User talk:MichaelMaggs/Archive/2016

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Happy New Year!

Have a great 2016. -- Colin (talk) 11:59, 1 January 2016 (UTC)

Thanks - you too! --MichaelMaggs (talk) 12:32, 1 January 2016 (UTC)

Category: Photograph by user

Hi,

Since I recently started posting pics to Wikimedia, I wanted to set up a category page in my user profile that follows the same line as yours here: Category:Photographs_by_Michael_Maggs. Unfortunately, it seems I haven't quite mastered that art, because this is what I get Category:Photographs_by_User:Dianelanglume. Could you kindly help? I would like this picture for instance to appear on that category page: File:Signature_du_lithographe_Joseph_Langlumé.jpg

And by the way, concerning that picture, I meant it to be free of use under Creative Commons, but apparently it's not?? It is now associated with a warning sign requesting free use. What should I do to make it so? I couldn't find the appropriate tutorial.

Many thanks in advance for your help (please also reply on my talk page).

Dianelanglume (talk) 11:57, 5 January 2016 (UTC)

✓ Done --MichaelMaggs (talk) 21:35, 5 January 2016 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #191

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Wikidata weekly summary #192

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Your article in Azerbaijani

Hi, Michael. I have translated your article into Azerbaijani and put it on the project of Wiki Loves Monuments in Azerbaijan. First of all, thanks for these great advises. I think you will not be against my translate and publication (I note below that the text was based on your article). I hope that this page will help new users from Azerbaijan to upload much better photos with high quality. I have just one question. Could I replace the example photos with the photos of Azerbaijani monument? Best regards, --Interfase (talk) 16:35, 19 January 2016 (UTC)

Hi Interfase, thanks for doing that. Yes, if you'd like to replace the images with some local examples, please do. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 17:44, 19 January 2016 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #193

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Wikidata weekly summary #194

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Endorsement for Christophe

Hi, since it was being used inappropriately, I just moved the whole content of the Endorsements section of Christophe's nomination page to the talk page. Yours looks like a perfectly valid official chapter endorsement, but I moved it too because I didn't want to pick which ones were valid and which ones were not. Feel free to put it back if that's what you want. (if you want to reply, please write me on my Meta or it.wikipedia talk page - on Commons it might take more time for me to notice) - Laurentius (talk) 08:34, 21 February 2016 (UTC)

please undelete Commons:Applicable law into my userspace

Request temporary undeletion

This essay, Commons:Applicable law, was deleted without notice of the deletion request to me as one of its editors and the original grounds for the nomination ("[u]nused" and "personal" and part of "wikispam") were all invalid, although when asked by someone else the nominator thought it was inappropriate for Commons but perhaps acceptable elsewhere, a different reason. Apparently, the nom preferred wildly exaggerating (one link to a Commons essay became an alleged "linkfarm" and any redirect to it is called "wikispam", a term appropriate for a redirect to an offsite target, not this case). The nom also seemed to think that frequent updating is needed if an essay is to stay in existence, when the subject's stability meant that updating was not needed, and that essays get confused with policies and guidelines, the solution to which is clearer labelling of essays, probably in essay templates, not deletion of some essays (the critque would apply to all essays). Timeliness of notice by the nominator and reasoning more on point would have helped.

While at the time of my editing, Commons seemed the appropriate venue, I now think it would better fit Meta, and on that point I agree with the nominator's answer to someone else. Therefore, I do not want to appeal the deletion itself (you did the deletion) but I do want to consider the essay for Meta. I have a version of what I wrote but not the full edit history, especially not what other editors may have contributed. Please undelete it into my userspace. Thank you very much.

