[WikiEN-l] Re: A Friendly Challenge to Sheldon Rampton

[Sheldon Rampton]

cprompt wrote:

>You seem familiar with copyright law. I have considered making Wikipedia
>a little prettier by finding suitable pictures for some articles. If I
>find a photograph of, say, a koala, and I want to add it to [[Koala]],
>is that permissable (if I can attribute the photo)?

My familiarity with copyright law is limited to having a general idea 
of how the law affects my work as someone who writes primarily for 
media outside the GNU Public License (GPL). I'm not an attorney, and 
I don't claim special expertise. If anyone here challenges anything I 
have written about copyright and fair use, I'll defer to their 
judgment.

That said, I think there's a difference between a photograph as 
opposed to text. To begin with, reproducing a photo amounts to 
reproducing the entire work, not just an excerpt. In the field of 
music, I believe there are strict rules against reproducing even 
brief excerpts of someone else's work without express permission. 
There's been a fair amount of legal wrangling over the practice of 
"sampling" by Hip Hop artists.

When it comes to trademarks or brands, there are other issues. Disney 
is very aggressive against anyone who uses the image of Mickey Mouse 
without their permission, and McDonald's has taken people to court 
for allegedly infringing their proprietary ownership of the letters 
"Mc." In one case, they sued a guy in California for calling his 
organic fast-food restaurant "McDharma's."

Personally, I think some of these restrictions are ridiculous. In 
fact, I've been toying with the idea of starting an online open 
source fiction novel, using the Wiki rules that allow anyone to 
contribute and edit. It would be a murder mystery, set at Disney 
World and titled "Steal This Mouse." The plot would revolve around a 
series of murders that appear to be linked to some coverup within the 
company. The protagonist would be a Disney PR consultant who is torn 
by the conflict of having to defend the company's reputation while 
simultaneously trying to help the cops catch the killer. The novel 
would use Disney-branded characters and symbols and would also 
comment on the company's obsession with controlling its brands. In 
addition to discussing issues of censorship and intellectual 
property, "Steal This Mouse" would itself constitute an act of civil 
disobedience, daring the company to crack down in the real world and 
mocking any attempts to do so.

I haven't done it yet, though...just an idea... ;)
-- 
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|  Sheldon Rampton
|  Editor, PR Watch (www.prwatch.org)
|  Author of books including:
|     Friends In Deed: The Story of US-Nicaragua Sister Cities
|     Toxic Sludge Is Good For You
|     Mad Cow USA
|     Trust Us, We're Experts
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