[WikiEN-l] Public Domain in occupied Iraq

[Tony Sidaway]

On 10/3/05, steve v <vertigosteve at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> If we really wanted to be nutty about IP law we could
> have taken down all the Abu Ghraib photos, as they
> were put up only on a prima fascia claim of public
> domain -- which assumed that the models/photographer's
> claim of "official duties" would stand in court.



They probably weren't public domain. However there may be a strong public
interest argument for displaying those photographs. I'm not sure whether it
would be wise to have an official policy on that (it would almost certainly
be abused) but it's a good thing to bear in mind when considering the
appropriateness of important photographs from unknown sources.

The public interest argument might work better for wikinews. I'm not sure
whether it would fly as well on the Wikipedia site. However Wikipedia has
recently become noted for the speed and reliability of its coverage of
current events, so it's obviously not in the same position that, say,
Britannica might be if it carried Abu Ghraib photographs without permission.

I'm not a lawyer, so the above is purely speculative.