Justin Cormack wrote:
The Uninvited Co., Inc wrote:
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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).
I'll bite.
a) is an infringement of the copyright of the site's authors and is rude. b) is plagiarism and is rude. c) is plagiarism *and* copyright infringement of the comic book authors/artists, the latter of which we believe is justifiable under the mysterious "fair use" and "fair dealing" clauses present in many English-speaking countries (especially the US). It's also rude.
In short:
1. DON'T INFRINGE ON COPYRIGHT. "Fair use" images should be the exception to the rule and should NOT be used when a Free alternative is available. 2. Don't use a source without attribution. If we can do it for NASA and the US Government who so graciously put their works into the Public Domain, we can at least acknowledge the hard work of people who have carefully scanned (often rare) comic books and made those images available online, and researched and written detailed summaries on said comics.