User talk:MichaelMaggs/Archive/2015

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OTRS

09:38, 2 January 2015 MichaelMaggs (talk | contribs | block) changed group membership for User:MichaelMaggs from bureaucrat and administrator to bureaucrat, administrator and OTRS member (Noting re-admission as OTRS memebr)

Hello, Please remove self from OTRS group, you are blocking phabricator:T78814. The OTRS group is now global. --Steinsplitter (talk) 09:54, 2 January 2015 (UTC)

Ah, sorry. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 09:54, 2 January 2015 (UTC)
No problem :) --Steinsplitter (talk) 09:55, 2 January 2015 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #139

COM:UDR

Thanks for closing that. I hope the 'enough' wasn't an expression of frustration with me for the (I admit) TL;DR comment at the end, but I felt it was worthwhile to make it blatantly clear that it wasn't a matter of an 'allegation' that the URAA applied, but a specific case where it obviously did, since there seemed to be a likelihood of more people piling in. Revent (talk) 08:42, 5 January 2015 (UTC)

No, not at all. Actually, I was typing the closure at the same time that you were posting your final comments, and had an edit conflict when I tried to post. 'Enough' referred to the preceding unhelpful attempts to re-open old policy arguments in a forum where we should be discussing the lawfulness or otherwise of specific uploads. I've taken the word out, as I agree that it might be incorrectly read as directed to your final comment. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 08:46, 5 January 2015 (UTC)

COM:AN

Hello Michael Maggs,

I mentioned you her -- Geagea (talk) 13:17, 5 January 2015 (UTC)

Deleted Pictures of my dad

A number of photographs taken by my father of artworks he created, and some snapshots of my father at work, that I uploaded were deleted. This was done in a rather aggressive way which I do not understand. My father died ten years ago. There's no discussion of copyrights here, there are no copyrights involved, they're just snap shots of him and his work. I scanned the pictures I own and used some of them for a Wikipedia page about him and his work. I would like an explanation. Thank you. Saflieni (talk) 01:40, 1 January 2015 (UTC)

I'm sorry to hear about that. I expect that any deletions were for copyright issues, as all photos attract copyright protection, but I'm not sure as I don't know who you are nor which images you are referring to. If you could let me know, please (for example by giving me the exact name of an image that has been deleted), I'll happily look into it for you. With best regards, --MichaelMaggs (talk) 17:57, 31 December 2014 (UTC)
The pictures are below. I should add that most of the artworks depicted in these scanned photographs are (or were) in public spaces, were paid for by community funds and were created for the enjoyment of the public. So they are by definition in the public domain, just like any other monumental work of art. As these artworks are made of glass, some of the older ones do not exist anymore today because the buildings were demolished in the meantime or the artworks themselves did not survive. They are documented by these pictures and should be available to anyone who wishes to view them. I replied to the notifications by explaining what the pictures are and that I am the owner of the original pictures. Therefore I have no idea why you went ahead and deleted them unless there was a complaint, which I very much doubt.
   File:Glas-appliqué in Begeleidings Centrum v h Onderwijs Amsterdam 2.jpg
   File:Profeet. Zwevend glas in lagen gestapeld, niet verlijmd..jpg
   File:Glas-appliqué in gemeentehuis Dalfsen 2.jpg
   File:Glas-appliqué in gemeentehuis Stede Broec.jpg
   File:Glas-appliqué in Amsterdams Lucht en ruimtevaart laboratorium.jpg
   File:Glas-appliqué in gemeentehuis Zederik.jpg
   File:Glas-appliqué in gemeentehuis Dalfsen.jpg
   File:Glas-appliqué in Coöperatieve Begrafenis Onderneming Bussum.jpg
   File:Glas-appliqué.jpg
   File:Glas-appliqué detail.jpg
   File:Glas-appliqué in Begeleidings Centrum v h Onderwijs Amsterdam.jpg
   File:Glas-appliqué in Rode Kruis Ziekenhuis Den Haag.jpg
   File:Glas-appliqué in Gemeentehuis Emmen.jpg
   File:Glaswand Technische Hogeschool Eindhoven.jpg
   File:Miskelk Sint Willibrorduskerk buiten de veste.jpg
   File:Ramen Zaandam Paaskerk.jpg
   File:Willem van Oyen sr..jpg

