[Foundation-l] Commons Usurp issue

[Andrew Whitworth]

On Tue, Jun 3, 2008 at 10:24 PM, geni <geniice at gmail.com> wrote:
> Nope. When someone requests a rename they are effectively re-releasing
> all their edits under a second name. They are free to do this (they
> just can't stop people crediting those edits under the old name).

You cannot hold copyright anonymously, the copyright is held by the
author directly, not through their nickname as a proxy. The nickname
is not a separate legal entity, and you cannot release any
contributions "under" it. The nickname is not you, it is not your
identity, and it has no legal standing whatsoever. A nickname is
simply a technological measure that the software makes available for
us to use the website anonymously. This has nothing to do with the
author's ownership of his contributions.

--Andrew Whitworth