[Foundation-l] Does "free content" exist in France?

[Jesse Martin (Pathoschild)]

Hello,

This question is related to a debate* on the English Wikisource,
summarised hence.

Currently, based on the Free Content definition*, the copyright
policy* requires that a work's licensing allow it to be "freely
viewed, used, distributed, modified, and exploited by anyone, in any
form, and for any purpose (including commercial exploitation) without
exception and without limitation (except as explicitly allowed [by the
copyright policy])".

Given that moral rights include the right to attribution and the right
to object to modification of one's work (independently of copyright
and even after the transfer or expiry of copyright)*, and given that a
significant portion of the English-speaking world recognizes moral
rights, does this mean that the copyright policy and definition
require impossible freedoms?

For example, this would mean that all works on Wikisource (including
those in the public domain) would either:
1. be retagged to require attribution and prohibit changes or derivatives;
2. be deleted.

I disagree with this assertion. I consider moral rights to be legal
restrictions in some jurisdictions, much like anti-hate propaganda
legislation in Canada, and not "attached" to a work as copyright is.
However, I am not a lawyer nor particularly aware of the intricacies
of copyright, and would appreciate input from the wider Foundation
community.

* debate: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Wikisource:Scriptorium#Moral_rights
* definition: http://freedomdefined.org/Definition
* copyright policy: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Wikisource:Copyright_policy
* Moral rights in Europe:
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Convention_for_the_Protection_of_Literary_and_Artistic_Works/Articles_1_to_21#Article_6bis

Yours cordially,
Jesse Martin (Pathoschild)