Saflieni (talk) 01:40, 1 January 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for the information. I'll review and will get back to you here shortly. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 11:01, 2 January 2015 (UTC)
Thanks. While you're at it: I wish to upload pictures of a lamp, designed and produced on an industrial scale by my father in the sixties. To prevent problems I obtained permission from the current owner of the specimen in the pictures by email. Their statement: We (Nate Lights) hereby give our permission to use our photos from the lamp "Chartres by Willem Van Oyen" (http://www.nate-lights.com/products/chartres) for free use at Wikipedia. Is this enough, or else, how do I go about it? Saflieni (talk) 14:45, 3 January 2015 (UTC)
Saflieni, I haven't forgotten this. I expect to be able to reply on Monday. Thanks for your patience --MichaelMaggs (talk) 23:14, 3 January 2015 (UTC)
Hi Saflieni, sorry for the delay in getting back to you. We would be keen to keep the images you uploaded of works created by your father, but as I mentioned at Commons:Deletion requests/Files uploaded by Saflieni we would need to be quite sure that we have proper permissions from whoever now owns the copyright.
Even though the artworks are on public display, it's often unlawful to photograph them and re-distribute the resulting images without permission from the holder of the original artistic copyright. There are nearly always legal restrictions on photographs of public art in public spaces, even those paid for by community funds and created for the enjoyment of the public. The rules differ by country, but the laws in the Netherlands are complex and some of your images are definitely problematic, including the closeups and the school images: see here for more details.
On Commons we take copyright seriously, and that means I'm afraid that there are a few hoops we will have to jump through before I can restore the images. I'm happy to help you through them, though.
We ask that copyright releases in respect of professionally-created art be recorded on OTRS, to ensure that we have a definitive record of such releases. Could I ask you, please, to make contact with me via email to permissions-commons@wikimedia.org to start the discussions? If you could include the text 'for MichaelMaggs' in the subject line, that will ensure I'll be able to find your message easily when it arrives.
In your email, could you please let me know who (or which company) now owns your father's artistic copyrights? In the Deletion Request, it was stated that the photos "were supplied and uploaded by the heirs of the artist (his sons)". If you are an heir and you now jointly own the copyright with your brother(s), we'd need permission from all of you. Alternatively, if the copyrights are now owned by a company (eg http://www.bevoglaskunst.nl/index.htm), we'd need permission from the company. Could you clarify, please?
In addition to copyrights in the original artworks, there will be separate copyrights in the photographs. Do you know who took the photographs and under what conditions? If they were taken by employees of your father or his company, copyright will most likely be held by the same person or company that holds the copyright in the works themselves. If the photographers were not employees, the photographic copyright will most likely be held by the photographer and we would need his or her permission as well.
On the question of the lamp, again we'll need permissions both from the current lamp copyright holder and from the photographer. What is the relationship with http://www.nate-lights.com/products/chartres? Presumably they have a licence to produce the lamp for sale, but who took the photo? One of their own employees?
I'm sorry that this all seems pretty complicated. It is, but that's the nature of copyright, and we do have to get this right. I look forward to receiving your email. If you could post a note here when you've sent it, I'll look out for its arrival. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 13:42, 5 January 2015 (UTC)
I already told you several times there are no copyrights on my fathers work. What you are asking is largely impossible. How to prove something which isn't there? Of course I can send you a message of my brother who is the current owner of Bevo glaskunst, no problem, but what stops you from asking the same questions afterwards as you do with the lamps for instance. There are no copyrights to that design. As is written in the Wikipedia page they were being copied widely already in the seventies. My father never pressed charges, not did the company that marketed them and they ended up something common for hobbyists to make in their attics until the design was finally outlawed because of sharp edges. Everybody moved on from there, except you apparently. By the way, have you looked at Nate-lights at all? They are re-selling vintage products. The company that used to market the lamps, Raak, has gone bankrupt a long time ago. Again it would be impossible to find out who might or might not own copyrights if there were any to begin with. And really, snapshots of my dad taken by a colleague, or a visitor, or my mum, or a delivery boy, or whoever passed by his studio in the 1950's, how am I to find out such a thing? Which law is relevant here? If I follow your reasoning I couldn't even upload a selfie, because how do I prove I took it myself, and there might be somebody who holds copyright to a building or a passing car in the background, who knows, and how to find out? I don't believe it works this way. So again, If you haven't received any complaints about copyrights in any of my pictures, why did you decide to give me a hard time? Saflieni (talk) 22:02, 5 January 2015 (UTC)
I'm afraid you may have been misinformed about copyright law. There most certainly are copyrights on your father's original artistic works (they came into effect automatically when he created them). Likewise, there are copyrights in the photographs (they came into effect automatically when the shutter was pressed). Once copyrights come into effect they normally last for 70 years after the artist's or photographer's death, which is why we cannot host recent works without formal permission. We need to satisfy ourselves that where the uploader is not the artist he or she is either the current copyright owner, or is able to obtain a licence from the current owner. (Copyright may be transferred by written assignment or on death).
If you are not prepared to address the question I posed, or if you really do not know the answers, then I am afraid we are not able to host your images. In particular, if the photos could have been taken by anyone who "passed by his studio in the 1950's" it seems that we will never be able to find out who the copyright owner is, and without that information we can't accept the pictures. I know that that might sound unreasonable, given that most social media websites would never bother with such a thing, but Commons takes care to ensure to the best of our ability that all images we host are properly licensed or copyright-free. The problem we have here is that these are so-called 'orphan works', where we know that copyright exists but we cannot tell who owns it. There are many, many millions of such historic photos held in libraries and archives throughout Europe and elsewhere that can't be used for exactly the same reason. Copyright advocates are at this very moment lobbying the European Commission to try to get the law changed so that such photos can be lawfully re-used, but for the moment we have to work within current legal restrictions, even though we may think they are ridiculous. Sorry. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 13:02, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
You keep refusing to answer my question. If there is no complaint about possible copyrights violations, and the possibility of this ever happening is zero, why are you making a fuzz? I did address the questions. You are just ignoring everything. I told you I am the owner of the pictures and offered a waiver issued by myself, by my brother, and in the case of the lamps, by the current owner of the lamps and the pictures of the lamps. If you keep being unreasonable I will consider this harassment and lodge a complaint. Saflieni (talk) 17:29, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
The reason for what you call a 'fuss' is that we have a formal policy here of allowing uploads only of material that is freely licensed or in the public domain both in the US and in the source country (The Netherlands) - you can read our policy here: COM:L. The fact that nobody has complained so far is not a good argument, as we have no reason to suppose they will not do so in the future. Please see COM:PRP, and in particular the common argument that "Nobody knows who the copyright owner is, so it really doesn’t matter." Our long-standing policies seem to be fatal to hosting the snapshots of your father and his work here. The lamp image might be possible, if proper permissions can be provided. Let me re-post for convenience the questions I asked about that:
  • On the question of the lamp, again we'll need permissions both from the current lamp copyright holder and from the photographer. What is the relationship with http://www.nate-lights.com/products/chartres? Presumably they have a licence to produce the lamp for sale, but who took the photo? One of their own employees?
When your father died, what happened to the copyrights he held in his works, including the lamp design? Did they pass jointly to you and your brother, or did they pass to BEVO Glaskunst? If the latter, presumably the company would be prepared to grant the necessary free licence?
In order to work through this, if you want to and if it's legally possible, I need you to send an email to the OTRS address I mentioned above. There really is no way round these formalities. I am trying to help you, but you must be prepared to work within the rules. More complaints aimed at me here will not help. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 18:37, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #140

