[WikiEN-l] re: Billboard charts

[Stephen Bain]

On 11/17/05, Sam Korn <smoddy at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 11/16/05, Kelly Martin <kelly.lynn.martin at gmail.com> wrote:
> > On 11/16/05, Brandon Cordy <b.touch at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > Actually, I kept talking to the Billboard rep, and he says he's willing to
> > > work out a cashless deal if we can send them traffic (which, as far as I
> > > know, we already do through the external links). We may not have to delete
> > > anything at all.
> >
> > Such a license would be unacceptable to Wikipedia.
>
> What if it were simply an agreement that Billboard would not sue so
> long as they were cited as a source?  That isn't a content licence,
> just an agreement to cite sources.
>
> Which we do anyway.
>
> This seems like more of Billboard's way of saving face than what could
> be considered a licence agreement.
>
> Naturally, as normal, IANAL.  Thank goodness.
>

We don't need any agreement. We just need to use the content in ways
that are not violating copyright. If we say "this song reached X on
the Billboard Hot 100 chart [link]" then there's no way that their
copyright is being infringed.

What we can't do is have large segments of a chart. Unless Billboard
is willing to release large segments under the GFDL, then we can't use
it, and there's no point making any agreement.

--
Stephen Bain
stephen.bain at gmail.com