Photos
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Photo Policy
Photos are an integral part of describing a geographic location and this is apparent in sites like Flickr and Panoramio and applications such as Google Earth and Picasa. Wikimapia enables you to enjoy photos of places by allowing you to upload them to the objects which they depict so that they help describe places in Wikimapia.
As per the neutral point of view philosophy of Wikimapia (NPOV), photos which are compatible with our principles are essential to describe them. Therefore, Wikimapia favors photos which are geographic in nature, that is, photos which explicitly depict a real place externally and internally. These photos are called primary images because there is no better way to describe a place than an actual photo of it.
| Primary photo types | Conditions of use | |
|---|---|---|
| External photos | Exterior photos of objects which are complete, clear and unobstructed, are the best way to describe them. | For legal reasons, you cannot use copyrighted images or photos taken by someone else, unless you have explicit permission to do so. |
| Internal photos | Interior photos of objects are also welcome. Wide angle or wide perspective shots are better, but close-up shots are acceptable.
Example:
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Secondary Images
Wikimapia understands the interpretation of photos and how they depict places (eg. subject matter, themes, compositions etc.) can be very broad indeed. While priority is given to primary photos, Wikimapia accepts photos which do not explicitly depict a marked object, as long as they share a direct connection. These photos are called secondary photos and can be uploaded to objects which lack photos or have free slots available.
To help you understand the requirements of adding secondary images, ask yourself these questions:
- Does the image describe the marked object?
- Is the image helpful, inconsequential or detrimental to the description of the marked object?
- Would the image be better suited to a dedicated place object where it would be considered a primary photo? For example, instead of adding an image of a fountain to a 'park' place object, it would be better to add the image to its specially-created 'fountain' place object in the park.
It is important to remember that secondary photos are better than no photos, so they should not be removed unless they are replaced with primary photos[1]. You should not remove a photo if you are uncertain about its validity. Always seek advice in the forum.
| Secondary photo types | Conditions of use | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Logos & symbols | Company trademarks; emblems, official coat of arms & flags belonging to administrative localities, municipalities, provinces, counties & states (not countries); regimental distinctions/insignia of armed forces, specific emblems of rescue services etc. | These must be unique to the object and not representative of objects commonly found elsewhere. | Priority is given to primary (actual) photos of an object.
For legal reasons, you cannot use copyrighted images or photos taken by someone else, unless you have explicit permission to do so. | |
| Products & items | Unique products originating or sold from businesses e.g. restaurant dishes, clothes displayed by mannequins/models, product packaging etc. | |||
| Maps | It is acceptable to add cartographic (mapping) imagery in the form of satellite, aerial, topographical, historical, cadastral surveys & charts[2] etc. to illustrate an object and supplement its description. | |||
| Celebrities, famous or notable persons (excludes images of ordinary people) | These are acceptable to illustrate the notability of the tag, even if the photo was taken elsewhere. This exception applies to images of celebrities, famous or notable persons only. | Tag with no photos present | Photo of a famous person who had lived at this particular place or was involved in some notable event there is allowed | |
| Tag containing place photos, free slots available | ||||
| Tag containing place photos, no free slots | Replacement should be considered on the basis of the quality of the photo and the depiction of the place in it should be of a higher priority[1] | |||
| Tag containing place photos and associated famous person photos, no free slots | ||||
| Only photos of associated famous person | Nothing is to be removed if there's no better replacement | |||
| Ordinary people (excludes images of celebrities, famous or notable persons) | Workers photographed at the object performing their roles to describe the function of the object e.g. craftsmen/women showing a unique/rare skill, teachers & students in a classroom or assembly, tourists outside a popular point of interest etc.
Personal photos of an owner/resident and family members taken outside or inside their house. |
Despite foreground obstacles, the object must be clearly visible in the background. | ||
| Foreground obstructions | Objects which are an unavoidable part of the place. | |||
Photo Restrictions Policy
If a photo does not accurately represent a place, then its portrayal is false and violates the tenets of Wikimapia. Photos that are not neutral, inaccurately depicted and do not provide an authentic source of information if challenged, may be deleted.
| Unacceptable photos | Description of images which are not allowed/to be deleted | Action taken/consequences |
|---|---|---|
| Obscene photos | Graphic/shocking photos of death, blood, gore etc. | Infringers uploading these images shall be banned permanently with immediate effect. |
| Sexually explicit photos | Pornographic, suggestive, tasteless & vulgar photos.
Exception: | |
| Violation of rights | Photos which clearly breach the rights of others. | |
| Politically-charged, racist or religious prejudiced photos | Slanderous, discriminative, xenophobic and other provocative photos with intent to offend and incite hatred. | |
| Copyright infringement | Licensed photos used without permission or attribution. See Responsibilities & Obligations of the Photo Uploader below for further details. | Infringers persistently uploading these images may be temporarily restricted or banned permanently depending on the case. |
| Advertising | Wikimapia is a place for describing places neutrally, not for advertising them. While factual, unedited photos are allowed, photos with superimposed advertising are not acceptable. | |
| Spamming and Duplication |
Exceptions
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| Misaligned photos | Images which are rotated, tilted, flipped/mirrored or upside-down. | |
| Low quality photos | Images which are too small (e.g. thumbnail size) or inferior in quality because of lossy compression/artifacting (e.g. fuzzy, blurry, blocky errors etc.). | |
| Unrelated photos |
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Responsibilities & Obligations of the Photo Uploader
You, the photo uploader, agree to the following:
- By uploading a photo to Wikimapia, you acknowledge and agree it is freely available for commercial and non-commercial use under Creative Commons license Attribution-ShareAlike (CC-BY-SA).[5]
- You acknowledge the copyright policies and photo redistribution conditions of the photo source and Wikimapia.
- You assume full responsibility for uploading copyrighted photos under Creative Commons license, including responsibility to the laws of your country.
- You should not use images without permission, even if you attribute them, if the licence requires you to contact the author and obtain permission first.
- If you have permission to use a photo or its license permits you to use it in Wikimapia, you should adhere to its conditions for redistribution.
- Credit, attribution or any other required copyright information should be entered in the comments section of the photo. Details such as photo uploader's username, date of upload and comments (e.g. attribution information) are accessible by clicking on a photo in a place object window.
You can provide your own personal photos with or without watermarks. However, you should be aware that by uploading photos you agree to the conditions of Wikimapia's Terms of Reference.
Please see Copyrighted Photo Moderation for more information on photo copyright issues.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 WMT member w8r (page 3, last post)
- ↑ Charts such as thematic, chloropleth, contour etc. mapping data
- ↑ Does not apply to manipulated images with graphical/text overlays in "Unrelated photos."
- ↑ Excludes Exception 2 in "Spamming & Duplication."
- ↑ 1F. Wikimapia Terms Reference
