[WikiEN-l] Using paragraphs from wikipedia on other websites

[Ilmari Karonen]

Rory Stolzenberg wrote:
> On 1/8/07, mwookie <peter at iriselements.com> wrote:
>>
>> 1) If I include several paragraphs from the text in my website, does my
>> entire site need to be licensed under the GFDL or just that page, or just
>> the "text" versus the layout, links, etc.?
> 
> 1) None of the text you write yourself has to be under the GFDL, only the
> text that you quote.

I don't think that's quite true.  The GFDL says, in section 1:

   A "Modified Version" of the Document means any work containing the
   Document or a portion of it, either copied verbatim, or with
   modifications and/or translated into another language.

And in section 4 ("Modifications"):

   You may copy and distribute a Modified Version of the Document under
   the conditions of sections 2 and 3 above, provided that you release
   the Modified Version under precisely this License . . .

Thus, a work, such as a web page, containing portions of a GFDL work 
must generally in itself be licensed under the GFDL.

Section 7 ("Aggregation with independent works") does, however, say:

   A compilation of the Document or its derivatives with other separate
   and independent documents or works, in or on a volume of a storage or
   distribution medium, is called an "aggregate" if the copyright
   resulting from the compilation is not used to limit the legal rights
   of the compilation's users beyond what the individual works permit.
   When the Document is included in an aggregate, this License does not
   apply to the other works in the aggregate which are not themselves
   derivative works of the Document.

However, it's not entirely obvious at what point a document ceases to be 
"independent".  Certainly the pages of a web site can, in most cases, be 
considered independent documents, but it's not at all clear to me 
whether a distinct section of a single web page, like what you have on 
your site, can in fact be considered an independent document.

If you do wish to stand by the claim that it can, I believe your case 
would be strengthened by making sure that the section in question in 
fact makes sense even if taken off the page; in particular, it should 
probably carry a title of its own, so that someone reading the section 
out of context will still be able to tell what it is about.

-- 
Ilmari Karonen