Nick Levinson (talk) 19:30, 26 March 2016 (UTC) (Corrected format: 19:36, 26 March 2016 (UTC))

Certainly, though it's pretty short. According to the page hisory, you added the See Only link. The main body of the text was by User:WhatamIdoing. I've undeleted the most recent version that you amended to User:Nick Levinson/Applicable law. There were no substantive additions between this version and its deletion. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 20:58, 26 March 2016 (UTC)
Ah, that explains a couple of mysteries, like why I didn't get DR notice and article formatting I don't use. It looked like something I had written, so I appreciate your telling me about the history. At any rate, my current offline draft is longer, being more informative. I plan to contact the other editor, too (soon, because I have to offline now). Thank you kindly. Nick Levinson (talk) 21:58, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

Erik Pevernagie Links

               Dear Michael,
	+	I noticed that one Yamaguchi先生 removed the external links of the Wikipedia Page.
	+	These links are important for the elucidation of a philosophical and intellectual interpretation of the painting work and make reference to authors like Kant, Keats ,Proust, Voltaire, Heidegger, Wittgenstein, Derrida, Shakespeare etc 
	+	Could this be considered as vandalism, ignorance?
	+	Could you tell me, Michael, how this can be solved?
	+	Thank you and best regards
	+	Erik
	+	
	+	Yamaguchi先生 (talk | contribs) 
	+	(Removed inappropriate external link(s). WP:ELNO)
	+	22:42, 25 February 2016
	+	==External links == 
	+	Template:Commonscat 
	+	*Erik Pevernagie Revisited 
	+	− *Pevernagieerik.jimdo.com 
	+	− *Zeitgeist(video) 
	+	− *Painting and Ideas (video) 
	+	− *Absence and Presence (video)  
	+	− *Phenomenological Painting (video) 
	+	− *Absence of Desire (video) 
	+	− *Wittgenstein * Happiness (video) 
	+	− *Derrida * Deconstruction (video) 
	+	− *Heaviness and lightness of being (video) 
	+	− *Art philosopher Willem Elias (video) 
	+	− *Marcel Proust-Citizen Kane-Beatles- * Paper Boats, Rosebuds, Madeleines, Strawberry fields (video) 
	+	− *John Keats, Immanuel Kant * Beauty (video) 
	+	− *Thomas Mann, Shakespeare, Voltaire and Peggy Lee * Disillusionment (Video)
I don't think anything can be done I'm afraid. External links in Wikipedia articles are normally very specific, and are mostly used to provide citations or factual verification of matters that are the subject of the article. Sometimes more generic "see also" links can be used, but again those are intended to provide strictly factual background about the subject. In this case, the links don't provide encyclopedic background or verification about the article's subject, Eric Pevernagie, but are more focused on abstract contextual ideas relating to the interpretation of the artist's works. These can't be included as they are not appropriate for a neutral and objective encyclopedia article. Also, the addition of links like this might easily be considered self-promotion or advertising. As you know, editing of Wikipedia articles about yourself is strongly discouraged: see Wikipedia:Autobiography. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 15:34, 6 April 2016 (UTC)

Thank you for your opinion, Michael. Have a good day.Onlysilence (talk) 16:58, 6 April 2016 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #205

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Question regarding Commons:Deletion requests/File:Richardson mothership.jpg

I live in Richardson. If I go out to the place that photo was captured from and take a new photo that displays the same PoV and upload it to Commons with a appropriate licence, would you have any objection to it? I ask before I plan a trip out to capture the image. I don't normally edit commons that often and request that if you respond, to please drop a simple notice on my enwiki talk page. Thank you. Hasteur (talk) 03:35, 20 April 2016 (UTC)

✓ Done --MichaelMaggs (talk) 12:31, 20 April 2016 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #206

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Commons:Administrators' noticeboard/User problems#More Russavia

Hello, can you please close that thread above on AN/U? That discussion will not result in something constructive. It will just waste time for other users. Thanks, ★ Poké95 09:08, 24 April 2016 (UTC)

✓ Done. Thanks for the ping. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 07:58, 26 April 2016 (UTC)
Many thanks ★ Poké95 08:11, 26 April 2016 (UTC)

Blocking Ktr101

Michael, is there any reason why you locally blocked Ktr101? There's no point in doing so when he's already been locked by the Foundation, and no Commmons policy specifies that global locks have to be followed up by local blocks. Can you please undo your action? Thanks, odder (talk) 05:20, 23 April 2016 (UTC)