CommonsDelinker

Hi Michael, Commons delinker (the bot which removes deleted files from wikis) dos not work perfect (not working on all wikis and all namespaces, a lot of bugs). Delinker need to be written completely new (phabricator:T66794). It was suggested to build a extension to replace the existing functionality of delinker. Does WMUK can help with building such a extension? See bugreport phabricator:T86483. Have a wonderful evening --Steinsplitter (talk) 17:00, 11 January 2015 (UTC)

Hi Steinsplitter. Not sure. I'm not in charge of deciding which projects WMUK gets involved with, though from a personal point of view I would love to see this being worked on and will happily do what I can to try to get support. We have a WMUK tech committee meeting next week, where I could bring this up. What sort of support do you think the chapter could best provide? Are you looking for a volunteer programmer, for technical maintenance support, or for funding? If this were to be a Mediawiki extension, shouldn't the Foundation staff do the coding? Or perhaps they may not have the time/inclination to work in this area? Any background you could provide would be helpful. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 08:49, 13 January 2015 (UTC)
The WMF have a lot of other things to do (no time to write such a extension). I am searching a (volunteer) programmer to build such a extension or to rewrite the bot. The current delinker bot dos not work very good (i have ssh access to delinker - but i am not profi dev, all the dev's (Siebrand, etc.) don't have time to rewrite delinker). And i have the feeling that delinker will stop working soon (big error log) :( --Steinsplitter (talk) 09:06, 13 January 2015 (UTC)
I will ask. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 12:45, 14 January 2015 (UTC)
I tried Magnus Manske, and he has kindly agreed to work on it. He has followed up on Phabricator. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 14:20, 14 January 2015 (UTC)
Thanks :) --Steinsplitter (talk) 14:27, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

OTRS

Hi MichaelMaggs. I found three emails (I merged one) which were explicitly send to you: ticket:2015010710017814 & ticket:2015011210009028. Could you take care of these please? :) The person speaks apparantly Dutch, so if you need help with that, just poke me. Thanks in advance. Regards, Trijnsteltalk 17:04, 12 January 2015 (UTC)

I will take a look. Thanks for letting me know. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 08:49, 13 January 2015 (UTC)
Hi Trijnstel, I've left a note for you on ticket:2015010710017814. Could you help in Dutch, please? --MichaelMaggs (talk) 14:30, 14 January 2015 (UTC)
✓ Done. Trijnsteltalk 16:05, 14 January 2015 (UTC)
Trijnstel, thanks for your note. In view of this and the user's comments directed at me on OTRS I have withdrawn from this matter. Please feel free to pick it up if you like! --MichaelMaggs (talk) 14:34, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

Hi Michael,

re Commons:Undeletion_requests/Archive/2015-01#File:1989_Joe_102.jpg: I've been in contact with Charlie Samuels through e-mail. When I contacted him via the e-mail address given on his web page, he confirmed that this was his own account. He has forwarded our e-mail exchange to permissions-commons@wikimedia.org (and CC'ed me, that's how I know). In private, he wrote to me that he planned to upload many more images. Furthermore he confirmed that the account en:User:Charliesamuelswiki was also his; if needed, I can forward that last part of the e-mail conversation to OTRS, too. I've taken the liberty of undeleting all his uploads (see Special:ListFiles/Charliesamuels) and have tagged them again as {{OTRS pending}}. Could you please take care of this OTRS ticket soon? It took some 10 days for him to reply to my original e-mail, but when I answered then, he got back to me within a day. Would be a shame to lose a professional photographer just because of the usual OTRS delay...

