Allow communal editing of photo tags
I have encountered many photos where the same person is tagged twice, or where multiple tags are not centered on any individual, or even where the wrong person has been accidentally tagged. The thought of allowing anyone to edit photo tags may be terrifying to some, but I can't picture it being any more prone to abuse than any edit to the shared tree. If tag changes were entered into the 'edit history' log along with an undo button, there would be an easy fix if problems arose. Double tags have become rampant since the site started auto-tagging all new photos. People don't understand how to edit the auto-tag, so they just make a new one.
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An example of the issue can be seen here:
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/L1V7-2QT
The first two tags are from the original poster, but they didn't seem to understand the tagging system well and the photo was not showing up on Mary's profile. I added the last two tags, but it still looks confusing and messy.
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I agree with the original recommendation. I too have seen many such errors. Currently, the only person who can edit a photo is the person who uploaded it. If that person is no longer engaged with FamilySearch, there is no way to contact that person to have him/her edit it. As pointed out above, anyone can edit anything for any person in FamilySearch. So, why not the photos. Edits to photos are much less consequential than are edits to any other information in FamilySearch.
Perhaps some of these ideas will help:
Only allow a relative to upload photos in the first place.
Only allow a relative to edit a photo.
Where it can easily be seen, flag the original photo with the word, “Original”.
When an edit is made, flag it with, “Revision 1” (...2, ...3, etc.), or just “Revised”
Provide a way to view previous revisions, preferably side-by-side for comparison.
The person making the edits, should be required to explain why the edit is made.
Provide a “why this edit was made” box and require an answer be entered.
The FamilySearch software should generate a log of the changes that can easily be viewed.
When an edit is made, the FamilySearch software should automatically send a notice to the person who originally uploaded the photo, and to those who made previous edits. Allow them to undo the revision.
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@W Andrews, I just went and looked at a photo uploaded by someone else, and I can add and remove profile and topic tags, add it to albums, add a comment, and download. I believe they're working on allowing anyone to edit the date (to allow more consistent chronological sorting of albums and galleries), and I'm pretty sure that will likely result in the title and description becoming open-edit as well. But in the meantime, if you really, really object to something about a file uploaded by someone else, and the uploader is not responding, then you can download the file, edit it (by, say, cropping the photo slightly or adding a border), and upload it yourself. Then you can tag your version to all of the people, remove the tags from the other version, and relegate it to just sitting in the uploader's Gallery.
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Photographs are copyright of the original photographer or probably transferrable to the heir(s) of the estate. If the photographer uploads to FamilySearch - they give full license to FamilySearch to create derivative works. If FamilySearch is transferring such rights to platform users as sublicensees this notice should be included in Upload Guidelines/Terms. From my reading it is not clear whether all platform user are considered sublicensees - from the sounds of it such sublicensees would/should be clearly identifiable - not all platform users? For example Terms of agreement #3 states in part:
3. Copyright. We are sensitive to the copyright and other intellectual property rights of others. Be aware that content, including photographs, stories, and personal experiences, even if submitted to a portion of this Site which is relevant to you, remains the property of the creator or submitter. You should not reproduce it without permission of the owner. ...
If you followed Julia's guidance above - you would likely be - expressly not following the terms of use if you did not obtain permission.
General Idea comment: I agree - it would be nice to crowdsource editing of photographs to relevant Family Groups - but extending such open edit to the entire world I do not believe is necessary nor respectful toward valuable family photographs/collections. I would prefer that such edits be directed to the owner - who can reserve the right to respond or not. If Family Groups can be organized - this could allow agents of the original contributor to respond to such edit requests. Please be respectful toward valuable contributions of other platform users. Do not assume you have rights to edit anything you wish without permission.
Sub-Idea: If original content uploaders receive excessive requests to edit particular content. It would be nice to have an auto-reply for such edit requests. As one who has contributed Family Group Memories - I would prefer to have edit requests be directed to myself or to the Family Group who can prioritize such requests in queue. An auto-reply would be nice - to acknowledge receipt of the request and that the Family Group will consider/act upon such as soon as the Group can respond. Duplicate/excessive requests are not needed and not respectful - the Family Group will respond upon their own time schedule (some Family Groups may be better organized - but life/work may take priority - we'll get to it as we can - thank you for your interest and request.). That content is uploaded and shared is great. Editing beyond personal/noncommercial use should not be considered a right and requests of original content sharers should be respectful.
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