Same thing for User:John F. Lewis. odder (talk) 05:22, 23 April 2016 (UTC)
Hi Odder. Yes, I used my discretion as an admin and crat on this project to indicate that those globally locked users are not welcome on Commons. COM:BP does not require a local block following a global lock, but it comes within the ambit of discretion of any admin. Quoting the policy: "Blocks may be applied for a number of reasons. The more common of these are detailed below ..". The listed reasons are merely exemplary, not exclusive. Although you say that there is "no point in doing so", presumably you would agree with me that there is some symbolic point since otherwise you would not have posted this query on my talk page, nor would you have bothered to asked me to undo my action. I would prefer not to do so for the reasons given. I am aware that you take a different view from me on how globally banned ex-users should be viewed (to the extent that you prefer not to take any action against banned individuals who post on your user page), but as both your view there and my view here fall within the range of admin discretion as opposed to strict policy, I would ask that you do not revert my blocks. All the best, --MichaelMaggs (talk) 14:36, 23 April 2016 (UTC)
First of all, your role as a bureaucrat does not give you any additional discretion, so there's no point in you even mentioning that. Secondly, yes, you do have certain limited discretion, however blocking long-standing contributors without any basis in Commons policy does not fit in that. If you had any reasons for blocking these two users, you would have shared them publicly with everyone or at least with your fellow bureaucrats on the mailing list.
If you had done so, then let me know as I unsubscribed from that list after your utterly disgusting secret attempt to have Fae banned despite your enormous personal involvement with him when you prevented him from continuing to be a member of Wikimedia UK for no good reason.
I'm giving you 24 hours to undo your out-of-policy blocks, otherwise I'm going to do that myself when I get back home in the evening tomorrow.
I am done watching you run amok with your holier-than-thou attitude (while simultaneously not giving a damn about this project on the pretence of neutrality) and bending the rules to fit your liking. odder (talk) 19:07, 23 April 2016 (UTC)
I am sorry that you feel the need to make such statements. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 19:32, 23 April 2016 (UTC)
odder, I warn you against wheel-warring with Michael over this. You have "previous" in this regard, wrt to the JurgenNL admin bit which led to a de-bureaucrat vote. We all know Commons' policy is incomplete and leaves much to user, admin and 'crat judgement. As Michael says, the block is largely symbolic, as was JurgenNL's de-admin. The last time, you misjudged community feeling and hastily wheel-warred in order to play power-games with WMF. Same story here. Given that these editors will not be editing again, there is no rush to unblock locally. I don't know the reason for the block and it sounds like you don't either. So your threat to unblock is ignorant (and I use that word carefully, rather than as an insult) and hasty. Given what else you posted here, which is totally off-topic, it sounds like you are motivated by a grudge. These are all very poor reasons to make any admin decision, let alone to wheel war. Do you really want another de-crat vote? For what purpose does this serve? To play power games over a bit on some user account that has no manifest effect on the ability of that user to edit. That's a pretty lame wheel war. Please serve the community as a 'crat who shows wisdom. You've demonstrated you are unhappy and disagree, but our Commons:Blocking policy requires you to demonstrate consensus for an unblock. -- Colin (talk) 19:51, 23 April 2016 (UTC)
I received the same e-mail that Michael's likely got from the Foundation, and that e-mail specifically said that they will not be discussing the reasons behind those global locks. So unless they made a special exception for Michael, there are no reasons behind his blocks; I bet you anything it's just him running around like a headless chicken, trigger-happy, making out-of-policy blocks just because he can.
These two users did nothing to warrant a community block of any sort, let alone an indefinite (read: infinite) block. This should have never happened, it should have been reversed immediately when I brought it up to Michael's attention, he should have been admonished for doing that, and promise not to do that again. Yet here you are, defending these pointless actions of somebody brave enough to act only after the WMF has already acted, and to act with a total disregard of community policies; somebody who otherwise doesn't give a fuck about this project in fear of losing his precious neutrality.
I don't recall Michael acting when WayneRay's actions were brought up publicly; I don't recall him going through his uploads and deleting stuff or just nominating them for deletion like other users did. I don't recall him acting, intervening or just commenting in a million other situations when there was a need for him doing so; yet here he is, showing how mighty he is when dealing with users who can't so much as log-in into their Wikimedia accounts, and dealing with them in absolute ignorance of Commons policies because he's a bureaucrat and everyone else is too scared of speaking up.
To see you of all people trying to teach me about having a grudge when you've been bullying, harassing, and team-tagging Fae for months on end is just hilarious. Surely you should be concerned that a group of functionaries get together on a secret mailing list, using confidentiality as a pretence for the discussion not to leak out, and discuss how to get rid of someone while simultanously hiding behind a thin veil of neutrality because they haven't commented on it in public? Are you? Or don't you just give a single fuck because it was all addressed to Fae? Tell me now about grudge, I'm listening.
