[Foundation-l] Help requested on Commons copyright woes

[Brianna Laugher]

On 22/07/06, Ray Saintonge <saintonge at telus.net> wrote:
> >Why?  None of these are cut and dry.  If we limit ourselves to only
> >the images that are zero risk we would have a LOT less content... and
> >we'd have to reject a lot which will be free for all meaningful
> >purposes.     When it comes down to it, most of these things can only
> >be decided in a court, and courts rule in strage ways.    An official
> >statement by the foundation would be risky and without much gain...
> >after all, what would a statement really accomplish that we couldn't?
> >
> Individual responsibility!  Otherwise there are problems at both ends of
> the scale.

The cases I have mentioned are not about uploaders who don't care
about copyright. They're about good uploaders who don't happen to be
aware of every nook and cranny of copyright of every country whose
laws might apply to their images. They are being as responsible as
they know how. Who would've thought a statue in the public might not
be allowed to be photographed? Who would've thought a PHOTO of a
pokemon toy (not the toy itself) would be copyrighted? Who would've
thought a Flickr user whose photo says CC-BY didn't really mean it, as
it turns out? etc. So IMO this doesn't have a lot to do with
uploaders.

Brianna