[Foundation-l] Let's switch to CC-BY-SA

[Delirium]

Brian McNeil wrote:
> Going back to Wikinews, and our CC-BY license, we've been using GFDL images
> from Commons for ages - am I missing some subtle distinction between
> licenses that means we're not in the wrong doing this? Some of the comments
> in this discussion have suggested that if you use any GFDL content the
> document containing it must also be GFDL.
>   

The short answer is that nobody knows. It depends on whether an article 
containing an image is a "derivative work" of the image. The FSF takes 
the position that it is; the Creative Commons folk take the position 
that it isn't; neither position has ever been tested in a court.

If you consider each body to be authoritative in interpreting their own 
license, that would indeed mean that Wikinews can't use GFDL images in 
non-GFDL articles. That does seem to be the intent of some (but not all) 
authors who license their images under the GFDL: to prohibit the use 
(without separate arrangements) of their works in non-GFDL media, like 
proprietary-licensed newspapers. Whether this interpretation is 
enforceable and/or should be respected is a matter of debate.

-Mark