Wikipedia:Non-free content/Fair use images in lists

This is a request for comment (RFC) on the use of fair use images in lists. This RFC aims to gather community opinion on the use in lists of images claimed to be fair use, and to generate a consensus about whether current usage is acceptable, and if not, how affected lists ought to change in order for the use of images to be acceptable.

There is currently an ongoing dispute at list of Lost episodes about the use of fair use images (specifically screenshots from the television program, and images of DVD covers) to illustrate the list. The issue has broader significance for similar lists of television episodes, and lists generally, which use fair use images. As such, it is appropriate that the issue be discussed here.

Note that much of the discussion so far relates to lists of episodes in television shows, and much of that relates to the Lost list, although feel free to discuss issues which relate to fair use images in lists more generally.

Newcomers to this discussion may wish to look at Talk:List of Lost episodes/Use of images for reference of previous discussion, but should direct new discussion here.

Examples of current usage
Below are some examples of lists which use fair use images in the fashion that is presently disputed (static versions are linked to):


 * List of Lost episodes
 * List of Family Guy episodes
 * List of Oh My Goddess episodes
 * List of Prison Break episodes
 * List of South Park episodes
 * List of Stargate SG-1 episodes
 * List of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes
 * List of The Office (US) episodes

As illustrated by the above examples, the use of such images which is presently disputed is their use in long lists which provide at most one or two sentences of general description about each item in the list.

Arguments for and against
This is a very brief summary of the major arguments for and against the use of fair use images in lists. Note that this is only intended to be an extremely brief summary, and all substantive development of arguments should be directed to this page's discussion page.

For:
 * Screenshots help identify episodes visually and identify key moments. Identifiying episodes and distinguishing between them are key reasons for having List of episodes type articles.
 * Screenshots of television shows which are released for promotional purposes are more likely to be fair use, especially low-resolution screenshots.
 * Many lists, including featured lists, currently use fair use images.
 * Most if not all images comply with the current fair use criteria, are tagged with relevant templates (such as Non free video cover or Non-free television screenshot) and provide a rationale on their description page.

Against:
 * Images in lists can be seen as decoration, and not for a valid fair use purpose (such as critical commentary).
 * How an image contributes to an article is not always clear.
 * Lists, as opposed to articles on individual items in a list (such as on individual episodes), have far less text and thus provide far less opportunity to properly establish fair use of the image.
 * Current boilerplate templates such as Non free video cover and Non-free television screenshot encourage the inappropriate use of images.
 * Illustrated lists are not strictly necessary to meet our goal of being a high quality encyclopedia, thus it is not acceptable to compromise our goal of being Free content in the process of producing such lists.

Discussion
All discussion should be directed to this page's discussion page. Discussion should not be added below.