Or don't; I'm already sick of reading the bullshit reasoning you come up with. You make me sick, the whole lot of you. odder (talk) 21:33, 23 April 2016 (UTC)
Odder, I suggest you take a wikibreak. All I see above is the rant of a very angry and hateful person. Not openly "discussing" a block is not the same thing as there being "no reason" for the block. If you think WMF applied them for "no reason", then I can only repeat that you should retire from this project in disgust. I agree with you that many of our 'crats have been absent at times when they were needed, and you know I've complained about this. I am grateful you dealt with WayneRay and his uploads. Wrt Fae, you're welcome to join the many others who find bringing me to AN/U entertaining if you wish to make a formal complaint about that. I fail to see what that has to do with the current situation, other than you lashing out with whatever spiteful remark comes to mind. The only thing "pointless" here is you getting upset about a "symbolic" block. The policy, which you enslave yourself to, requires you gain consensus for an unblock. If Michael's actions are as foolish as you claim, that should not be hard. -- Colin (talk) 22:28, 23 April 2016 (UTC)
odder, but before you are tempted to open any community discussion on the block, consider if you know the wishes of these two users, both of whom appear to have disclosed their real names on-wiki. Perhaps they do not wish the reason for their block to be made public. Certainly, few would wish some random semi-anonymous community on the internet to start openly speculating. I suggest that unless either of these individuals protest their blocks and actually request a community discussion on the matter, that you leave it lie for their sake. We all know the internet has a long memory. There seems very little to be gained from this, and possible harm. I don't personally care one way or the other about whether there's a community block or not, only that the community and the WMF work together with respect. And this is one area where we should show some respect for a hard decision made. -- Colin (talk) 22:49, 23 April 2016 (UTC)
odder: I agree with Colin, that unless you somehow know that the two users you have mentioned as being recently globally banned are interested in such a discussion and the associated attention, it is not a good idea to publically attack a fellow 'crat over a symbolic flip of a bit, which has no practical meaning. The second user you mention, had his last edit in October 2014. It is very uncollegial, that you do not keep a cool head and publically swear at a fellow user. Moreover, I do not agree with you that if the reasons for a global block are not made public, it is equivalent to having no reason to block. It means, the block reason is publically unknown (possibly in the interest of the globally banned users). Whether the global bans are warranted is a matter of whether you believe in the judgement made my the legal team at the WMF or not. It appears you do not have trust in their decisions. If so, either go into a constructive dialogue with the legal team, or leave. And I do not understand at all why you are mixing a completely different user (Fæ) including undocumented claims of a secret cabal into this discussion. -- Slaunger (talk) 06:46, 24 April 2016 (UTC)
Can the two of you even fucking read? I never said anything about disagreeing with the global locks that the WMF made. I'm sure they have their reasons for doing that, and I know the reasons behind some of those locks, however Michael has no reasons to locally block these two users. None. They've done nothing wrong on this project; they've been contributing for years and years, there wasn't so much as a discussion about blocking them let alone a consensus, and yet Michael blocked them indefinitely, and the two of you are defending his pointless and stupid actions. He's abusing his privileges as an administrator, surely you can see that?
Also what does it matter than John's last edit here on Commons was a vote to have me de-cratted? I don't see how this is relevant. Do you expect me to ignore this abuse by an admin just because John voted against me? Do you expect me to be driven by petty revenge rather than by this project's best interest? What the hell! odder (talk) 07:26, 24 April 2016 (UTC)
odder: The last edit by John is not relevant. I thought it was relevant when the least edit was done by the effected users, and in bringing forth that piece of information I also mentioned what his last edit was. It was intended as a 'fun fact', as I personally found it funny. But after re-reading what I wrote a few minutes later I realized this was irrelevant for this discussion, could be misunderstood and removed that detail prior to your response. So I do not know why you are mentioning it if not do distract from my question about the relevance of involving a completely different user in the discussion and setting forth accusations regarding Michael, which to my knowledge you cannot backup with facts? I do not agree with you that Michael is operating outside our policies. IMO our policies are not clear within this area and open for interpretation. For me it is common sense to also locally block globally banned users, albeit it is just a symbolic act. You disagree, and find it completely obvious that it is in violation of policy. If that is the case, and you really find it important to put extra attention on the globally banned users, open a thread about it on COM:AN to see if there is consensus to revert the bit flip. If there is consensus for your POV, the bits should be flipped. But why so hostile? Why all the swearing? Why not discuss like adults? I do not understand why you find it warranted in your role as community leader/'crat to use the f*** word against me? I believe I have always communicated in a civil tone with you. -- Slaunger (talk) 08:38, 24 April 2016 (UTC)

