On Sat, 7 Aug 2004 18:44:52 -0400, mbecker wrote:
Votes for deletion has expanded since you were last here. There is now
[[Wikipedia:Images for deletion]] and [[Wikipedia:Copyright problems]]
(which is where copyright-violating images should go to be deleted).
Apparently this is not an isolated incident though.
No, there are hundreds of them. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Fair_use_images
Again, I've been gone for quite a while. Has there
been a consensus by the community that we should start using copyrighted material in
wikipedia?
There is not a complete consensus over whether we should allow fair use images.
Even if this is fair use, what's stopping the
copyright holders from suing the wikimedia foundation, and incurring a great deal of legal
fees?
The legal risk lies with the user who uploaded it and claimed it was
fair use, not with the Foundation.
Also, how do we ensure that it is clear that these
images are not reproducible under the GFDL?
It is generally believed that fair use images are compatible with the
GFDL. See
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Do_fair_use_images_violate_the_GFDL%3F
Is the foundation willing to pursue lawsuits against
them for violating copyright law?
If an image really is fair use, it is not violating copyright law.
If we decide to indeed allow the upload of copyrighted
material under "fair use" who determines that it is fair use?
The person who uploads the image should do that before they upload it.
1. Are we breaking copyright law?
If the images are fair use, then we are not.
2. Is it worth making wikipedia less free to include
copyrighted material?
There is a lack of agreement over this. The German Wikipedia have a
policy which disallows fair use completely.
3. Is the wikimedia foundation willing to incur legal
fees to fight cases against it for copyright violation
We are protected to some extent by the [[Online Copyright Infringement
Liability Limitation Act]]. We would take the images down if someone
sent a valid takedown notice, so presumably we would avoid legal risk
that way.
Angela.