User talk:Christierowe

Welcome to Wikimedia Commons, Christierowe!

First steps tutorial Our first steps tour and our frequently asked questions will help you a lot after registration. They explain how to customize the interface (for example the language), how to upload files and our basic licensing policy (Wikimedia Commons only accepts free content). You don't need technical skills in order to contribute here. Be bold when contributing and assume good faith when interacting with others. This is a wiki. Getting help More information is available at the community portal. You may ask questions at the help desk, village pump or on IRC channel #wikimedia-commons (webchat). You can also contact an administrator on their talk page. If you have a specific copyright question, ask at the copyright village pump.

Goodies, tips, and tricks Put Babel boxes on your user page so others know what languages you can speak and indicate your graphic abilities. You can find the files you have uploaded in your Uploads. Please sign your name on Talk pages by typing ~~~~. To link to an image page without embedding the image, type: [[:File:Foo.jpg]], which produces: File:Foo.jpg. You may enable gadgets (custom features) for your account. There are several tools to upload files. Have you edited Wikipedia before? This guide might be useful. Made a mistake? Do you want to have a file renamed or moved? Use the move link and wait for an authorized user to rename it. Do you want to have your recently uploaded picture removed? Tag it as {{speedy|reason here}}. For more information read the deletion guidelines.

-- Wikimedia Commons Welcome (talk) 19:25, 12 September 2019 (UTC)

California rock outcrop photos - Copyright Status

On 16 October 2019, you uploaded the following 5 photos of Californian rock outcrops to Wikimedia Commons:

• Shale matrix mélange with clasts of sandstone and greenstone on Marshall's Beach, San Francisco, USA.jpg
• Sheared Serpentinite.jpg
• Pillow Basalts.jpg
• Shale matrix melange.jpg
• Chevron fold ribbon cherts.jpg

In their descriptions, you included the text "Photo was taken by Nam Thai, photographer under contract for the American Geophysical Union. As an editor of a field trip guide published by the American Geophysical Union, I have received express written permission from the American Geophysical Union to publish this photo to Wikimedia Commons for use in Wikipedia articles."

I'm not a copyright expert or a Wikimedia Commons administrator, I'm a geologist who wants to promote wider publication and use of geological images. There are some potential issues or problems with the copyright status of the 5 photos that you have uploaded.

(1) Proof of permission. When an an uploader uploads photos for which she/he does not own copyright, it is not sufficient for the uploader to claim "I have received express written permission...". Wikimedia Commons requires written proof from the copyright owner(s) that they grant permission for use in Wikimedia Commons and/or Wikipedia, and under what license and restrictions. Wikimedia Commons has a permission system called OTRS which is designed to process these scenarios. I suggest that you read Commons:OTRS.

(2) Scope of use. Is "for use in Wikipedia articles" intended to mean in Wikipedia articles only? If use is supposed to be restricted to Wikipedia only, then upload to Wikipedia e.g English Wikipedia, and removal from Wikimedia Commons may be a better option (although I suggest that you should seek specialist advice about this at Commons:Help desk) because images on Wikimedia Commons must be usable for any purpose compatible with the copyright licence (which you have given as CC-BY-SA) - this includes use outside Wikipedia e.g. in books or websites, i.e. anyone is allowed to make unlimited amounts of money from the image. I suggest you read Commons:Licensing.

I hope that my comments help you to resolve the copyright issues, because the images are very good quality both geologically and photographically. If these copyright issues are not resolved, these images are at risk of deletion from Wikimedia Commons and Wikipedia. — GeoWriter (talk) 11:05, 21 October 2019 (UTC)

Thank you GeoWriter ! I have sent the appropriate emails, now will wait for reply. I really appreciate your help Christierowe (talk) 17:19, 21 October 2019 (UTC)

Thanks for your very quick response. I'm glad that my advice has helped you - you're welcome. I hope the OTRS requests are successful. If you or your contacts have any other geological photos that could be uploaded for use on Wikimedia Commons and/or Wikipedia, I hope you will upload them. By the way, which AGU field trip guide includes the 5 Californian photos? —GeoWriter (talk) 13:50, 22 October 2019 (UTC)

We are working on an online update to Streetcar to Subduction by Clyde Wahrhaftig, hopefully will be released at the fall meeting of AGU next month. Thanks again! Christierowe (talk) 07:02, 4 November 2019 (UTC)

Good luck with the guide. I have seen that OTRS permission for these photos has been received and the permissions updated on the relevant Wikimedia Commons description pages, so I'm glad they have been allowed to stay on Wikimedia Commons. Thanks again for uploading them. GeoWriter (talk) 15:04, 4 November 2019 (UTC)