[WikiEN-l] Re: U.S. copyright law and European servers

[Anthere]

I think there are two things we should remember

First, the fact that DB are only in USA right now, does not mean no DB 
will ever be in other countries. It could happen sooner than expected 
and within the precautionary principle, I'd say it is probably a good 
idea to avoid using fair use image as much as possible.

Second, we should not forget we are not building an unique central 
resource for final users, but building a resource to be used by anyone. 
While we repeat over and over that our resource is free to use, this is 
only true for text and as such potentially confusing for those reusing 
the entirery of the content. I feel that each time we provide an image 
which is only "with permission for wikipedia" or "fair use (in the 
USA)", we are bringing confusion to those reusing our content, as they 
may not realise *they* have no permission to use the image, or are using 
an image illegal in their country.

It is embarassing.
It is not just a "legal" issue, that is an ethical issue.

ant



Nyenyec N a écrit:
> This is somewhat related to the ongoing "fair use" discussion.
> 
> AFAIK, there are Wikipedia servers in Paris and Amsterdam.
> 
> Is it OK for Wikipedia to use an image under U.S. copyright law based
> on "fair use" and the given image is hosted on French or Dutch server
> and is served to French or Dutch clients but is copyrighted under
> French or Dutch law?
> Isn't that a copyright violation?
> 
> (I assumed that there is no equivalent of "fair use" in France or in
> the Netherlands, but I really don't have a clue...)
> 
> Wouldn't this be a problem as more and more servers are installed in
> an increasing number of countries?
> 
> Thanks,
> nyenyec