(outdent)odder, I know you are upset about this, but swearing merely demonstrates you've become unreasonable, rather than keeping a cool head. You said Michael had "no reason". Well they were blocked by WMF according to the WMF global ban policy, which lays out several possible reasons, none of which are compatible with an editor being welcome on Commons.

  • when users engage in significant harassment of users on multiple projects;
  • when users engage in significant harassment off of the Wikimedia sites so as to genuinely threaten (emotionally or physically) users; or
  • when the trust or safety of our users or employees is otherwise in danger or has been significantly compromised or threatened.

Do you agree that the reasons on that page warrant sufficient reason? Or do you want to have a discussion about which one isn't that bad after all? So Michael's "reason" is "one of those". Which one, and the details of it, aren't relevant. Perhaps you and Michael have different levels of trust in how the WMF decide to ban, but it's what it is, and you agree to the ToU every time you edit. The WayneRay ban didn't involve a discussion on Commons about blocking him, "let alone consensus". Yet you applied an indefinite block with reference to "oversighters" - but essentially, you refuse to discuss (rightly). It's just a bit, odder, and a non-effectual one at that, hardly "abuse". Please find something more important to get your knickers in a twist about. -- Colin (talk) 08:02, 24 April 2016 (UTC) If it helps, odder, I think that your view that without a community discussion/consensus to ban, there is no need to apply the extra local block on top of the WMF block, is a reasonable one. I disagree with it, but a reasonable person may come to that conclusion after rational thought. That surely should be the measure of whether an action should be reverted? Can you not accept that Michael's action is also reasonable even if you disagree with it? I wish you guys could work together on the important things rather than fighting over something completely pointless. -- Colin (talk) 08:30, 24 April 2016 (UTC)

An apology

Well, that turned really ugly really quickly, and I'm the only one to blame for it. I would like to apologise unreservedly to @Colin, @Slaunger and @Michael, in particular for the awful swearing. I was quite upset and lost my cool, and I treated you very harshly and very unfairly. You did not deserve to be treated like that; I take full responsibility for what I wrote above and I'm sorry. odder (talk) 18:39, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

Thank you. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 19:52, 30 April 2016 (UTC)
Thanks, Odder, much appreciated. -- Colin (talk) 21:03, 30 April 2016 (UTC)
Thank you, Odder. -- Slaunger (talk) 21:11, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #207

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Wikidata's coverage as of April 2016
Difference of Wikidata's coverage between April 2016 and 6 month before

Closing discussions

See Special:Diff/195106824: be careful with how you close discussions. Your closure of one discussion was archived together with the section above that discussion, and the closure tag is now missing from the discussion page. I think that you need to put your closure tags directly below the section header, not above the section header. --Stefan2 (talk) 23:39, 3 May 2016 (UTC)

Yes, thanks. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 04:42, 4 May 2016 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #208

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Wikicommons Contributions

Hello Michael - I am admittedly new to wikicommons, but would like to contribute constructively. There are pictures I have, particularly of en:Congregation Emanu El of New York, that I would like to add, but I have accidentally violated policy before on enwiki and want to ensure that I fully understand guidelines before editing. Thank you Ferociouslettuce (talk) 18:34, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Hi, User talk:Ferociouslettuce, welcome! You might like to start by having look at COM:L and COM:PS which between them cover the major points about what we can and cannot host here. Briefly, it is normally OK to upload educational images that you have personally taken yourself, as long as they don't involve violating the privacy of any subject. Images taken by another photographer can be uploaded only if they are old enough to be entirely out of copyright, or if the photographer or copyright owner is known and has released them under a free licence. Images where the photographer/copyright owner is not known or can't be contacted generally cannot generally be hosted here since somebody must own the copyright even though there may be no way for us to obtain a free licence. I probably won't be able to edit here for the next couple of weeks, but users at Commons:Village pump/Copyright‎‎ will be able to help with specific questions you may have. All the best, --MichaelMaggs (talk) 08:23, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #209

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Round 2 of Picture of the Year 2015 is open!

