On 11/27/05, Pawe³ Dembowski <fallout(a)lexx.eu.org> wrote:
It's
somewhat odd that the different languages have different policies
on fair use. From a legal standpoint, it really shouldn't matter what
language the article is written in. I suppose it's enough to stay
under the radar this way, though.
If about 99% editors and readers of Polish Wikipedia live in Poland,
do you think that they couldn't be sued for infringing copyright only
because they do it on an American server?
--
Ausir
Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia
http://pl.wikipedia.org
Again, from a legal standpoint, I don't think it should matter whether
99% of editors and readers live in Poland or 5% do. So if someone
*could* sue Wikipedia for an image in the Polish Wikipedia, then they
probably *could* sue Wikipedia for an image in the English Wikipedia.
Maybe the likelihood that someone *would* sue Wikipedia changes. But
that, at least for images whose copyright is held by American
companies, brings back the question of whether or not an American
company is likely to sue an American non-profit organization for
violating Polish copyright law (regardless of where the servers are
located).
And, by the way, many of the servers aren't in the United States anyway.
Anthony