american flag for US-only copyrighted files

[jujimufu]

I strongly oppose this practice, as it appears on this page (and I assume similarly-tagged pages):

http://imslp.org/wiki/The_Firebird_%28S ... y,_Igor%29

I understand that IMSLP wants (and must) protect itself from any future copyright infringements, and that it is (obviously) not responsible who downloads its content and is (equally obviously) responsible for informing visitors of the website about whether or not there might be some problems downloading this score in their country, but I don't agree in the way it's been carried out.

What I suggest is the following: instead of having a fat white arrow (as in any other page: http://imslp.org/wiki/Piano_Trio_No.1,_ ... William%29 ) we could have a fat white arrow, tinted red or something like that - to make it distinctly DOWNLOADABLE (as opposed to a fat X showing it's not downloadable), but also distinctly POTENTIALLY PROBLEMATIC - the red tinting would be an instant reference to the red-coloured text in the copyright information which would clarify why this score could be problematic, and where.

I also understand that the main deal with the US-1923 pieces is that they are hosted on a different server, but I think this is a) a technical detail which concerns the legal aspect of IMSLP and potential suers etc, b) a practical issue with regards to problems raised as of (a), and c) a detail in the larger image: that this file is NOT entirely freely available in the public domain pretty much everywhere, and as such may be illegal to download in certain countries.

[homerdundas]

How about our big arrow - with stars and stripes on it... The file is on it's way .. to .. USA.

[vinteuil]

Not bad—Juji, I'm afraid that your idea may be a little bit too subtle for many users.

[daphnis]

I'm not certain I fully understand to what practices you are opposed.

[pml]

I haven’t the time for a lengthy comment right now, but (like Daphnis) I find it very hard to understand why Jujimufu is objecting to a picture of a flag. Perhaps the two pictures concerned (one, the Stars and Stripes, the other a dozen stars in a circle being the European Union emblem) could be re-edited to include explicit, red-coloured bold text underneath: US ONLY or EU ONLY? Would that be plain enough?

Regards, Philip

[jujimufu]

The first impression I got was that the piece in question was either a national US piece, or has some strong ties to the US. Which it doesn't, other than the fact that only US users can download it.

I would have thought that all these warnings would suffice in terms of any legal actions against IMSLP in case a non-US person downloads a file tagged like that. Just as the download image (a fat downwards arrow) is neutral as to any sort of nationality/country, I believe the download images of works tagged as public domain US-only, or EU-only, or whatever, should also be neutral, however drawing attention to the fact that they are not supposed to be downloaded by everyone and care should be taken to obey local laws. A red arrow would do the job, I feel, efficiently enough. It would simply indicate "there is something not normal about downloading this file" (by 'not normal' I mean 'contrary to what most work files on this website are'). And then they can read the similarly-coloured copyright notice on the file - plus, once they click on it they will be redirected to a second page, and then to a third page, with the mantra that you shouldn't download this file if you're not in the US. Which again I feel is enough.

[vinteuil]

I unfortunately disagree with you. Most users simply would not pay attention unless this were obvious.
That said, the whole template right now feels a little clunky and out-of place—I again support the striped arrow idea.

[daphnis]

Now I see what you mean. I guess it doesn't really bother me, and it gets the point across. I can see it going either way, but I don't harbor any vehement indignation for the decision to indicate a file's more restrictive copyright status with a national flag. Therefore, my official opinion on the matter is: Meh...

[steltz]

The flag is way more in your face, but I think that's what's needed here. A different coloured arrow just won't put the point across enough.

[Choralia]

I've uploaded a combined icon (US flag + arrow) as an example, which is available at http://imslp.org/wiki/Test_page.

Anybody can change the icon, either by replacing the file containing the current icon with a new file, or by setting the server_flag template variable to point towards a different file. For example, server_flag=File:icon_US-flag.png gets the simple flag icon, while server_flag=File:icon_US-flag_arrow.png gets the combined flag + arrow icon that I've just uploaded.

I'm absolutely neutral with respect to this subject.

Max

[pml]

Don’t take this personally, Max, but... yuck...

(that’s my 2¢ — PML)

[vinteuil]

It could be worse...

[steltz]

I didn't think it was so bad, actually -- the arrow in the middle tags it as a download button, and the rest tags it as US only.

[Choralia]

Don’t take this personally, Max, but... yuck...

I proudly admit that I have no talent for any form of arts, including music . BTW, if I had preferred the flag + arrow solution, I would have used it since the first instance of this template. I wanted just to show that anybody can easily create an example, and showing an example is much more clear than any descriptions.

Max

[imslp]

I'm actually curious whether it is possible to do the reverse. Instead of superimposing the arrow on top of the US flag, can we simply have an arrow-shaped cut-out of the US flag? That would seem to me to address Jujimufu's point.