[Foundation-l] Bridgeman v. Corel worldwide for Wikimedia Commons - yes or no?

[Ray Saintonge]

Birgitte SB wrote:
> --- Ray Saintonge wrote:
>   
>> What's concerning about this is that we are
>> referring to a statement by 
>> Mike on Anthere's Meta talk page.  If he were
>> providing legal advice to 
>> the entire community would it not be more
>> appropriate on a page 
>> addressed to a more general population.  Anybody can
>> read anybody else's 
>> talk page, but that is as much to enable dialogue
>> between any two 
>> persons.  I still respect a kind of semi-private
>> quality to personal 
>> talk pages.  That someone should derive a legal
>> position based on 
>> eavesdropping onto a personal talk page doesn't seem
>> at all the best way 
>> to go about this sort of thing.
>>
>> Ec
>>     
> Come on Ec!  Admit that you dislike Mike's conclusion
> when giving reasons to not use it. ;)
>
> More on-topic, I cannot see any discrepancy between
> Erik's and Mike's opinion, even though they are
> responses to different questions.  Erik basically
> supports the conclusion of Bridgeman v. Corel and Mike
> says we must follow US law.  Since Bridgeman v. Corel 
> *is* US law, I cannot understand what the issue is.
>
> Birgitte SB
The simple fact that Mike is a lawyer doesn't make his opinion superior 
to anyone else's, but my point was how such issues are presented.  
Suddenly we have an interpretation out of the context of a personal talk 
page being taken as an ex-cathedra pronouncement that affects us all.  
It's especially inappropriate to be extrapolating from a vague statement 
about the need to follow US law to a disavowal of Bridgeman vs. Corel. 
In that regard we do not differ.

The Canadian banknote in question is more than 50 years old and is in 
the public domain.  So is any photograph of it.

Ec