You are receiving this message because you voted in R1 of the 2015 Picture of the Year contest.

Dear MichaelMaggs/Archive,

Wikimedia Commons is happy to announce that the second round of the 2015 Picture of the Year competition is now open. This year will be the tenth edition of the annual Wikimedia Commons photo competition, which recognizes exceptional contributions by users on Wikimedia Commons. Wikimedia users are invited to vote for their favorite images featured on Commons during the last year (2015) to produce a single Picture of the Year.

Hundreds of images that have been rated Featured Pictures by the international Wikimedia Commons community in the past year were entered in this competition. These images include professional animal and plant shots, breathtaking panoramas and skylines, restorations of historical images, photographs portraying the world's best architecture, impressive human portraits, and so much more.

There are two total rounds of voting. In the first round, you voted for as many images as you liked. In Round 1, there were 1322 candidate images. There are 56 finalists in Round 2, comprised of the top 30 overall as well as the top #1 and #2 from each sub-category. In the final round, you may vote for just one or maximal three image to become the Picture of the Year.

Round 2 will end on 28 May 2016, 23:59:59 UTC.

Click here to vote »

Thanks,
-- Wikimedia Commons Picture of the Year committee 09:45, 22 May 2016 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #210

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EU copyright

Hi MM,
As you seem to have an above average understanding of the appliance of law, I would like to run this by you first -for your comments. Back in 2008, User Lupo was trying to kid us that a EU 'directive' was a EU wide 'law' and thus we had to observe the EU 70 year copyright 'directive' on our UK images too.

User_talk:MichaelMaggs&oldid=14771959#The_EU_and_historic_copyright_terms

They were legitimate in the first place. Now that we are out of the EU (for better or worse) should not all these deleted UK images be reinstated?P.g.champion (talk) 23:12, 24 June 2016 (UTC)

We are still in the EU for now, and the copyright directive does indeed require the UK to maintain a period of 70 years pma. That may change in the future, perhaps, but there's no change at the moment. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 07:04, 25 June 2016 (UTC)
Yes, I agree, there is plenty of time to contemplate this. Just wanted your early gut reaction though, (as a sounding-board if you like, in case I am being too pedantic). However, EU Directives don't require anything. The are just guidance to other EU states whom may want know how to achieve greater harmonisation and so ensure that all states sell only straight bananas, etc... They are not law. Which is what User Lupo seemed to have miss understood -yet made a lot of noise about it. We (in the UK) are not bound by this, as this Directive never got a far as being incorporated into UK copyright law. Many UK images got deleted which should not have been, due to this miss-understanding between Legal Obligation and Directive.--P.g.champion (talk) 19:39, 25 June 2016 (UTC)
EU Directives are instructions to member states to change their locals laws in a certain way. In this case, UK national law (the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988) was amended years ago to change the term to 70 years pma. 70 years has for a long time been part of UK national law, and that won't change once we leave the EU unless at some point in the future parliament expressly legislates to do so. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 11:30, 26 June 2016 (UTC)
Perhaps I didn't phrase it well but here it is from the The British Press Photographers' Association:
Photographs taken before June 1 1957 receive similar treatment, so    duration is now life of  the author (or last surviving author) plus 70 years for a national of  a Member State of the European Economic Area or a photograph whose `country of origin' is in an EEA state, provided the work was in copyright in one member state on July 1 1995. http://www.google.co.uk/url?q=http://thebppa.com/wp-content/uploads/abcd_uk_copyright.pdf&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwjunNmIqdPNAhUoBMAKHel3B0YQFggyMAQ&usg=AFQjCNGDOrEidAgQtMc-dzj_vcw2z0YwmQ
Thus, the UK was never party to this editor's interpretation of this guiding 'Directive' for all these UK photographs taken before 1945. The copyright was not extended for these as well (ie 70yrs plus 70yrs). So our parliament doesn't have to legislate anything new. It was the resent referendum that brought this argument of his, back to mind.--P.g.champion (talk) 23:52, 1 July 2016 (UTC)
Update: Think I have found the source of the confusion. The editor was situated in Germany.
Some European territories such as Germany already protected photographs for the life of the photographer plus 70 years. If this new term of copyright protection were applied to the photograph, then copyright would not expire until 2010. This meant that although the photograph had been in the public domain since 1980, its copyright could be "revived". All photographs are afforded copyright protection under UK law, from the holiday snap to high art photography.
He simply didn’t read the 'Directive' but assumed and insisted vehemently that Germany's laws now applied everywhere across the whole EU. As I thought you were a native English speaker I had hoped you would help me with this editors issues over what the 'Directive' actually said and help me roll-back the deletions. Germany’s law and any Brussels 'Directives' is not a EU wide law but simply a 'directive'. --P.g.champion (talk) 22:26, 2 July 2016 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #216

