[WikiEN-l] Fair use redux; the second coming of hell; Are we a free content or aren't we?

[WikipediaEditor Durin]

On 7/19/07, Bryan Derksen <bryan.derksen at shaw.ca> wrote:
>
> WikipediaEditor Durin wrote:
> > en.wikipedia is utterly failing at executing the Foundation's mission,
> and
> > it is THE flagship project.
>
> This is unwarranted hyperbole. If we're utterly failing, why is
> Wikipedia a top-10 website that's rapidly gaining cachet as the first
> place to look for general information, why is Britannica in terror of
> us, and (specifically on the "free" front) why is the Wikipedia database
> being used by literally hundreds of mirrors?



Our mission says nothing about striving to become a top 10 website.

Please have a look at
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mission

The same rationales that we use for fair use images can be used by
> others who wish to use Wikipedia's material in the same context (as an
> educational encyclopedia), so it's not like the fair use images are
> completely useless for people wishing to reuse our content. They just
> have to make the judgement for themselves which licences are compatible
> with their use and strip out the bits that aren't.


Then we might as well liberally allow fair use, since we're unconcerned
with derivative uses.

-Durin