[WikiEN-l] Re: Could an Administrator please look into this conflict?

[Ryan Delaney]

On 1/23/06, Phil Boswell <phil.boswell at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> So at what point does attempting to assert your copyright become "making a
> legal threat"?
>
> Should a copyright holder whisper very gently "you're violating my
> copyright, but that's OK, we wouldn't want the lawyers involved"?
>

The point of the "no legal threats" policy is that legal threats end
discussion. Once lawyers and courts are involved, discussion is over and
you're on to adjudication. In other words, when someone is actually carrying
out legal action, talking about it on Wikipedia is pointless- which means
that legal threats have absolutely no value for any kind of rational
discussion.

So, as you are asking, how should someone enforce their legal rights?
Answer: By pointing out their legal rights, without making threats. "This
item is my intellectual property and you do not have permission to use it."
At that point, we should remove it immediately. There is no need to mention,
or benefit from mentioning, lawyers or lawsuits.

Ryan