Wiki143:Articles for deletion/List of U.S. state license plates

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result of the debate was no consensus - I think that once the images are deleted for copyright violation, this page will end up sleeping with the fishies anyway, as it'll be empty. Proto///type 12:58, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

List of U.S. state license plates

Just a collection of images and Wikipedia is not a repository for images. Also, most of the images are tagged incorrectly as PD-US or CopyrightFreeUse, whereas the design is probably copyright of the state that issues it. Several images have no source and try to claim fair use. Fair use would not apply for putting the image in a list. Nv8200p talk 13:50, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

• Keep / Cleanup - It definitely needs cleaning, but I would not go as far as to say delete it. --Mhking 13:53, 14 June 2006 (UTC)
  • Bring a big broom. -Nv8200p talk 14:14, 14 June 2006 (UTC)
• Delete, Wikipedia is not an image gallery. User:Zoe|^(talk) 16:23, 14 June 2006 (UTC)
• Strong Keep, see discussion at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Gallery of banknotes. Precedence has been set for galleries to exist as forks from proper articles, the main article here is US and Canadian license plates. The page is salvagable, there are some pics there that can be kept even though Nv8200p seemed to indiscriminately tagged every single one of them as Possibly Unfree despite source info and licensing info being there. Several pics seemed to have been uploaded by their creator User:15qdotnet, who appears to be a plate collector, yet still tagged. hateless 16:52, 14 June 2006 (UTC)
  • The licensing is wrong for most of them. They are unfree because the images are marked PD-USGov or GFDL-self when the copyright belongs to the state. The plate collectors images are just derivatives of copyrighted works. -Nv8200p talk 18:39, 14 June 2006 (UTC)
  • I renominated Gallery of banknotes for deletion. I believe all these are using flimsy excuses to skirt the WP:ISNOT policy -Nv8200p talk 19:46, 14 June 2006 (UTC)
• Userfy to me As with the license photos, I think this is the germ of an article, and I hate to see the effort done go to waste. I am still investigating copyright status, but will complete my inquiry before debate ends. Please don't speedy these in the meantime. Xoloz 16:58, 14 June 2006 (UTC)
• Weak delete things like this have been left before I believe. --Xyrael ^T 17:44, 14 June 2006 (UTC)
• Keep — The images where the license is questionable could be removed, but I'd like to see a written description with each of these plates describing what they represent and why the style is of particular relevance for the state in question. &c. &c. — RJH (talk) 18:45, 14 June 2006 (UTC)
• Conditional Keep if the copyright status is OK. BoojiBoy 18:56, 14 June 2006 (UTC)
• Strong delete. This is an image gallery, which is specifically called out on WP:NOT. - A Man In Bl♟ck (conspire | past ops) 22:35, 14 June 2006 (UTC)
• Compromise-ish This shouldn't be an article, but whoever uploaded this (if copyright allows) should make a gallery. Maybe. ViceroyInterus 00:17, 15 June 2006 (UTC)
• Keep - Even if this article is image focused, doesn't mean it's not encyclopedic in nature. Images are used in print encyclopedias and on wikipedia to convey what words cannot. In the case of liscence plates no matter how detailed the description it's not as good as having a picture. Also, in the fashion that greek and roman coins have come to be culturally important so are liscence plates, they are a piece of human civilization with extreme longiveity and most definately merits this article. 67.119.124.137 00:45, 15 June 2006 (UTC)
• Keep per gallery of banknotes AFD providing proper sourcing and copyright noticing on images. — pd_THOR ^{| =/\=} | 01:04, 15 June 2006 (UTC)
• Comment - I thought images created by the state were not subject to copyright rules as they are created with public funds or something to that affect. --zero faults ^{|sockpuppets|} 01:10, 15 June 2006 (UTC)
  • No, each state can legislate whether their material is copyrighted or not. Most states websites and media they produce are copyrighted. Illinois, for example, chose to put material in the public domain. -Nv8200p talk 13:18, 15 June 2006 (UTC)
• Delete. When the images are deleted for being copyvios, this will be a {{db-empty}}. If the images were changed to a fair use tag, the fair use assertion would be invalid, as the license plates aren't described at all. --Rory096 22:48, 16 June 2006 (UTC)
• Delete. Perhaps the images can be moved elsewhere, but does not justify being an article through images alone.--Auger Martel 08:25, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

• Keep. I think the "Wiki is not a repository for images" argument is being misused here. There are a lot of "repositories for images" on Wikipedia (like Flags of the U.S. states, Seals of the U.S. states, etc.) and these lists are certainly encyclopedic. Also, the IS NOT policy states that wiki is not a "Collections of photographs or media files with no text to go with the articles." (emphasis added) This article has as much text as the flag and seal articles (in fact it has more than the seal article). Sure, I would like to have each license explained (and I'll probably add that when I have time) but not having a thorough explanation is not a valid reason to delete. Now, the matter of copyright is an ENTIRELY different discussion and it should be handled elsewhere and on a per image basis. - Ektar 17:13, 17 June 2006 (UTC)
• Strong Keep This is a useful resource and not an "image Gallery". Has any attempt been made to identify if any of the states consider their plate designs as being PD, or is there an assumption being made because somebody just wants to see the page terminated? I question the copyright issue: so long as the plate images are created by the uploader and dont come directly from the DMV's website - i.e. a photograph of a plate in situ etc. (admittedly most of these are not of plates in situ), surely they would be ok? With photos of issued plates the plate itself is going to be copyright, but is an image of it really a violation of that copyright? Is this picture I have included here in violation of copyright? The historical marker is was designed and made by the state, the text is surely copyright, but I took the picture of it and (if I hadnt donated it to this site) would claim full rights... Mickmaguire 03:50, 18 June 2006 (UTC)
• Keep. The status of the images is not an issue in keeping this article. If an image has an issue there is a process to have it deleted and it can be replaced by one without problems. Vegaswikian 02:39, 20 June 2006 (UTC)
• Delete per Rory, it is made up of copyvio images. It would be great if people took their own photos of them so there could be a gallery with free images --Astrokey44 03:06, 20 June 2006 (UTC) there are some at commons:Category:License plates of the United States but it is incomplete --Astrokey44 03:12, 20 June 2006 (UTC)
• Strong Delete. While this may well be a useful resource, that in itself is not a reason for it to be in Wikipedia. There are many types of useful resource which we do not include: telephone directories are useful, but we do not include lists of phone numbers; marriage registers are useful, but we do not list every wedding in the world; dictionaries are very useful, but we do not include mere dictionary definitions. The question is not "is this useful", but "is this an encyclopedia article?" And the answer is, "no, this is not an encyclopedia article, it is a collection of pictures". Therefore, we should not keep it. — Haeleth Talk 16:38, 20 June 2006 (UTC)
• Strong keep per Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Gallery of banknotes. --Mr. Lefty _{Talk to me!} 17:00, 20 June 2006 (UTC)
• Keep, but try to find free images. Nationalparks 03:03, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.