Commons talk:Wiki Loves Monuments 2023 in the United States

WLM 2023 in the United States

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Wiki Loves Monuments - United States Competition A campaign to improve our coverage of U.S. historic and cultural sites throughout the month of October.

WLM USA 2023 Talk Page

Be kind and courteous. Remember to remain calm, respectful, and patient with each other. All of the Wikipedia talk page guidelines apply here.

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Contributing properties

Good morning. Question: are contributing properties to historic districts eligible for WLM US? I'm specifically thinking of the Milwaukee Art Museum, is it a contributing property to the Lake Park Historic District? It's not clear from this source: NR1962 Thanks! Prburley (talk)

@Prburley: Great question. Yes, contributing properties to an NRHP district are eligible! However, I checked the Lake Park NRHP registration form, and it looks like the Milwaukee Art Museum is not a contributing property. The form also mentions that the southern bound of the district is East North Avenue, and the Museum is located south of that. I wish it was listed as a historic site, it's a beautiful building. ~Kevin Payravi (talk) 15:54, 2 October 2023 (UTC)

@Kevin Payravi: Thanks for your speedy reply. It's a beautiful, and brings in needed tourism for Milwaukee. I'll check with the historical society, the guidelines for WLM US are very generous. Thanks again, Paul. Prburley (talk)

People are not monuments

I remember the occasional photo in years past that was just of a person, saying they were a monument to something. That's a complete gyp. Actual monuments only, without people as I recall the rules saying before. If I have to follow that everyone does 2601:346:D83:5690:C942:F98C:4778:5E50 18:06, 2 October 2023 (UTC)

Number of photos

Hello. Is there a limit to the number of entries one can present? Is it one entry per person? Great site and great contest!! Thanks. Yapkot (talk) 03:55, 3 October 2023 (UTC)

@Yapkot: Thanks for the kind words! No limit, you can upload as many photos as you want for the contest. ~Kevin Payravi (talk) 07:57, 3 October 2023 (UTC)

Thanks! Yapkot (talk) 16:47, 3 October 2023 (UTC)

Photographer's rights

I do not see much information on the contest page about what rights the photographer retains when photos are uploaded. I understand we grant a Creative Commons license for anyone who wants to use the image we upload. But that just scratches the surface of a rights discussion. First of all there are many CC licenses, which one are we granting? Second, unless you do a deep dive into the CC legal code (and to some extent even if you do) many photo licensing questions are not answered. For instance (a) Does the photographer retain ownership of the image? E.g., can I sell prints of the same image? Can I post it on my own web site and charge for it there? (b) Can I withdraw the CC license? How/when? (c) If I license the image at a certain resolution can I offer the same image for sale at a different resolution? (d) If I have an in-camera copy (different time stamp, essentially the same image) is there any restriction on my licensing one and using the other as I wish? (e) Are there any protections against people using the image for illegal or unethical purposes? How are these enforced?

I don't think this covers all the potential rights issues. Perhaps the questions are all answered in some other document, but I would like to see them at the place where I am being solicited to join a context and upload photos. 67.245.12.27 03:27, 6 October 2023 (UTC)

Hi there - apologies for the late response. I recommend reading Commons:Licensing for guidance on the types of licenses that can be used on the Wikimedia Commons, and what they entail. The Creative Commons FAQ is also a very useful resource that helps answers some of these questions.

When licensing an image under CC, you can still use your image however you please (including selling prints and using it on your website). However, by licensing it, you are also granting others the right to do the same. CC licenses cannot by withdrawn.

Regarding image resolution, here is what the CC FAQ has to say: "You may license your copyright or distribute your work under more than one set of terms. For example, you may publish a photograph on your website, but only distribute high-resolution copies to people who have paid for access. This is a practice CC supports. However, if the low-resolution and high-resolution copies are the same work under applicable copyright law, permission under a CC license is not limited to a particular copy, and someone who receives a copy in high resolution may use it under the terms of the CC license applied to the low-resolution copy."

I hope that helps. ~Kevin Payravi (talk) 05:33, 15 October 2023 (UTC)

Thank you. You didn't answer all the questions but you hit some of the main points. My more basic issue, though I didn't state it explicitly, is that by offering a "competition" Wikimedia is inviting a wide cross-section of photographers who may have no previous experience with CC licensing, and are not prepared to spend the time reading and interpreting the various CC licenses to understand exactly what they are doing when they submit their work. Unless you intend to regularly offer your work under CC licenses there is not much incentive to wrap your mind around all those licensing details. Therefore I think the contest should be posted with an explicit statement of rights granted and retained, otherwise it encourages amateur and perhaps some semi-professional photographers to upload photos without really having a clue what they are doing. Perhaps it makes little difference to amateurs who have no plan to market their work, but it would be the ethical thing to do regardless. 67.245.12.27 16:43, 17 October 2023 (UTC)

A local landmark

I live in the City of Trinidad, CO, and that city has designated the property known as Fort Wooton as a local landmark. (I have a .pdf of the proclamation and can upload it if requested.) Does that make this property acceptable for the 2023 contest? JDavidZeff (talk) 20:02, 7 October 2023 (UTC)

@JDavidZeff: As long as it is recognized for its historical value, that should be fine, yes! Please mention that designation in the description when you upload the file. Thanks, ~Kevin Payravi (talk) 03:30, 9 October 2023 (UTC)

Thanks to all the submitters

I've been enjoying looking through all the photos people have brought in. Some of them are places that I'd never get to see, but it's a real treat to have a look at what other communities have memorialized. I have learned new things too, reading the text of these. Some of them are super obscure but still fascinating! Mmangan333 (talk) 20:40, 25 October 2023 (UTC)

how to participate in photo contest?

How do I participate in or make my photos of monuments eligible for the Wiki Loves Monuments 2023 public photo competition?

The monument I most recently visited is for the Gnome-Coach Site. There were no quality photos of this historical monument available on Wikipedia or Wikimedia Commons. I have updated the English Wikipedia page with a gallery of photos from the monument and site and also tagged one of the photos here on Wikimedia Commons: "file:Gnome-Coach Site (2023-10-15 B) Nicole Sharp IMG 0075 (53299492278).jpg".

Is all I need to do is add the "{{Wiki Loves Monuments 2023|us-nm}}" template to the file page or are there other requirements to have the monument photos to be eligible for the public photo competition?

Nicole Sharp (talk) 15:27, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

@Nicole Sharp: Yep, that's it! Thank you for your contribution. ~Kevin Payravi (talk) 05:02, 1 November 2023 (UTC)

Thank you for the info. This needs to be mentioned on the page for the contest itself. On the actual page, it says the only way to participate is to add a new image using the special uploader for the contest, but if the image has already been uploaded using the regular uploader, users should know that they can still participate in the contest by manually adding the template to the image page instead. Nicole Sharp (talk) 05:11, 1 November 2023 (UTC)

Announcements and International Submission

Is there an expected time when we may expect to hear results?

Is the Notice Board the best place to check for announcements?

Have the top ten photos been sent to the international competition for judging? (The jury page states those needed to be submitted prior to Dec. 5th)

• Edit: I found this page listing the international finalists. Am I correct in assuming the final results are listed in order there?

Clint W Brooks (talk) 14:43, 5 January 2024 (UTC)

Winners Announcement

The winners of the 2023 contest can be seen here. Ktkvtsh (talk) 02:00, 29 January 2024 (UTC)