Thanks, Lupo 21:42, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

Good news. ✓ Done --MichaelMaggs (talk) 12:34, 15 January 2015 (UTC)
Thank you. What's the procedure for his future uploads? Shall he add {{PermissionOTRS|id=2015011410021064}} to all his future uploads of his own photos? Do we tag his user page with that tag and state that the account has been verified as being Charlie Samuels? And what, if anything, do we do with en:User:Charliesamuelswiki and his uploads? (One of which is apparently an own work uploaded as "fair use"... but the other one is tagged for transfer to the Commons.) Lupo 13:05, 15 January 2015 (UTC)
{{PermissionOTRS}} can't be added by non OTRS people. I think a simple mentioning like this on his user page is enough. Jee 15:12, 15 January 2015 (UTC)
All right; so I've done that at least. What about the en-WP account? Lupo 15:48, 15 January 2015 (UTC)
I think you can do the same. It will be nice if the user mention his EN account in Commons and vice versa. Jee 15:58, 15 January 2015 (UTC)
All right, I'll tell him to do so. And if he doesn't, I'll forward the rest of our e-mail conversation (where he states that that is also his account) under the same ticket number to OTRS. Lupo 16:09, 15 January 2015 (UTC)
Could you please add {{PermissionOTRS|id=2015011410021064}} also to File:Earl Manigault.jpg? Lupo 05:59, 16 January 2015 (UTC)
✓ Done Jee 06:28, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #141

Wikidata weekly summary #142

Wikidata weekly summary #143

WLM

See Commons:Village pump#WLM 2014 winners announced - did anyone notice, or care?.

You might guess I'm a bit underwhelmed by the results, both at national and international level. It is an awful lot of work which I see partly undermined at the final jury stage, but also limited by the quality of material we attract. To attract great contributors, we need to publish amazing winning images on the photography forums and magazines, along with the call for entries. But some of our "winning" material isn't sufficiently good, technically, to publish, never mind outstanding enough to inspire. I'm not sure of my position for 2015. Seems that FP is good at selecting great images and the Photo Contest is achieving some success at recruiting new users. -- Colin (talk) 13:27, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

Hi Colin. I'll email you about this as soon as I have a moment. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 04:00, 5 February 2015 (UTC)

Who shot William Fox Talbot?

You stated here that you're the author of the photograph ... so how can it be that it's pd? You're still alive ;) Cheers --Sargoth (talk) 17:03, 6 February 2015 (UTC)

Well spotted! Now fixed. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 17:15, 6 February 2015 (UTC)
Thanks! Have a nice evening --Sargoth (talk) 17:48, 6 February 2015 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #144

Thanks for sorting out one of the images I uploaded. I don't know what to do about this one. George Chakravarthi is the subject and photographer of the image, so what do you need?Emerald (talk) 12:24, 11 February 2015 (UTC)

Nothing you need to do. Mr Chakravarthi has just this minute confirmed by email, and I have updated the file with the approved ticket tag.--MichaelMaggs (talk) 12:28, 11 February 2015 (UTC)

This image is of a photograph, but you have moved it from a photograph category to a painting one, why? It definitely isn't a painting. Thanks for sorting out the other image!Emerald (talk) 12:31, 11 February 2015 (UTC)

OK, I see now. I have changed it back. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 12:44, 11 February 2015 (UTC)
Great, thanks. All done now. Have a great day.Emerald (talk) 12:45, 11 February 2015 (UTC)

Thank you for robbing us of plenty of content that has not been proven false. Copyright is not a concern because the images were DWs of our Commons files of the seal and COA of Pennsylvania, you should have only deleted those proven not to be true. Fry1989 eh? 15:57, 12 February 2015 (UTC)

I am sorry you disagree, but "not proven false" is not a criterion for hosting content here. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 17:19, 12 February 2015 (UTC)
I don't believe you are sorry one bit, I believe you are being overly broad in your reasoning to delete. Considering copyright is not of concern for these files, and only 2 out of over 50 images have been proven untrue, there was no valid reason to delete them all. And I find it ironic for you to state that you don't wish to "impugn the good faith of the uploader" when that is exactly what you have done by deleting all of them based on only 2 images that are false. They should be evaluated individually. Fry1989 eh? 19:07, 12 February 2015 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #145

RfCU

Hi MichaelMaggs. I see he didn't inform you, but Odder reverted your closure. Odder, will you never learn to contact people first... Trijnsteltalk 18:40, 14 February 2015 (UTC)

I just saw. Thanks for letting me know! --MichaelMaggs (talk) 18:44, 14 February 2015 (UTC)
BTW, Mentifisto already assigned the rights to INeverCry. Trijnsteltalk 18:41, 14 February 2015 (UTC)
No need to do anything unless there is a complete turnaround in the next few hours. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 18:44, 14 February 2015 (UTC)

Laurelle Mehus

This was originally 11 DRs, one for each image. I combined them for our convenience in making comments -- I thought I had captured all of the original comments, but I might have missed yours -- sorry. .     Jim . . . . (Jameslwoodward) (talk to me) 19:29, 15 February 2015 (UTC)

No problem. I was a little confused, but didn't think it was worth following though what had happened. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 19:31, 15 February 2015 (UTC)

Hi, The link you edited [1] goes to a dead tool. Regards, Yann (talk) 20:59, 16 February 2015 (UTC)

Works for me, though there is someimes a delay after hitting the submit button. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 22:37, 16 February 2015 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #146

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Request to post of one of your photographs on Facebook

Dear Mr. Maggs,

I am interested in posting this picture of yours on my Facebook account, giving proper attribution. May I do this?