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Hello

Hello how are you?, Im wondering if i can upload files form these sites here, and here and here?. Thank you and have nice day.--Jobas (talk) 16:01, 16 July 2016 (UTC)

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Wikidata weekly summary #221

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.

Wikidata weekly summary #222

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.

A favour?

Michael, can you help me? I'm an experience guy on commons but I dont understand OTRS and how to get permission for an image for an image that I'm very proud of and others would like to use of different wikipedia projects. The Women In Red project has been recognised as a finalist for UN award. I have an email that doesnt mention copyright but it does encourage us to publish the award. Can you (or someone who watches your page) give me a quide as to what I need to do? I'm hoping that Wikimedia_UK will use the logo to help us to record our success in getting this far. (The project was started by an American and a Brit.) At the moment we have "fair use"d the image onto en:wiki but we have sister projects on about 9 other wikipedias and several of these have no "fair use" possibility. Thanks for listening - Roger Victuallers (talk) 10:38, 21 October 2016 (UTC)

Hi Roger, congratulations! I'm happy to help in any way I can, though there may be a little delay as I'll be away for a few days from tomorrow. It's a fairly standard problem, I'm afraid, where the copyright holder won't provide a proper licence but approves use 'for Wikipedia only'. As you know, that may work for en.W, where fair use is possible, but for sites such as Commons and de.W the community has resolutely decided not to accept such images. The only possibility in such a case is to pesuade the copyright holder to grant a suitable release. I have a good idea of what's needed, and I'd be happy to look at the email you mention if you'd like to send it to me privately. WMUK's website isn't quite as rigid as Commons, and we might well be able to use it there. Have you discussed with one of the staff? --MichaelMaggs (talk) 15:15, 21 October 2016 (UTC)
Thanks Michael will do Victuallers (talk) 10:53, 24 October 2016 (UTC)

You've just deleted an image for which I have the rights

Hi, I'm the singer of Electrocution, the band. I've designed this logo. Please recover the deleted image. Electrocution_logo.jpg — Preceding unsigned comment added by PazuzuOfEvilSpirits (talk • contribs) 14:33, 31 October 2016 (UTC)

Hi PazuzuOfEvilSpirits, thanks for the message. As I'm sure you'll understand we get quite a lot of images like this that are uploaded by fans rather than by the original designer and copyright holder. Our procedure in such cases is to ask the designer to follow the procedure set out at OTRS, and to send licence confirmation to our special email address permissions-commons [@] wikimedia.org. We'll need to check identity, so you should send your email from the official email address of the band, or alternatively provide some other evidence of identity such as for example making an agreed change on the band's Facebook page. OTRS volunteers will help you through the process. If everything checks out, the evidence and licence will be recorded and someone will restore the image for you. All the best, --MichaelMaggs (talk) 14:56, 31 October 2016 (UTC)

Generosity Crowdfunding Campaign for User:The Photographer

Please excuse me spamming you, which concerns Commons User:The Photographer, who has 86 Featured Pictures. His contributions cover the architecture and culture of Brazil and Venezuela. He has basic photographic equipment: an old D300 camera and 35mm lens, and lives in a poor country where photographic equipment is expensive. The Photographer has recently taken several images using the technique where multiple frames are stitched together to create a high-resolution panorama. However, many times frustrated with the stitching errors that result from trying to take such photos without a proper panoramic head for his tripod. This special equipment permits the camera to be rotated around the entrance pupil of the lens, and eliminates such errors. Having a panoramic head would greatly increase the potential for The Photographer to create sharp high-resolution images for Commons. In addition, the purchase of a fisheye lens would enable 180 × 360° panoramas to be taken, which are a great way to explore a scene as though one is really there.

