Submissions/The benefits of sharing. Why should websites share their photographs and films with Wikimedia

From Wikimania 2012 • Washington, D.C., USA

This is a rejected submission for Wikimania 2012.

Submission no. 244
Title of the submission
The benefits of sharing. Why should websites share their photographs and films with Wikimedia
Type of submission (workshop, tutorial, panel, presentation)
presentation
Author of the submission
Łukasz Golowanow
E-mail address
fillg @ ug.edu.pl
Username
pl:User:Airwolf
Country of origin
Poland
Affiliation, if any (organization, company etc.)
Konflikty.pl & University of Gdańsk
Personal homepage or blog
http://www.konflikty.pl/redaktor-14.html
Abstract (at least 300 words to describe your proposal)
Example photo (featured 5 times)
Example photo (featured 5 times)
Example photo (featured 3 times)
Example video

As the internet develops, more and more semi-professional websites are established. Their range and popularity vary from hundreds of visitors per week to thousands per day. Most of them are either free of ads or feature them only to an extent necessary to ensure the survival of the wbesite (servers etc.). Even when they pay their contributors, the money is more a token of gratitude rather than a noteworthy fee for the work done. Thus, the mission and modus operandi of such websites is very close to the mission of Wikimedia and co-operation on all possible grounds should be encouraged.

Based on my personal experience, these websites can be divided roughly into two categories usually fansites (of sports clubs, athletes, artists etc.) and topic-oriented para-scientific websites (history, science etc.). Still based on my personal experience, I know that many such websites have their representatives present at events related to the websites' profile (football matches, airshows, museum events, re-enactments, concerts and so on). Those people pay for their on-spot presence (travel, admission etc.) on their own, just for the sake of the mission they believe they are doing. Personally, I have been able to convince two websites with which I am affiliated to freely license photos and videos created during events covered by them. The pictures of aircraft taken by me and my friends at air shows for the history/military oriented Konflikty.pl website (see right) have proven particularly successful, achieving multiple featured status on Commons (31 photos in total) and throughout Wikipedias, where they appear in numerous articles. Note: even though the pictures were taken by me, I was always granted a press pass on behalf of the website and in exchange for that the website was given control of the results of my work there, so the decision of free licensing was not mine to be taken.

I wish to present methods (based on, but not limited to, a case study of the Konflikty.pl website, of which I am now ecitor-in-chief) of reaching out to such websites and convincing them to share their resources. This would refer mainly to images and videos, but the texts covering the events can also be freely licensed, even if the website owners do not wish to freely license the website's resources as w whole (which is understandable). For obvious reasons, Wikimedia cannot pay the websites for releasing the photos/texts under a free license, but contrary to mainstream media, those websites would generally not be interested in any payment whatosever. Negotiations ought to focus on the common goal and the common mission, on issues such as prestige and (to a lesser extent) potential gains in terms of the reputation and popularity of the website.

Track
GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums)
Length of presentation/talk
15-20 minutes for presentation, 5-10 minutes for Q&A.
Will you attend Wikimania if your submission is not accepted?
I can only attend, if I receive the scholarship.
Slides or further information (optional)
OpenOffice/MS Office format slides will be used.
Special request as to time of presentations
none


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  1. CT Cooper · talk 19:46, 22 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
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