Hello everybody. I have a question about watermark removal on Wikisource.
If I removal claims copyright page and watermark of Google in the
Google-scanned books under this guidance <
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Help:DjVu_files#Removing_a_copyright_page>gt;,
then legal or not? Because per statement of Google, the Google-scanned
books must be preserved such pages and watermark copyright.
This guidance about removal watermark mainly based on case law Bridgeman
Art Library v. Corel Corp. (see also <
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:When_to_use_the_PD-scan_tag#USA&…)t;),
which (follow Wikipedia <
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgeman_Art_Library_v._Corel_Corp.#Subseque…)
is in controversial: *"We are not convinced that the single case to which
we are pointed where copyright was awarded for a “slavish copy” remains
good law." The appeals court ruling cited and followed the **United States
Supreme Court
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Supreme_Court> decision
in Feist Publications v. Rural Telephone Service
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feist_Publications_v._Rural_Telephone_Service>**
(1991),
explicitly rejecting difficulty of labor or expense as a consideration in
copyrightability..."*
Suppose that in future Google litigation Wikipedia for removing the page of
Google claiming copyright in the Google-scanned books and that case was
heard by the appeals court or the US Supreme Court (higher competent than
Southern New York Court) and the court reverse ruling, then what should we
do?
Trần Nguyễn Minh Huy
Supporter, Wikimedia Projects