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Galanthus_nivalis_%28snowdrop%29_flower_FS17.jpg

Yours respectfully,

Salva†ore

SOLI DEO GLORIA

Yes, that's absolutely fine. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 09:59, 3 March 2015 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #148

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Globally locked users may not create pages on this wiki

Of course they can't but you were the one who was blanking the page. I am going to restore it. -- Rillke(q?) 23:56, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

AN/V report

MichaelMaggs (talk · contributions · Move log · block log · uploads · Abuse filter log, cf. Commons:Featured picture candidates/File:State Emergency Service of Ukraine (MChS) Mil Mi-8MTV picking up water near Nezhin.jpg, please close this account. –Be..anyone (talk) 01:47, 16 March 2015 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #150

Copyright question

Hi Michael,

I stumbled across a deletion request for an image of a public artistic performance taken in Australia and my feeling via a fairly rudimentary legal argument is that it should not be deleted (if nothing else than the fact that it would be a shame and possibly a precedent for many other images of public performance art to be at risk of deletion), but I don't have complete certainty about my position as I suspect there could be a number of competing legal positions at play. I appreciate that it's not your particular area of expertise but perhaps you could help to clarify the situation? Thanks, David. Diliff (talk) 11:11, 28 March 2015 (UTC)

(talk page stalker) Diliff, I didn't see an entry for performers' rights at Commons:Copyright rules by subject matter or Commons:Non-copyright restrictions. It may be wise to make a post at COM:VPC to get a more professional opinion if you've further concerns. Jee 11:24, 28 March 2015 (UTC)
Thanks Jee, more opinions and ideas are always welcome. You're probably right that it's a good idea to post at COM:VPC but sometimes this simply opens a can of worms and we end up with too many opinions that aren't necessarily legally accurate. I'd rather start with someone I know and trust the legal opinion of first and then escalate it elsewhere if necessary. ;-) Also, Michael, I know this isn't necessarily your area of expertise either, but I recently noticed that our official guideline on consent requirements for the UK are overly vague on whether one can "take a picture", "publish a picture" and "commercially use a published picture" without consent - each one is listed as "it depends on circumstance". As I mentioned on the talk page there, this may be technically correct but is misleading IMO because it seems to imply that there's no inclination one way or the other, whereas the truth is that in the vast majority of cases, there are no good reasons why you would not be able to take or publish a picture if the person is in public without an expectation of privacy. As Fae mentioned on the talk page, consensus would be required to change the guideline but I'm loathe to bring it up on the Village Pump as I think it would inevitably devolve to opinions on what people believe should be the case, rather than a legal opinion on what actually is the case. What do you think is the best way to get a strong legal opinion that doesn't play it too safe and end up being unnecessarily vague? :-) Diliff (talk) 12:45, 28 March 2015 (UTC)
OK; I respect your decision. May be Clindberg can comment here or in that DR without attracting all the VPC crowd. :) Jee 13:09, 28 March 2015 (UTC)

I've seen the question here, thanks, and will respond shortly on the DR page. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 14:09, 28 March 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for your comments there Michael. Less urgently, but do you have any comments about the guidelines for consent requirements that I mentioned above? Do you think the best course of action to get the guidelines amended to be more prescriptive is to post a proposal or RfC on the village pump page? Diliff (talk) 16:30, 28 March 2015 (UTC)
I really don't understand how Commons:Country specific consent requirements became an official guideline, as it makes little sense. If I recall correctly, Commons:Photographs of identifiable people was in a reasonable state a few years ago, then people started adding country-specific entries to it, without a lot of legal analysis, and importantly without clarity as to whether the entries were supposed to represent community requirements for hosting on Commons (guideline) or the requirements for local re-use (help). The country-specific table then got spun off into a separate page while keeping the 'official guideline' heading. I think the whole page needs to be re-written from scratch, once its purpose has been clarified. I'd suggest having one person lead, with some specific recommendations, rather than a free-for all on the VP. That is something I would be happy to work on, but maybe not just at the moment; I'll add it to my list of things to do. By the way, you are quite right on the UK entry. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 17:15, 28 March 2015 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #151

Wikidata weekly summary #152

Ban appeal reference

I mentioned you as a reference for this year's ban appeal. I sent you a copy of my appeal to them via Email (please check your inbox). ArbCom might ask you about your thoughts on allowing me return and ask you to recommend restrictions and such. I recommended you since you're a part of Wikimedia UK and since you helped moderate some of the discussions that I was involved in. --Michaeldsuarez (talk) 20:28, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #153

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meet up

You've got mail -- Colin (talk) 20:27, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

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MichaelMaggs (talk) 

Wikidata weekly summary #160

Why isn't this fully protected, unlike other closed RfB requests? --Stefan4 (talk) 21:53, 2 June 2015 (UTC)

