The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of a fair use image as a replaceable image. Please do not modify it.

The result was to delete the image.

The uploader stated:

The image is widelly used among 'reference' sites in such a way that the licencing for it should be considered 'of common domain' and no copyrights stands for it. Btw, if I used the tag in an 'improper way', could you leave me a note how I should use it from now on please? Thanks.

I'm afraid that public domain is a legal term with a specific legal meaning. No matter how common a recent image may be, it is only public domain if the copyright-holder specifically released all rights to it in writing. Thus the photo is copyrighted, and is "non-free".

Since the subject is still alive, it should be possible for someone to photograph him and release the photo under a free license. Our fair use policy forbids using a non-free image if a free image could be created that could be used in its place. See criterion #1 and counter-example #8. In this case, it would be possible to create a free image; therefore this non-free image may not be used. Whether a free replacement image exists or not at this time is not relevant. – Quadell ^{(talk) (random)} 21:13, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it.