james duffy wrote:
Does this mean that wikipedians outside the US can break their own native copyright rules when loading something onto wiki and are covered because of US law?
Generally speaking, I recommend that people obey the law where they live, or to at least break it under some generally accepted moral principles governing civil disobedience.
But this really seems like a fairly academic question in most free or semi-free countries. If something is copyright in Germany, but not in the U.S., and someone in Germany uploads it here, well, that might be an interesting academic question, but as far as the practical liklihood of anyone getting in trouble, it seems pretty remote.
Presumably, pro-democracy Iranian bloggers who might want to post NPOV reports on the state of affairs in Iran would have significant reason to fear the consequences of those actions. But cases like that are pretty rare.
--Jimbo