Last modified: 2014-09-09 19:15:13 UTC
A lot of the bad uploads Commons gets are from users not understanding what "own work" means. Special:UploadWizard seems a prime target to try harder to educate users, yet once we get to the "own work" rights page the user is simply asked to confirm "This file is my own work." I suggest incorporating more of the issues mentioned in the UploadWizard tutorial and at Special:Upload/ownwork. If the uploader claims "own work", we should have them clarify what they understand by that, and ask them to confirm (using checkboxes, so they actually have to answer the questions!) things like 1. this is a photo, and I took the photo myself 2. or it's an original digital work I created myself, without using or relying on any files created by other people 3. the photo doesn't include creative objects or images created by other people (eg paintings, statues, etc) 3a. except where photo taken in a public place, in any of these countries where Freedom of Panorama applies (...list...) This list isn't exhaustive, it's just a first idea of what sort of thing to ask, and nor can the final list be exhaustive of all issues. But we can try and ask the most common questions where the wrong answer makes it clear that it's not "own work" and that either the file shouldn't be uploaded, or it should be uploaded and tagged for immediately needing additional information and/or help from more experienced users. Since these questions are likely to need tweaking and testing, it would be really helpful if it was possible for admins to edit them.
I second this proposal. Dealing with outrageous copyvios is a snap, but dealing with "improper understanding of copyright ownership" cases is really time-expensive. I think the proposed scheme, at least for first-time uploads, would greatly help.
I appreciate this is not an easy request to fulfil, so allow me to add an easy way to slightly improve matters: point people to https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Own_work on the relevant UploadWizard page, with an appropriate "are you sure it's 'own work'? people often misunderstand the concept, please read this page". Could even be a checkbox for "yes I've read Commons:Own work". NB I appreciate Commons:own work is currently a crappy draft, but that's fairly easily and quickly fixed: just give a few days' warning at COM:VP that the UploadWizard will soon reference it and I'm sure it'll be up to scratch. And frankly even that crappy draft is better than allowing people to just rely on their own (often mistaken) assumptions without any hint that those assumptions may be wrong.
This topic, along with a few potential solutions, is also discussed at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons_talk:Upload_Wizard#.22own_work.22
With the amount of copyvio getting uploaded to Commons on a daily basis, I'm "upping" to priority on this one. All steps to get the number of copvio-files on Commons is good steps to take.
