[WikiEN-l] Pattern copyvios involving comic book characters

[MacGyverMagic/Mgm]

Paraphrasing is okay. (Otherwise, writing an article about an oft cited fact
can be impossible.)  Just changing a few words isn't. The difference can be
hard to spot.

Mgm


On 10/19/06, Justin Cormack <justin at specialbusservice.com> wrote:
>
> The Uninvited Co., Inc wrote:
>
> >No idea how we're going to unravel this one.
> >
> >We have received, over a period of months, numerous reports to OTRS
> >regarding copyvios from the www.marvunapp.com web site.  That site
> >publishes character summaries for scores of comic book characters
> >ranging from the well-known to those obscure figures that make only
> >cameo appearances.  The summaries are written by a fairly small number
> >of contributors to the the site and are generally not edited once they
> >are posted.
> >
> >Their site content is making its way to Wikipedia.  There are three
> >problems:
> >a) Cut and paste copying of text
> >b) Paraphrasing of text
> >c) Unattributed copying of images the site has scanned from comic books
> >
> >(a) and (b) are copyright violations.  The problem goes back at least
> >six months and is ongoing.
> >
> >(c) while not strictly speaking a copyvio since marvunapp.com is merely
> >making scans of flat art, is upsetting the site operators due to the
> >volume of material involved and the lack of attribution.  If left
> >unaddressed (c) is likely to make them more pedantic about their rights
> >regarding (a) and (b).  So far they've been pretty understanding and
> >supportive, considering.
> >
> >
> Just for clarification:
> (c) is a copyvio too. "flat art" is under copyright too. Their site
> presumably has no permission to host these pictures either though?
> Unless they are claiming fair use?
> (b) on the other hand is not a copyvio in general, unless it is really
> (a).
>
> Justin
>
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