User talk:Hysarber

Adrienne Rich
Hello. I'm a novice on the site, and wanted to consult you about edits. Your work on the article itself (and at Talk:Adrienne_Rich) recommends you, as well as your work on articles on related topics. Otherwise I would not know who to approach. What will govern choice of the photo for a deceased author? Is it presumptuous for a novice editor to submit a different image? I'm one of Rich's sons. Hysarber (talk) 21:02, 30 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Hi Hysarber, a very warm welcome to Wikipedia and thank you for your kind message. It's not at all presumptuous of a novice editor to submit a photo. It's delightful that you have joined the community and I very much hope you will enjoy editing here. The rules around copyright can seem arcane and confusing, especially around images, as there are pretty tight licensing regulation that WP tries to adhere to (for legal reasons, among others). The Wikimedia Foundation are just trying to be careful. The way I would suggest uploading a photo is to go The Commons, click 'upload file' on the left hand bar and follow the instructions. By far the easiest road, in my experience, is to upload a photo that you created yourself, and have perhaps scanned in. You can then declare this as your own work for which you own the copyright. If you use a picture that has been used by an agency, website, magazine etc you might run into problems with the rights to use it. When an image is uploaded onto the Commons, it is given, from that time forward, for the free use of anyone and everyone.


 * Preferred images for articles are those that are clear, of high resolution, where the face is highly visible, where the subject is the main, if not sole focus. Portraits are great. More detail at MOS:IMAGES. Because of the copyright restrictions, images are in generally short supply. At the moment we only have one picture of Adrienne Rich, and so that is the one we have used. It would be fantastic to have more. I'd recommend giving the Commons a shot (or a few shots). Don't be surprised if they question the upload or remove it as the process is a bit Byzantine. If you do have problems, I'm happy to give it a go. A link to my email is on the left of my talk page. If you fancy it, send a high resolution photo. You might find these article helful as you begin to edit:


 * The five pillars of Wikipedia
 * Help pages
 * Tutorial
 * How to edit a page and How to develop articles
 * How to create your first article (using the Article Wizard if you wish)
 * Manual of Style
 * If you need any help, or have comments or questions please do drop me a line on my talk page. You can also check out Questions, or ask your question on your talk page and then place  next to the question and an editor will arrive to help out. WP can take a while to learn to navigate but there is a great community here doing exciting work. Again welcome. Have a great week. Best wishes Span (talk) 22:38, 30 September 2012 (UTC)

Difficulty in image upload
I recognize the enormous care and detail required for working on, altering, or illustrating an article. Is there no slightly simplified guide or "here is how it was done in this case" sample, that new users could use almost as a template for correctly uploading new content?

I am trying to study the permissions, categories, etc., on existing content that is similar to mine, hoping to use that as a template. The Commons is rich in advice.

But a question arises: when the creator of the image doesn't host it online (no URL) and the creator has freely granted granted permission, do I then simply claim copyright to establish myself as copyright holder? What action establishes my copyright in this instance? (is creating a Creative Commons tag sufficient?)

It seems as though copyright occurs only at the point when the image is first uploaded (correctly) with an appropriate license, and permission, on Wikipedia.

It's a tiny bit frustrating.

Hysarber (talk) 15:10, 2 December 2012 (UTC)

e-mail copyright
Hi Span,

I have sorted out the owner/author difference in uploading to the Commons (I think). My question now is whether it is sufficient for me to forward from my own address the following e-mail from the author (creator of the image) which specifically gives me permission to post for Wikipedia

''Pablo, I'll be very happy to have my photo of your mother on Wikipedia. Copyright to it is not important to me; getting it out widely is, and I'll be glad just to have a photo credit, especially with the date mentioned! Thank you so very much for taking on this task and also for being in touch''

Or is it more desirable for the author to send an original statement to Wikimedia's copyright service at "permissions-en@wikimedia.org"? If so, is there a format or language for the creator's statement that is more desirable and covers the necessary terms?

Thanks as always for your work on the site! Hysarber (talk) 00:18, 3 December 2012 (UTC)

P.S. I am proceeding as follows in the File Upload Wizard: "Step 3: Provide source and copyright information." > "This is a free work." > "This file was given to me by its owner."


 * It's a beautiful picture of Rich. Let me know if I can be of any further help. Have a very happy new year. All the best. Span (talk) 22:39, 23 December 2012 (UTC)