On 09/10/2007, David Gerard dgerard@gmail.com wrote:
On 09/10/2007, geni geniice@gmail.com wrote:
The problem is that most of the groups that might be interested in that sense are well traditional. Online marketers already understand the web to a degree and even wikipedia to a degree but how would you go about explaining it to a local history group?
The fact that Wikipedia (at least en:wp) is pretty much mainstream - news stories now tend to be about something happening on Wikipedia, rather than the mere dancing-bear fact of its existence - actually works for us to a great extent. "Release your stuff! If you hate Wikipedia, it's still available for Citizendium." etc.
Those stories are still in the IT/technology section.
While the 1% rule doesn't hold for wikipedia to the same extent as other projects it is still a major hurdle to overcome and even harder to overcome in the case of those with more traditional ideas of information flow. Markets at least already think in terms of trying to get information to as many people as possible. The traditional gatekeepers of information?
This is why getting those people to think of releasing material as proper free content (rather than free-as-in-beer, the equivalent of CC-by-nc-nd) would be such a win. Corruption from within with the FREE virus!
This involves getting the average person to think about copyright. Not really going to work.
Getting them to help with access to PD stuff is more reasonable but well lets have a look at some of the traditional groups:
Local Libraries. Getting better more of them have scanners. But then they put them on a different floor to the archives. A start I suppose.
The British library. Waste of time. Insist on doing any scanning themselves and charge a fortune.
Imperial war museum. Same as the British library.
British museum. If it is on display fine otherwise well. You might be able to take photos of some stuff in the reserve collect by appointment but anything else you have to pay them to take a photo which they release to you under a very limited license.
National trust. If you want to take photos inside you have to contact the one person who appears to have permission to allow that and they don't appear to be set up to deal with anyone below the level of a film company.
English Heritage helpful but a lot of the collections that would be useful appear to have been broken up and spread around the country.
The owners of Conditionally Exempt Works of Art only have to allow viewing not photography: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/heritage/rights.htm
University libraries vary.