQ, we're debuting a set of image templates which we hope will make the uploading of images (along with their meta-data) easier.

We welcome questions, comments, and feedback on the FAQ and on the image templates. Members of the wiki committee and members of the Board will be keeping an eye on this post and we'll do our best to answer questions in a timely way. RL does occasionally keep one or another of us offline; thanks in advance for bearing with us.

With no further ado...



QUESTION: How do I add an image to a Fanlore page?

There are two steps which you can do in either order. You need to upload the image, using our image template and then you need to link it in the appropriate page. Probably the easiest way is to edit the page you want to include the image on and add the link first. It should look like this:

[[Name_for_your_image_with_no_spaces.jpg|thumb|This is a caption for my image!]]

When you save this edit, you will then see a red link for the image name. When you click on this, you will be taken to the upload form.

QUESTION: What information should I include when uploading an image?

When you are uploading an image, you will see a small form like this:



Please include as much information about the image as you can in the *Summary* field. Please edit the image page itself (i.e. access 'edit' on the page that you are on after uploading an image) to add the following information if you have it:

Creator: who made the image

Description: a text description of what's in the image (helpful for people using screenreaders or browsing without images)

Copyright: whether this image is in the public domain or if the copyright is owned by you or someone else.

Source: where you got the image from (eg, the URL if you found it online, "I scanned this from a zine I purchased in 1997 at Escapade," etc)

When you're editing the image page itself, please use the following template: http://fanlore.org/wiki/Template:ImageSummary

QUESTION: Do I need to add anything else, or can the image stand on its own?

When you upload an image, you'll be prompted to offer information which will go in the image's summary box (e.g. creator, description, copyright, source.) Images go on their own pages; article pages can link to those image pages, and that's how the image will come to appear alongside some text. Remember to use our image summary template to describe the image (it's here: http://fanlore.org/wiki/Template:ImageSummary)

If you're uploading an image for a specific article page, please include some text about the image you've uploaded within that article: explain why the image is important or interesting, tell readers what trends it illustrates or represents, write about why you wanted to preserve the image in the first place.

QUESTION: Can I upload copyrighted images on Fanlore without the permission of the creator?

Yes, as long as doing so would be a fair use! Here are some key aspects of fair use of images:

First, please make sure you give credit to the creator! (It’s also helpful for future editors if you make a note where you obtained the image.) Attribution is very important; we want to give honor to the fanartist(s) who created the work in the first place.

Second, the images should there to illustrate a point. Please consider whether putting the image on Fanlore adds new meaning or message. If you're going to upload an image, please also include some commentary on why the image is noteworthy. Fanlore is not an archive, so it's not appropriate to upload all of the artwork created by a given fan artist just to create a gallery of that artist’s work. Instead, we might upload a selection of images to illustrate that artist’s style or range, alongside some text about that artist and their work, and then link to the artist’s personal website instead. Or an image might be used to illustrate a particular fannnish trope, or a particular trend in fanart. Or, if the page is about the artwork itself, the article should make note what is interesting or important or beautiful about it.

Third, you should use the resolution/image quality you need to make that point. For instance, if you were working on a Fanlore article talking about illustrated borders on zine covers, or a particular artistic technique in icon-making, you might need a very high-resolution image to make your point. If you were writing a page about the details of a particular artwork, you’d want a good enough copy to be able to show those details. In other cases, a lower-resolution image will be enough.

QUESTION: How do I know what resolution is appropriate?

This is a very good question, and the answer is: use what resolution you need to make your point. Please use your best judgment! The OTW Legal team will review cases if a complaint is made.

QUESTION: What about images I've already uploaded? Do I have to go replace all of them with low-resolution versions?

You do not! If a complaint arises, and a review by the Legal team concludes that a lower resolution image would be more appropriate in a given case, it can be replaced then.

QUESTION: I am a fan artist and low-resolution images of my work are posted on Fanlore. They look bad! I want my work displayed in better quality.

