Photographs of fans: An addition to Fanlore's Image Policy

[fanloremod]

Thank you to everyone who has submitted feedback on the proposed addition to our Image Policy regarding photographs of fans on Fanlore.

 

Because we have already received a great deal of feedback on the draft policy, we have taken the decision to close the comments in order to get to work on revising this policy.

 

We realise that the original proposed text of the policy would not have been at all sufficient to protect fans' privacy and identity in the online world that we live in, and that this disappointed and alarmed many people. We fully acknowledge that it was not in line with what fandom would have expected from Fanlore and our commitment to protecting fans' identities, and we sincerely apologise for this. We will take all of the concerns expressed on board and work to produce a policy that is much more robust in protecting fans as we carry out our mission of documenting fandom.

 

Thank you again to everyone who took the time to respond to this proposal.

Original policy text:

Can I upload photos of fans to Fanlore?

Please be thoughtful when uploading photos of fans. Is this your own photo or one you found online or in a magazine? If you know the person in the photo, check with them about how they feel about their photo being used, or how they feel about a photo of themselves being uploaded. If a fan has passed on, reach out to their family or friends.

If you do not know them personally, then consider the context where the photo was taken and how widely it was distributed. Has it already been posted online? Was this a large public convention or small private event? Was this published in a fanzine, newsletter, newspaper or magazine? Consider whether the photo is being used to document a group activity or being used to identify a specific person.

If you are concerned about identifying individuals, one option is to upload a smaller or lower-resolution photo, or elect to not identify specific people (refer to them as "a fan" or "fans") unless it is necessary for the photo's purpose. Also, please keep Fanlore's Fair Use Policy in mind when uploading images you do not own.

If you would like to get more guidance on a photo you are planning to upload, please contact the Fanlore Committee, selecting the subject 'Editing help' from the menu. If you are concerned about a photograph on Fanlore that features you, please use the contact form to get in touch, selecting the subject 'Identity Protection' from the menu.

Linking to photos, as long as the photograph is public, is permitted and can be an alternative if you are unsure about uploading a photograph to Fanlore.

Comments

Re: We live our lives online unknowingly

[vaznetti]

I think you're absolutely right, that given how casually society in general treats posting personal photos online we should be having this conversation. One thing that strikes me, though, is that in fact a lot of people have been thinking seriously on these issues, both on a personal level (by opting out of Facebook, Instagram, etc) and on a national level, (via legislation that's been passed in e.g. France and Germany about who has rights to whose image.). Where I live this is an issue which is regularly brought to the attention of parents, for example -- you can't post pictures containing other people's children taken at achool events, for example.

I think it may be worth drawing a distinction between crowd photographs in high- and low- reputational risk activities. Going to a football game is not really a reputational risk, but for some fans being pictured at a con might well seem more risky, if it could lead (via the use of e.g. facial recognition software) to the linking of a fannish persona and a professional one.

I do like the idea of the OTW keeping an indexed archive of this photographic or video history, but sometimes archivists have good reason for not posting material on the public internet. This might be such a context.