[WikiEN-l] Wikimedian image restorations exploited on eBay

[Sage Ross]

On Tue, Sep 22, 2009 at 1:43 PM, Durova <nadezhda.durova at gmail.com> wrote:

> ...I have already stated that the best thing to do at this point is
> step back and examine the differing assumptions that made this thread
> nonproductive.

On that note, you stated in the second post of the thread that "The
vendor violates moral rights on all the items it offers for sale."
This confused me and is probably one of those differing assumptions
that derailed the thread.  As I understand it based on the moral
rights Wikipedia article you linked, moral rights only exist for
copyrighted works (and are not part of U.S. copyright law).  That, at
least, is the technical legal scope of moral rights as I understand
it.  So as I understand it, moral rights would not apply to either
public domain works or restorations that do not generate a new
copyright.

You seem to mean something different by moral rights, perhaps a
broader philosophical concept.  The Wikipedia article lists a number
of different moral rights (including "the right to the integrity of
the work", which in some formulations is in conflict with the concept
of free culture).  Explaining what you meant by moral rights (which
moral rights, and whose--creator and/or restorationist?) might help
clear up the differing assumptions issue.

-Sage