Wikipedia:WikiProject Articles for creation/Help desk/Archives/2017 September 16

= September 16 =

12:26:23, 16 September 2017 review of submission by Revalicejane
I am new to Wikipedia, and submitted this article (and will submit others, too) based largely on newspaper clippings from 1895-1950. What are the rules for posting images of photos that would have come from those papers? I have read the rules in Wikipedia, but I have some difficulty with the lingo used. I suspect that I can use them, crediting at least the paper, if I can't find the actual photographer, but I would feel most comfortable with an affirmation of my assumption. Thanks! Revalicejane (talk) 12:26, 16 September 2017 (UTC)

Revalicejane (talk) 12:26, 16 September 2017 (UTC)


 * Strictly on the issue of copyright, in the United States you can safely assume that anything published before 1923 has entered the public domain and can be used on Wikipedia without problem. Crediting the paper in which the photo was published is still a good idea and the actual photographer, if the paper credited them when it was published, too. These sorts of credits are not legally required for public domain items, but WP would prefer to give credit where credit can be given.


 * Items published after 1923 cannot be assumed to have entered the public domain. Some items have, some have not, and it's complicated to figure it out. Some of these items can be used on a fair-use basis, for example, to illustrate a person who is now dead. Fair-use images are not permitted in draft or userspace, though, so you should simply wait until your submission is accepted before you start trying to add images to it. That acceptance will hinge on whether Haynes is considered notable, which can be a difficult discussion. Images generally play no role in notability.  &mdash; jmcgnh  (talk) (contribs)  19:39, 16 September 2017 (UTC)


 * , I just need to clarify something about fair use images that did not mention. If a free image of the subject, such as a pre-1923 newspaper photo, does exist then a later non-free one cannot be used. Fair-use is only valid if no free alternative is available. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 15:17, 17 September 2017 (UTC)

17:27:36, 16 September 2017 review of submission by Tomelchenko
Tomelchenko (talk) 17:27, 16 September 2017 (UTC)

Good afternoon. I wrote an article about music video director Sergei Tkachenko. "This submission is not adequately supported by reliable sources. Reliable sources are required so that information can be verified. If you need help with referencing, please see Referencing for beginners and Citing sources."

What sources can be? There is no literature about this director.


 * When writing about any topic on Wikipedia, one of the requirements is that there be published sources that can be referenced in the article. Your draft is missing two very important things: references, as the reviewer mentioned, and an indication of the subject's importance or notability. A person can be very successful and prominent in their field, but if this is not noticed by someone independent of them writing in some depth about them, no Wikipedia article is possible because they fail what's called notability. Considered as a filmmaker, the criteria for notability that would apply are found at WP:FILMMAKER. If you don't think there is anything written about Tkachenko that would satisfy these criteria, it may simply be too soon to write a WP article about them.  &mdash; jmcgnh  (talk) (contribs)  19:29, 16 September 2017 (UTC)