geni wrote:
On 7/22/07, Bryan Derksen
<bryan.derksen(a)shaw.ca> wrote:
Fair use images are allowed under current policy
in many situations,
however. Perhaps those who wish to see it completely eliminated should
start up their own project instead? It cuts both ways.
Fairly limited situations and I didn't say I wanted it completely
eliminated I simply feel that a project that pushes on the limits of
US fair use law is not compatible with the aim of producing a free
encyclopedia.
Wikipedia's fair use policies are more conservative than what the laws
themselves allow, we don't "push on the limits".
IMO "love
it or leave it" is not a particularly useful argument when
what's being debated is what "it" actually is.
"It" is a free encyclopedia. Overuse of fair use is not part of this.
But the meaning of "overuse" is exactly the issue of contention. We're
trying to build a good-quality encyclopedia, not just a free one, and
the inclusion of some fair use material improves its quality greatly. In
some cases it's necessary in order for us to have a decent article on
certain subjects (quotations of copyrighted text are fair use too, after
all).
So we get into a situation where "free" and "encyclopedia" are in
direct
conflict and a compromise needs to be hammered out. Telling one side or
the other to just take a hike is unhelpful.