None of the recent closures were protected, but they are now. Thanks for noting. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 02:02, 3 June 2015 (UTC)

Bureaucrat

Thank you for your positive vote at Commons:Bureaucrats/Requests/Jameslwoodward. I will do my best to live up the trust you have put in me. .     Jim . . . . (Jameslwoodward) (talk to me) 20:37, 3 June 2015 (UTC)

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hello! I have sent you an email. could you tell me if you can help us? --アンタナナ 18:08, 16 June 2015 (UTC)

Yes I could probably help. Let me know what you need. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 06:00, 17 June 2015 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #163

Quoting copyright text on Commons

Michael, could you look at the issue raised at User talk:Revent/Archive 1#Ignorant threats and continued on my talk page User talk:Colin#Fair use content on Wikimedia Commons. There are two issues I see. Firstly that our licensing and fair use policy applies to our media files only. Other rules, mostly undocumented on Commons, apply to our talk page, forum and guideline text. Secondly that we are permitted to quote copyright text on such talk/forum pages, and my understanding is that this is "fair use". User:Revent seems to think that since fair use is not allowed on Commons, the posting of even small amounts of copyright text here is a blockable offence, and has threatened Jee. -- Colin (talk)

And note that all descriptions and tags in Flickr pages are copyrighted; only the media is free licensed. Jee 09:27, 22 June 2015 (UTC)
If true, that has consequences for our bots that scrape the text and insert it into our file pages. Such copy/paste could not, imo, be regarded as fair use. That's probably a separate issue from the dispute by Revent, but I would be interested also in what Michael understands about that too. If true, it would severely limit our ability to make use of Flickr images on an automated basis (each uploader would have to reword the description text much like a Wikipedia author has to reword their sources). And what about descriptions in EXIF data? -- Colin (talk) 09:41, 22 June 2015 (UTC)
In Flickr, we can post a photo, screenshot or artwork/illustration and the license is limited to it. Any one can add tags (like identification tags) without giving a license that means "copyrighted to that person". There is no provision to specify a license for description provided by the uploader. Most pages contain third party copyrighted texts (like in my Flickr pages) that the uploader can no way release the license. Jee 09:49, 22 June 2015 (UTC)
Interesting, and troubling. I agree that the description on Flickr could certainly contain text from a third party that can't be re-licensed. Many people quote Wikipedia on their descriptions, which is ironic. I wasn't aware people apart from the author could add a tag (ignoring the autotag thing for now). I'd like to get this Revent/fair-use thing out of the way first. Then it may be a good idea to open up a Village Pump / Copyright discussion on this issue. It has serious consequences for out bot users in particular, but also anyone uploading an image from Flickr. And it applies to other sites too, where the image is CC but the description text may be added by another person. -- Colin (talk) 09:59, 22 June 2015 (UTC)
The tagging can be enabled or disabled in user preferences. It can be limited to friends, contacts or even allow anyone to tag. I usually allow anyone as I need to get the IDs of unidentified organisms. Jee 10:04, 22 June 2015 (UTC)

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Quoting copyright text on Commons

Michael, could you look at the issue raised at User talk:Revent/Archive 1#Ignorant threats and continued on my talk page User talk:Colin#Fair use content on Wikimedia Commons. There are two issues I see. Firstly that our licensing and fair use policy applies to our media files only. Other rules, mostly undocumented on Commons, apply to our talk page, forum and guideline text. Secondly that we are permitted to quote copyright text on such talk/forum pages, and my understanding is that this is "fair use". User:Revent seems to think that since fair use is not allowed on Commons, the posting of even small amounts of copyright text here is a blockable offence, and has threatened Jee. -- Colin (talk)

And note that all descriptions and tags in Flickr pages are copyrighted; only the media is free licensed. Jee 09:27, 22 June 2015 (UTC)
If true, that has consequences for our bots that scrape the text and insert it into our file pages. Such copy/paste could not, imo, be regarded as fair use. That's probably a separate issue from the dispute by Revent, but I would be interested also in what Michael understands about that too. If true, it would severely limit our ability to make use of Flickr images on an automated basis (each uploader would have to reword the description text much like a Wikipedia author has to reword their sources). And what about descriptions in EXIF data? -- Colin (talk) 09:41, 22 June 2015 (UTC)
In Flickr, we can post a photo, screenshot or artwork/illustration and the license is limited to it. Any one can add tags (like identification tags) without giving a license that means "copyrighted to that person". There is no provision to specify a license for description provided by the uploader. Most pages contain third party copyrighted texts (like in my Flickr pages) that the uploader can no way release the license. Jee 09:49, 22 June 2015 (UTC)
Interesting, and troubling. I agree that the description on Flickr could certainly contain text from a third party that can't be re-licensed. Many people quote Wikipedia on their descriptions, which is ironic. I wasn't aware people apart from the author could add a tag (ignoring the autotag thing for now). I'd like to get this Revent/fair-use thing out of the way first. Then it may be a good idea to open up a Village Pump / Copyright discussion on this issue. It has serious consequences for out bot users in particular, but also anyone uploading an image from Flickr. And it applies to other sites too, where the image is CC but the description text may be added by another person. -- Colin (talk) 09:59, 22 June 2015 (UTC)
The tagging can be enabled or disabled in user preferences. It can be limited to friends, contacts or even allow anyone to tag. I usually allow anyone as I need to get the IDs of unidentified organisms. Jee 10:04, 22 June 2015 (UTC)

