[WikiEN-l] Re: Columbia and Copyright

[Michael Snow]

Martin Harper wrote:

>>Auppose [the Wikipedia print edition] snagged the
>>same 55,000 topics as Columbia?  How big would the resulting
>>text be?
>>    
>>
>Wouldn't selecting the exact same 55,000 topics as Colombia be a possible 
>copyright infringement? Choosing an appropriate selection of topics for a 
>concise encyclopedia is a creative act...
>
It would indeed. In fact, it's probably one of the better openings we 
could provide for our natural rivals to sue us. Encyclopedia topic 
selection is definitely copyrightable. And given this kind of opening, 
if Columbia really wanted to take Wikipedia down, they could also 
recruit other parties with copyright claims and front the cost of the 
litigation. (For example, the various copyright owners of the images we 
included, if we haven't screened those properly.)

I doubt choosing the exact same topics as Columbia is realistic, 
however. We have different naming conventions, and therefore quite a few 
of the topics would not coincide exactly.

--Michael Snow
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