Please see the discussion about the Crowd-funding campaign on User talk:The Photographer#Generosity Crowdfunding Campaign and visit the Generosity Crowd-funding Campaign page to consider donating. Even a modest donation will make a difference if many people contribute. Thanks. -- Colin (talk) 21:23, 22 November 2016 (UTC)

Hi Colin Thanks for the note. I have made a contribution. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 11:22, 24 November 2016 (UTC)

File:WMUK_programme_banner_-_education_and_learning.jpg

Hi Michael. I hope you are well. I was hoping that given your WMUK position, you would have some more traction than I had with regards to this. WMUK's grant proposal at meta:Grants:APG/Proposals/2016-2017_round1/Wikimedia_UK/Proposal_form uses banners that were clearly prepared or uploaded by people unfamiliar with our licensing requirements. I tried to ping Jwslubbock, Richard Nevell (WMUK), Richard Symonds (WMUK) about this at User_talk:Jwslubbock#Authorship_claims, but have received no response. In the end, I gave up and fixed one file's attribution to conform to the CC license, but I have been unable to locate the original source of File:WMUK_programme_banner_-_education_and_learning.jpg. It appears to have been taken in the early 1900s in Hungary - but it is unlikely that it was anonymous and may still be under copyright. Could you please take a look? Thanks, Storkk (talk) 14:39, 29 November 2016 (UTC)

Hi Storkk. That's a nice image that it would be a shame to lose but, as you say, it doesn't at the moment have the information we need to enable it to be kept. I'd be happy to see if I can help out: that will probably have to be next week now, but we should have the usual 7 days even if the image is put up for deletion. I'll see what I can do. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 09:48, 30 November 2016 (UTC)
It was from Commons. When I have time I'll go through and add a reference but I have a million things to do right now. --Jwslubbock (talk) 15:18, 29 November 2016 (UTC)
I have not yet tagged it as lacking source, so it should not be under imminent threat of deletion... but it would be good to verify the image is indeed PD. It's a little disappointing that it took a message here to get any acknowledgement of the issue, and it's disturbing that this kind of disregard for licensing terms is apparently routine for WMUK. Storkk (talk) 11:02, 30 November 2016 (UTC)
Tangentially, and even more disturbingly, https://blog.wikimedia.org.uk appears to again be using an image (the banner image of Eilean Donan castle taken from here) in flagrant violation of the terms of the license, and without crediting the author Syxaxis Photography. Storkk (talk) 11:12, 30 November 2016 (UTC)
The source and copyright information for File:WMUK_programme_banner_-_education_and_learning.jpg has been corrected, and the original Commons image is now acknowledged. The claim of PD status follows that of the base image, and we haven't investigated that in detail as that is part of a much larger question regarding the status of the Fortepan images generally. Any challenge to that would affect many images within that particular upload. I am expecting the lack of attribution on the blog post banner to be addressed this week. Again, thanks for bringing this to my attention. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 03:54, 11 December 2016 (UTC)
An attribution has now been added to the banner image on the blog post page (small text in bottom left hand corner). --MichaelMaggs (talk) 15:03, 12 December 2016 (UTC)
That's great. Thanks for your help! Storkk (talk) 15:45, 12 December 2016 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #240

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.

You can see all open tickets related to Wikidata here.

Wikidata weekly summary #241

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.

Happy New Year, MichaelMaggs!

Happy New Year!

MichaelMaggs, a new year is like a blank book, the pen is in your hands. It is your chance to write a beautiful story for yourself! Happy New Year 2017. Hedwig in Washington (mail?) 18:24, 31 December 2016 (UTC)


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