If you give permission, we will be happy to upload higher-resolution images of your work to replace the low-resolution ones as quickly as our editing resources allow. (You are also welcome to do this yourself, of course, but we will make an effort to do it for you if you are unfamiliar with wiki editing.) We can also arrange to make sure that low-image versions are linked to higher-resolution versions on your site or elsewhere, if you provide us with the links.

QUESTION: I am a fan artist and I don't want any of my work displayed on Fanlore. Will you take it down?

As described above, some uses of images without permission are fair use, and as such we don't remove images automatically on request by the creator. Protecting fair use rights is hugely important for the benefit of all fan creators -- these are what give fan artists the right to make their work in the first place.

However, we are all fans here and want to respect your concerns as well. We will gladly work with you to ensure that your work is being used according to fair use rules. We will also make sure that your work is credited appropriately, link back to your own site, and if you wish use higher resolution versions of your work.

QUESTION: Wait! Someone uploaded my image without permission and it's not being used in any article. What should I do?

You have options! One option is to add text which contextualizes the image, or to ask the person who uploaded the image to do so. Another option is to leave a note on the talk page asking for the image to be deleted because its use doesn't fit fair use parameters.

QUESTION: What kinds of images on Fanlore can I expect to have warnings?

Images that are sexually explicit, depict rape or sexual assault, or depict people or characters who are underage engaging in sexual activity should have warnings on Fanlore. Users are responsible for reading and heeding the warnings provided by the person who loaded in the image. Risk-averse users should keep in mind that not all content will carry full warnings and consider whether they should set up filters for viewing images, as described below. If you think an image should have a warning, feel free to add the warning; bear in mind that other users may edit the page.

QUESTION: I just saw a disturbing image with no warning! How do I add a warning?

We have templates for Sexually Explicit Images, Images Depicting Non-con and Sexual Assault, and Underage Persons in Image. They can be found in the Templates section of the wiki, and here are direct links:

http://fanlore.org/wiki/Template:SexuallyExplicitImage

http://fanlore.org/wiki/Template:ImageDepictingNon-conOrSexualAssault

http://fanlore.org/wiki/Templates:UnderagePersonsInImage

You can add a warning by editing the page and adding the appropriate template.

QUESTION: Can I filter out all images when I am browsing on Fanlore?

Yes, you can. We have detailed instructions for how to filter out all images when browsing Fanlore. You can find them here: http://fanlore.org/wiki/Help:Filtering_images

QUESTION: I have other questions about images which aren't covered here.

Contact us and ask, and we'll do our best to answer promptly!

Comments

[facetofcathy]

In this comment you are framing the competing interests as the fan artist who does not wish to have their art on Fanlore vs. the editor who put it there. I don't see that as an accurate view of the conflict. The editor does not set policy for the wiki and the only choice they made was selecting the image in question. They cannot remove it, and their feeling as to whether it should be removed should, in my opinion, bear no more weight than any other editor's.

For me, I frame the issue this way: One, I accord all fans equal respect for their labour. Fanlore editor, or fan who wants no part of the wiki, it's all the same to me. Two, the true oppositional interest to the fan artist is the desire of Fanlore to exercise Fair Use. Which, as I've said, is an interest with merit. Some of the time.

Example: Let's pretend I can actually make art. I upload my XKCD-style stick-person art to my website (which would not be hosted in the US). I reduce my website footprint by limiting search engines. I post a policy requesting linking only to the main page, no hot-linking, no taking without permission. These are fairly common policies in keeping with broad fandom cultural norms.

An editor makes a page about my art and uploads examples to Fanlore.

I don't like this.

Fanlore tells me it's Fair Use and explains that they protect Fair Use to protect me.

I grumble about US-centric attitudes and then discover that images on Fanlore show up on Google. So now, I am not protected by Fair Use, but I've had my nose rubbed in that Fanlore is, my art has been used without my permission, and my exposure on the web has been altered through no action of my own. I'm predisposed to not want to compromise with Fanlore, and I wouldn't want to be the editor caught between me and the hard place. Confrontation is the fully foreseeable consequence of the policy as written.

