[Foundation-l] Re: Wikisource Copyright

[Yann Forget]

Hi,

Le Wednesday 16 November 2005 23:48, David Newton a écrit :
> Ray Santionage wrote:
> >>I've recently been in a discussion on the Wikisource website and I
> >>would like some definitive answers about the licence that the text of
> >>Wikisource is under and also about the policy with respect to fair use
> >>on Wikisource. I've posted this question here as there is no dedicated
> >>Wikisource mailing list that I can find.
> >
> >In law there is seldom a definitive answer.  If you are looking for a
> >simple solution it's not going to happen.  If somebody gives you one it
> >is no solution.  Applying GFDL depends on whether that application is
> >necessary.  Public domain, fair use and licenses are applied
> >cumulatively, and not in a mutually exclusive fashion.  When someone
> >puts a copyright notice on a web page or a book it really only means
> >copyright to the extent that it is copyrightable; it clearly does not
> >mean that everything on that page or book is copyright.  It may very
> >well be that the only thing copyright about a page is its general layout
> >and format, and that would be reason enough to add a copyright notice.
> >The public domain or fair use nature of material is not modified by the
> >application of a GFDL statement.  Being in the public domain obviates
> >fair use claims.
>
> I'm not asking for a definitive answer under law of the implications
> that the licence that Wikisource is under entails. I'm asking for a
> definitive answer about what licence the text of Wikisource is under.
> The text of the Wikipedia is under the GFDL, there is no question of
> that. There is a question as to whether Wikisource text must be GFDL,
> GFDL-compatible or public domain, ie the same conditions as apply to
> text posted to the Wikipedia, or whether those restrictions are not in
> place. It is a straightforward question and if there is not a
> straightforward answer we have a serious problem with Wikisource's
> copyright situation.

It is clear that most of the documents in Wikisource are under public domain, 
because their copyright has expired. A few new documents are under free 
licences (GFDLÂ or CC) or public domain when the author decided to release 
them in that way.

IÂ think fair use doesn't apply to any document in Wikisource because these are 
published in their entirety.

> >When considering the copyrightability of UN resolutions, or all UN
> >documents for that matter, what law do you apply?  Is there a UN
> >Copyright Act?  In the absence of such a law can any UN document be
> >copyright?

IÂ copy the answer from JB Soufron below:

"Actually, the texts on the website of the UN are copyrighted by the UN as 
mentionned on [the copyright notice]. It is forbidden to reproduce these 
texts except in the limit mentionned in their [terms of use]. To put it 
siply, this basic license allow people to reproduce the texts but not to 
modify them, which seems normal since these are legal texts and that 
distributing modified versions could induce people in error. I think that 
wikisource could make a good use of these texts if they come with a proper 
disclaimer. --Soufron 11:22, 20 November 2005 (UTC)"

Personally, IÂ don't see anything useful in copying UNÂ resolutions on 
Wikisource. The UN web site is certainly as much as available Wikisource, so 
I don't understand why we should copy anything from it, since we can't modify 
anything in these texts anyway.

[cut]
> As for fair use, I have posted in the Scriptorium and the response has
> disappointed me to say the least. The responses that I have received
> have been contrary to the policy of Wikisource as set out at
> [[Wikisource: Copyright]] and they indicate to me that the people
> concerned do not have a deep understanding of copyright law, or if
> they do they choose to ignore those bits of copyright law that they do
> not like. The argument for fair use applying to entire documents in
> incredibly weak, and no account seems to be take of that fact.

Agreed.

> David Newton

Regards,
Yann
-- 
http://www.non-violence.org/ | Site collaboratif sur la non-violence
http://www.forget-me.net/ | Alternatives sur le Net
http://fr.wikipedia.org/ | Encyclopédie libre
http://www.forget-me.net/pro/ | Formations et services Linux