[WikiEN-l] Non-free images, there has to be a better way

[Ray Saintonge]

Stan Shebs wrote:

> Another thing we do
> is to have extensive discussion (like this thread) of what is and is 
> not OK, and
> the discussion is a matter of public record. If it ever got to the 
> point of a judge
> scrutinizing our policies and practices, I think we would be found to 
> be taking
> more care about all this than the average volunteer organization or 
> private
> website (as you observe, there are many copyright-violating websites 
> in the
> world). 

We would, of course, have all these discussions made a part of the court 
record.

> We should be completely open and upfront about this, no reason to
> sneak around. 

This is absolutely key.  Ignorance of the law and our responsibilties 
under the law would be a very poor argument.

> For my part, I've been researching postage stamp
> copyrights, which seem to be complicated, and yet in practice, every
> stamp dealer in the world publishes thousands of copyrighted
> images every year, and nobody seems to mind. Curious, eh? 

It's gone a long way since the day when any reproduction of a US stamp 
was considered tantamount to counterfeiting.

Collectors delight in the exercise of finding the hidden copyright date 
on every Canadian stamp since the 1930s.

Ec