On 1/29/07, The Cunctator <cunctator(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
My attitude is that Wikipedia should be pushing
the copyright envelope
(within reason, of course) on all fronts.
And how much money do you plan to provide to make this possible?
All non-governmental content from the past
century is covered by copyright
(essentially).
That simply isn't the case.
We should also be demonstrating the importance of
challenging the absurd
life and strength of copyright laws by taking advantage of fair use when we
can.
Your reasons do not support your actions here.
Google is a great example of a company that by
dint of its popularity gets
to run roughshod over copyright restrictions that companies would squash if
they weren't so reliant on Google.
Evidences?
In any case the "no one will sue us" is not a valid argument for
wikipedia if only because sooner or latter someone will and it doesn't
help reusers.
Similarly Wikipedia is now in the position of
being one of the 800-pound
gorillas.
Annual turnover less than that of my nearest collage. I think not.
Wikipedia has the power to shape law because of
its size and influence.
How? Political campaigning is pretty much out. We have neither the
money nor the impact. People go to wikipedia looking for information.
They are not looking for an ideology
Information being free... an encyclopedia, specifically, but the
constituent flood of information ... is a core Wikimedia Foundation
goal.
I don't think we should wage huge PR or legal or paid lobbying
campaigns to free up information. I think we should reasonably take a
stand that the Fair Use laws mean what they say, and that Wikipedia
and others are entitled to make use of them, and do so.
Shying away from it destroys credibility in the single largest free
access to content legal model in existence. Free content, including
all of Wikipedia, pales in comparison to the significance to world
society at large that Fair Use brings.
That may not be true in 10 or 20 years, but for now, we should embrace
Fair Use and use it. Fairly, legally, and stomping on those who would
attempt to abuse Fair Use in our project, but we should embrace it
nonetheless.
--
-george william herbert
george.herbert(a)gmail.com