[Foundation-l] BitTorrent Downloads of enwiki Images

[Gary Kirk]

I'm not a lawyer nor am I that familiar with it regards to fair use
etc (here in Britain) but what you seem to be saying is that what you
want to do is not strictly within the law but you'll do it anyway and
it's alright because the Wikimedia Foundation can deal with it.

You also didn't answer Anthere's question - or is the original message
of this thread you 'asking' for permission/approval?

On 10/03/07, Jeffrey V. Merkey <jmerkey at wolfmountaingroup.com> wrote:
> Rory Stolzenberg wrote:
>
> >On 3/9/07, Jeff V. Merkey <jmerkey at wolfmountaingroup.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> >>I have compiled the entire library of Wikipedia's images and have a
> >>bittorrent server ready to export this library on the internet.  I am
> >>awaiting
> >>word back from the Foundation for approval to enable the torrents.
> >>
> >>I have developed an automated C based server system which mirrors all
> >>Wikipedia images and compiles them into .bz2 archives as a library based
> >>on XML revision and dump.   When I get final approval, I will export
> >>these torrents to allow the images to be available from the internet.
> >>I will be in Arizona meeting with Dine (Navajo) folks next week on their
> >>projects, but will have email access.
> >>
> >>The torrents will be available at
> >>
> >>http://www.wikigadugi.org:2780
> >>
> >>At some point.  I will let folks know when and if the Foundation has
> >>approved this.
> >>
> >>:-)
> >>
> >>Jeff
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >The Foundation does not own the copyright to (almost) all of those
> pictures.
> >Why do you need approval from them? As long as they're distributed
> according
> >to the terms of their licenses (assuming you aren't using copyrighted
> images
> >that Wikipedia uses under a claim of fair use), you don't need any
> >permission.
> >
> >
> When I start distributing them, there WILL be DMCA takedown notices and
> legal threats from various folks out on the internet
> I am certain, along with possible litigation.
>
> That's fine. If someone wants to take me to Court for distributing
> Wikipedia images, I have both the legal background,
> and the resources to defend such actions.
>
> I need the Foundations permission because they are the source of the
> images on the internet. In the event there is a DMCA takedown
> notice, I will notify the Wikipedia contributor on their talk page who
> uploaded the image, wait for the response, then give the complaining
> party the time period to file suit if they really feel that strongly
> about it, or work out some reasonable compromise (which would be best)
> between the parties.
>
> Should someone want to file suit or really complain, then the Foundation
> can make the call on whether or not the image should also
> come off Wikipedia without exposing the Foundation to the same level of
> legal risks someone who is actively distributing the images
> would be. People who own copyrights may not have an issue with Fair use
> images on Wikipedia as a encyclopedia, but they may have a more serious
> view when someone is distributing full downloads and archives of images
> so people REALLY CAN host the encyclopedia. This will test that premise
> and I would expect to see more people coming forward on image use in
> general so the Foundation can more effectively identify images which
> may in fact be sources of conflict.
>
> In essence, the Foundation will have a "buffer" of sorts one level away
> from the forefront of these legal issues and at the same time be able
> to filter a lot of the conflict over image distribution. The other point
> is, technically under the law, WMF may be considered the source
> of the images in some cases, and in that case, they would be the
> responder to DMCA takedown notices. I think this would help
> clean up a lot of the images also (people would think twice about
> uploading fair use images if they knew they were being repacked
> and distributed and that they may receive DMCA notices about the images).
>
> At any rate, it would be impolite and a breach of loyalty to the
> foundation and community to go ahead with such a plan without permission
> and without giving the Foundation the opportunity to comment on the
> proposal and offer suggestions.
>
> Jeff
>
>
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-- 
Gary Kirk