[Foundation-l] A letter to Wikipedia collides with the non-free content policies

[Tim Starling]

Remember the dot wrote:
> The foundation's input would be appreciated in resolving this issue. A
> scanned letter addressed to "Wikipedia" was uploaded to the English
> Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Studentsorry.jpg
> 
> The author of the letter did not release it under a free license, and Mike
> Godwin, the foundation's legal counsel, clarified that the recipient of the
> letter (Wikipedia) does not have the right to freely license it.
> 
> The letter has no encyclopedic use, and was uploaded mainly because it is
> humorous.
> 
> So the question is: is keeping this letter one of the "limited exceptions"
> to http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Licensing_policy?


The fact anyone is even talking about licensing is itself dysfunctional.

The English Wikipedia has long been anti-community. They will use what 
existing rules they can, and invent new policy where necessary, to 
suppress significant content related to the community or its members.

Copyright is routinely ignored for images in the main namespace, with the 
"fair use" concept extended to farce. But it is rigorously enforced 
outside the main namespace. I think it should be the other way around, but 
what do I know?

I think the only solution is to rely on external links to off-wiki 
content. Set up a blog or something where you can post this stuff. Use 
external links.

-- Tim Starling