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Rename

Dear Michael,

Could you tell me what would be the best way to rename some files? Under tips is mentioned: {{rename|the_new_name|numeric_reason_for_renaming}} How does it work? Kind regards Erik onlysilenceOnlysilence (talk) 21:18, 20 July 2015 (UTC)

Dear Erik, renaming (sometimes called 'moving') is something that only certain users such as administrators can do. There is a special tag that you can apply to files which acts as a request for an administrator to do the renaming for you. But rather than doing that it would probably be easier for you simply to ask me here, and if there is no objection I'd be happy to do it. Could you let me know which files you'd like renamed and why? All the best, --MichaelMaggs (talk) 21:39, 20 July 2015 (UTC)

Hello Michael, I would like to add the name in the files, as many people don't know who is the author of the work. Ex "A gap of silence" : Erik Pevernagie.jpg; "A paper boat made my dream": Erik Pevernagie.jpg Thank you for help. Erik onlysilenceOnlysilence (talk) 22:47, 20 July 2015 (UTC)

Hi Erik, I don't think that would be possible, I'm afraid. Although renaming requests by the original uploader are normally allowed, simply adding a name to the title of large numbers of files would most likely be seen by many editors as too self-promotional. There's also the problem that title changes cannot easily be done in bulk (at least by the vast majority of editors), and the task would take a volunteer a lot of time. Your name as author is of course immediately visible to anyone who looks on the Commons page, and that's the standard way that authors are attributed on this site. So I'm sorry I can't help in this case. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 07:51, 24 July 2015 (UTC)

Thank you, Michael. Have a good day. Onlysilence (talk) 13:11, 24 July 2015 (UTC)

Hello Michael, There is something strange with File:Sorry unsufficient funds goodbye.jpg About block and unblock. Could you have a look? Thank youOnlysilence (talk) 15:19, 25 July 2015 (UTC)

@Onlysilence: Hi Erik, sorry that I've only just noticed your question. I've had a look at the file File:Sorry unsufficient funds goodbye.jpg and at your talk page, but I can't see the problem you've noted. Could you explain in a little more detail please? Where exactly do I need to look? MichaelMaggs (talk) 07:21, 17 August 2015 (UTC)

Use of a public domain-licensed photo of yours in a video published on YouTube

Hello, I want to let you know I used your image of particle tracks of a proton-antiproton interaction at 540 GeV in a video I just published on YouTube. The video is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYR-Ar_AHJ0; it is an interview with my friend Bob Stryk, who holds a Ph.D. in nuclear science from the University of Minnesota. He talks about using the Van de Graaff accelerator at the U while getting his doctorate. Your photo is the title plate for the "Computers and Particle Physics" chapter of the video.

I have a cutline on the title plate itself that says "Photo by Michael Maggs" and further information about it in the credits at the end. I'll also be adding your caption for it, along with credits and a link to the Public Domain license, to my list of images and resources on my personal Website at http://jennymcdermott.com/new/videos.html. I can't cut a link directly from my video plate to your Wikipedia page because YouTube does not allow publishers to link to domains they don't own.

Thank you for allowing your photo to be used; it helps enhance the quality of my work to have it included. I hope you get a chance to watch the video, I think you might enjoy it.

Jennifer McDermott

Thanks for letting me know. It's good to hear the picture was useful. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 12:38, 11 October 2015 (UTC)

Photos Erik Pevernagie

Dear Michael, I edited Files in Category:Erik Pevernagie - Photos , which have been deleted by Ellin Beltz on September 26

May I ask you to mediate in this matter for undeleting these files, as they are my own and my father's, and I have the sole copyright, as member with SABAM, Belgian Copyright Society. I licensed all under CC BY-SA 3.0. My father, Louis Pevernagie, made 12 photos of me since I was 3 years old until 1969. Other picture were made by myself with help of tripods. Mr Ellin Beltz has deleted them on ground of simple disbelief. Could you please, help me out of this Witch hunt.Erik

History: For each illustration/photo authorship, ownership, date, camera make, have been added in the description. Erik Pevernagie is the sole representative who is in charge of the copyright of the works of Louis Pevernagie according SABAM, official copyright association. Onlysilence (talk) 21:20, 5 September 2015 (UTC) Somehow I cannot really believe in "his automatic exposure Sony camera", as stated in the description of many of that files. --A.Savin 23:17, 5 September 2015 (UTC) The author assures he has good experience in automatic exposures with manageable tripods and often uses MeFOTO RoadTrip Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod Kit or MeFOTO GlobeTrotter Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod Kit. Onlysilence (talk) 14:32, 8 September 2015 (UTC)

Deleted: Some of the photos dated back to age 3. The claims of this whole pile of family snaps being "selfies" is unbelievable and under COM:PRP they were deleted. Ellin Beltz (talk) 16:09, 26 September 2015 (UTC)

