[Foundation-l] Exemption Doctrine Policy

[Kat Walsh]

On 8/8/07, Luna <lunasantin at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 8/7/07, cohesion <cohesion at sleepyhead.org> wrote:
> >
> > From a discussion [[Wikipedia talk:Non-free use rationale
> > guideline#What are we really accomplishing here?]], is it the
> > foundations view that the wording of the policy requires a *written*
> > rationale for any non-free content, or only that a rationale exists
> > for its use (possibly in the abstract)?
> >
> > Usually we had assumed it required a written one, but the phrase
> > "...should go through a discussion process where it is determined
> > whether such a rationale exists..." makes it seem as though perhaps
> > the intention is to mean a rationale in the abstract.
> >
>
> "Media used under EDPs are subject to deletion if they lack an applicable
> rationale..."
>
> "...existing media under such licenses should go through a discussion
> process where it is determined whether such a rationale exists..."
>
> Those seem to be the relevant bits, at first glance. I could be mistaken,
> but I don't see anything there that requires the rationale be in writing. My
> current understanding is that en.wikipedia policy adds this requirement
> explicitly.
>
> But, I'm not in a position to speak for the foundation in any capacity, just
> a nosy list member. ;)

Yep. The rationale doesn't actually need to be stated explicitly, and
boilerplate is perfectly fine if it is actually used correctly and
applies to the particular media in the particular situation. There
just needs to *be* a solid rationale within the licensing policy for
using non-free media. If it's not absolutely clear that a rationale
exists, it's best to err on the side of writing it down, and if
en.wikipedia wants to demand an explicit rationale, then it's free to
set policy that way.

(Note that I haven't consulted the rest of the board -- as those who
are not currently in planes are probably really tired -- but I have no
reason to think any would disagree.)

-Kat

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