Lars Aronsson wrote:
Patricia Rodrigues wrote
*Is the official position of the WMF to consider only US copyright in what concerns content to be hosted in any Wikimedia project?
From a philosopical standpoint, I doubt that this kind of question
is useful. In order to guarantee that content can be reused freely everywhere, you need to consider not only copyright law but also laws on privacy, blasphemy, national security, etc. Images that we share, such as caricatures of national leaders and photos of train stations, might be unlawful in various countries. To what extent should we let that stop us?
Exactly what is legal or illegal varies from place to place and from time to time. It can only be determined by a court of law, and not by a popular vote on Commons, or by any statement from the board of the WMF. Even though WMF/Commons policies can provide a guideline, it is impossible to guarantee that any image or content is "safe" or "free" for any use. That cannot be the goal for such policies. Instead, such policies must have the limited goal of protecting the WMF, so it can continue to function.
I very much agree with this approach. If we comply with the lowest common denominator of all laws we may find ourselves stifled in our ability to do anything. The areas of law that would need to be considered go well beyond mere copyright law.
Votes on Commons, or any subset of the broad Wiki community are more often than not based on the voters' ignorance of the law. Statutory provisions are only a small part of the law; they are subject to highly varied interpretation, and often to constitutional challenge. So it is painful when, like Alice, someone proclaims his interpretation to be law because he remembers having seen it in a book somewhere.
The Board would be doing everyone a disservice if it sought to micromanage legal policy to satisfy all those who are chronically fearful of being sued. The Board needs to rule based on reasonable probabilities that failure to act will have dire consequences. It is not required to comply with the obscure provisions of every forsaken corner of the world. It needs to resist the paranoid tendencies of those who lack the courage to accept their own responsibilities, and would rely on the illusion that there is some bright line behind which they could feel absolutely protected.
The real requirement is simple: If you feel that it would be illegal in your country and circumstances to upload certain material, don't do it. You have no need to impose on them some silly notion that you are your brothers' keeper.
Ec