[Foundation-l] foundation-l Digest, Vol 85, Issue 52

[Ray Saintonge]

On 04/25/11 10:13 AM, WJhonson at aol.com wrote:
> I don't believe you could make the case that individual contributors have
> any standing to sue for copyright violations.  Similarly, when you contribute
> to the project, you are intrinsically giving up any rights you may think
> you possess in what you have written.  "Your permission" is a non-existent
> entity in the case of what you give to Wikipedia.

If the individual contributors don't have the standing to sue than 
nobody can! If contributing implies giving up "intrinsic" rights, why 
even bother with the mention of licences? If I understand it correctly 
Wikimedia has consistently refused even an assignment of the right to 
sue for infringement lest it jeopardize its status as an ISP. The WMF 
has no standing of its own on which to base an infringement suit.  One's 
"permission" may still legally not amount to much, but that's not the 
same as it's non-existence.

Ray