On Fri, Mar 21, 2003 at 06:40:35AM -0800, Jimmy Wales wrote:
Jason Williams wrote:
I think following US copyright law is a mistake - much better to follow a policy of complying with the law in as many countries as feasible. (I've no idea if in this case it makes a difference, I just wanted to raise the point)
I like this suggestion generally, but I'm not sure what differences there might be. U.S. copyright law is pretty restrictive, so if we adhere to U.S. copyright law, we're probably not violating anyone else's copyright laws. Are there counter-examples?
I'm not particularly well-informed on this matter, but I vaguely suspect exceptions for parody and fair use are the most likely to be a problem.
And I'd make a distinction (philosophically questionable, but we're trying to get work done here 'on the ground') between complying with laws that are _copyright_ restrictions versus complying with laws that are _censorship_.
Agreed - this isn't a binary issue by any means. I think we just need to consider and balance two factors; international compliance, and how important whatever we want to do is to the task at hand.
It's very important to be factual and neutral, so if that limits international legality then so be it.
Pictures of koalas or album covers aren't nearly so much of a "core issue", so if it turns out that they are illegal in places outside the US they should be dropped.