I read this: "We will endeavor to do the least possible harm to fans and fan communities. Fanlore's policies and guidelines are intended to protect fans, their communities, and their works from unwelcome public attention and scrutiny, while also providing a space in which to discuss and reflect upon fandom, in context. " [source]

and I really have to wonder if Fanlore means that.

/end example

So what I'm saying is: let's move away from the false dichotomy of Fanlore exercises Fair Use in all cases vs. it "gives in" to artists' wishes in all cases, and move forward to a policy that is seen to be respecting all fans and recognizes the above statement of ethics in concert with the relative importance of Fair Use. As it stands, I believe a reasonable person would read the policies as so heavily weighting the exercise of Fair Use and expecting the majority of the compromise and effort to come from the fan artist who objects that no images will ever be removed, regardless of context or their actual utility on the wiki.

[madgirl]

Hi there! I just wanted to weigh in as someone else who had a hand in crafting this policy and say that you (and the others in this conversation) have made some really good points. Like rbarenblat says, it definitely wasn't the intention to be patronizing or come off as customer-service-y (ack!) but these things can be really difficult to write, with trying to address questions we might not anticipate while maintaining the right tone. So if we did miss the mark in language for you, I do want to say that the spirit is meant to be in just what you're saying here - a policy that is respectful to all fans.

I think you're right in that it's not a dichotomy here and it's not meant to be. We do want to take fair use seriously (which is indeed in part due to our position with the mass media), but it's not an automatic thing. That's why as a matter of policy we can require commentary or analysis (which can include commentary that explains that a piece of art is a good example of some style, opinion, etc.) - and if that isn't present then it might be appropriate for it to be removed. But that commentary, once it exists, is there to document some part of fannish history as determined by the editor who put it there, which could in itself be a sufficient reason to preserve it.

Fair use can obviously be really messy in law because it's considered on a case-by-case basis, and the same is true here. What we're trying to say is that an image will not automatically be removed at the request of a creator - in the event that it is an appropriate fair use and tied to a valuable piece of commentary/fannish history - but it's just as much not an automatic "it stays!" either. It could be that we need some language tweaking here to get that across, because your reading of the heavy weighing against the artist isn't what we're trying to convey.

With respect to the potential conflict at hand here, when it comes up we are going to try to manage it with fair use, including using explanation, resizing, and/or linking or anonymizing to moderate any unsatisfaction with that. In some cases it might be appropriate to remove the art in question, but that won't be the immediate response. So part of this policy was trying to convey that balance and then leave the room for conflicts to be considered when they come up.

[ratcreature]

We do want to take fair use seriously (which is indeed in part due to our position with the mass media)

So basically the fannish conventions wrt treating fanartists had to go in Fanlore's policies to make the OTW be more consistent in the non-fannish media?

I frankly don't care about whether or not Fanlore would have the legal right to take my art under certain circumstances, or whether the OTW considers it strategically important to exercise that right against fans like me (someone who couldn't afford to take legal actions anyway to stop anyone), to show that fans might also be free to do the same to some international megacorp. I expect that as a supposedly fannish site Fanlore acts like a fannish site towards a fellow fan, i.e. with more consideration than legal protection already grants, just like Fanlore does in the questions of identity protection questions.

It's good to hear though that removal is at least a possible outcome of complaining. I also interpreted the FAQ text to be that the chance for it was about as good as to find a snowball in hell.

[madgirl]

Well, I did say 'in part' - maintaining consistency of vision across the entire organization is more the point though. I don't like thinking of fair use, especially in these circumstances, as something to be used against someone. To borrow an overused metaphor, it's a shield rather than a sword. And the point is to work with fans rather than against them, which is what I was trying to say in pointing out the care that will be given in resolving conflicts. But it becomes problematic if we hold up one understanding of fair use in one context and one in another. Respecting fans is obviously of huge, huge importance and so we're just trying to strike a balance.