Thank you for your help. Erik Onlysilence (talk) 21:22, 29 September 2015 (UTC)

@Onlysilence: Hello Erik. Yes, I'm happy to look at this and try to help out. I'm away for a few days but should be able to work on it over the weekend or early next week. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 13:47, 30 September 2015 (UTC)
@Onlysilence: Hello again Erik. I've now had a look at the images that were deleted by Ellin Beltz on 26 September, and I think you must be referring to these: Commons:Deletion requests/Files in Category:Erik Pevernagie - Photos. On the basis of the information she had available to her I think that Ellin was probably right to delete them, as the copyright ownership is not always evident. But I'm confident that we should be able to sort that out for at least some of the pictures, especially those taken personally by your father. We'll need to correspond by email as we did before so that the permissions can be properly recorded on our confidential OTRS system. Once that's done I should be able to recover at least some of the images for you. You won't need to upload them again.
Before we start, I just wanted to check that it's OK for me to refer to the images by the names you used when you uploaded them. If I referred to, say, "File:Erik Pevernagie with colleagues.jpg", would you know which one I am talking about even though you can't see the actual image online any more? Or will you need to see the actual images in order to know which is which? MichaelMaggs (talk) 12:59, 11 October 2015 (UTC)

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Homeless man in Tokyo

Hi Michael,

I am the graphic designer at Spokane Regional Health District in Spokane, WA.

I wanted to let you know that I am going to be using your photo in our "Missing the Foundation" Homelessness report.

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful image. I will put your name as a credit.

Amy — Preceding unsigned comment added by Aschruth (talk • contribs) 18:09, 19 October 2015 (UTC)

Hi Amy, thanks for letting me know. Glad you found it useful. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 22:18, 19 October 2015 (UTC)

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Photography in UK

I'd be interested in your opinion at Commons:Deletion requests/File:Mothers and children eating ice cream at Kew Gardens.jpg. Thanks. -- Colin (talk) 22:18, 3 November 2015 (UTC)

✓ Done --MichaelMaggs (talk) 22:32, 8 November 2015 (UTC)

Erik Pevernagie

Hello Michael, As you suggested to settle the problem with the photos by email, I sent you an email on Wiki-media on Oct. 28. I wonder whether you had the opportunity to read it. Thank you.Erik Onlysilence (talk) 23:55, 5 November 2015 (UTC)

Hello Erik. No, I haven't seen an email. Did you send it to me personally or to the OTRS email address? You may need to re-send I'm afraid. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 03:48, 6 November 2015 (UTC)

I tried to forward following by email:

Dear Michael, Thank you for your kind reply.

All pictures are present on the website: http://www.pevernagie.com/

mentioning : Unless otherwise stated, all images on this website are Copyright Erik Pevernagie and are released under CC BY-SA 3.0

The first 8 have been taken by my father Louis Pevernagie.

I am a member of the Belgian Copyright Association SABAM, all pictures are personal property, published on my website and can be shared. Many thanks, Michael

(Would it possible to use email address <xxxxx> which is more convenient for me)

Erik Pevernagie four (Erik Pevernagie four.jpg)

Erik Pevernagie 3 (Erik Pevernagie Little 3 2.JPG)

Erik Pevernagie 4 (Erik Pevernagie Little 4-1.JPG)

x -Erik Pevernagie Ostend,with mother and sister (Erik Pevernagie Oostende VeraMa Erik 1960.jpg)

x -Erik Pevernagie Isle of Wight 1958 (Erik Pevernagie Isle of Wight 1958.jpg)

x -Erik Pevernagie with colleagues 1961 (Erik Pevernagie with colleagues 1961.jpg)

Erik Pevernagie Brussels 1958 (Erik Pevernagie 1958 Brussels.jpg)

Erik Pevernagie Borgward (Erik Pevernagie with Borgward 1961.jpg)


Erik Pevernagie B (Erik Pevernagie Paris.jpg)

Erik Pevernagie A (Erik Pevernagie.jpg)

Erik Pevernagie Antwerp Museum 2009 (Erik Pevernagie at Antwerp Museum 2009.jpg)

Erik Pevernagie Key West 2008 (Erik Pevernagie Key West Celebration.jpg)

Erik Pevernagie Holiday Inn Expo Paris (Erik Holiday Inn Expo Paris .JPG)

Erik Pevernagie Exhibition Berlin (Erik Pevernagie Exhibition Berlin c.jpg)

Erik Pevernagie and Martine Burniaux (Martine Burniaux.JPG)

Erik Pevernagie Home and workshop in Brussels (Home in Brussels.JPG)

Erik Pevernagie at Punta Cana 2006 (Punta Cana 2006.JPG)

Erik Pevernagie and Emil Kirchner San Francisco (San Francisco - Emil Kirchner1981.JPG)

Erik Pevernagie and Oliviero Toscani (Oliviero Toscani.jpg)

Erik Pevernagie with Gilbert and George (Gilbert and George.jpg)

Onlysilence (talk) 21:19, 6 November 2015 (UTC)

Thanks Erik. I'll email you in the next couple of days. In the meantime, I've removed your email from the page to prevent you from getting lots of junk mail in your inbox. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 22:34, 8 November 2015 (UTC)

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