[WikiEN-l] Creation of user photographs

[Ray Saintonge]

Steve Bennett wrote:

>On 5/21/06, Peter Mackay <peter.mackay at bigpond.com> wrote:
>  
>
>>>If it's so unremarkable and so uncreative, isn't the whole
>>>question of copyright totally moot?
>>>      
>>>
>>Hardly. We put a lot of effort into monitoring the license status of
>>photographs in WP. It doesn't matter if the photographs themselves are
>>good
>>or bad, exciting or boring.
>>    
>>
>I think it does matter what the chances of the copyright violatee making a
>complaint are. I could be wrong on this. But if we are to focus our efforts
>anywhere, surely they should be areas where there actually is a potential
>complainant.
>
This is a more important question.  You cannot legally make a formal 
complaint without standing. 

Copyright is an economic right and a property right.  If no-one exists 
who has standing to claim a copyright that copyright may have become a 
nullity.  This is the crux of the problem with orphan copyrights.  This 
also explains the absence of legal precedent on this point; nobody is 
available to be plaintiff.

Ec