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Angela_ wrote:<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid20040808000548.77D8C1AC036D@mail.wikimedia.org">
<pre wrap="">On Sat, 7 Aug 2004 18:44:52 -0400, mbecker wrote:
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">Even if this is fair use, what's stopping the copyright holders from suing the wikimedia foundation, and incurring a great deal of legal fees?
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap=""><!---->The legal risk lies with the user who uploaded it and claimed it was
fair use, not with the Foundation.</pre>
</blockquote>
Even if the Foundation would ultimately prevail on the merits, it's
still correct that the copyright holders can sue, and can force us to
incur serious legal fees. Also, the publisher can be liable for
copyright infringements, so I think it's inaccurate to suggest that
there's no legal risk to the Foundation. More correct is Angela's later
statement that OCILLA protects us to some extent.<br>
<br>
And even then, the statement can only possibly be correct for online
publication. Print or DVD versions are an entirely different matter.
For those, we have no such protection, and the fact that some other
party (the original uploader) is also guilty of infringement helps the
Foundation not at all.<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid20040808000548.77D8C1AC036D@mail.wikimedia.org">
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">Also, how do we ensure that it is clear that these images are not reproducible under the GFDL?
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap=""><!---->It is generally believed that fair use images are compatible with the
GFDL. See <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Do_fair_use_images_violate_the_GFDL%3F">http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Do_fair_use_images_violate_the_GFDL%3F</a></pre>
</blockquote>
This depends on how you look at the question. If you ask whether fair
use material can be mixed with GFDL material, that's one question. If
you ask whether fair use content can be licensed directly under the
GFDL, that's rather different. Apparently our official position is that
images are the former, but it's not one I'm very comfortable with.<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid20040808000548.77D8C1AC036D@mail.wikimedia.org">
<pre wrap=""><!---->We are protected to some extent by the [[Online Copyright Infringement
Liability Limitation Act]]. We would take the images down if someone
sent a valid takedown notice, so presumably we would avoid legal risk
that way.</pre>
</blockquote>
I would say reduce rather than avoid, but maybe I'm being too technical.<br>
<br>
--Michael Snow<br>
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