[WikiEN-l] Wikipedia, a world without borders with borders?

[Skander -]

Just a note... On the Dutch Wikipedia, fair use is not permitted, but in the
album template there is a parameter which one can use to link to the album
cover on the English wiki.
http://nl.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=N.E.W.S_%28Prince-album%29&oldid=8144601(current
version of the page). I personally agree that Fair Use is
inappropriate for a "free" encyclopaedia when it says it permits people to
reuse it, but that doesn't really matter in this case. I can understand that
most people who read the Dutch Wikipedia are Dutch or Flemish and thus are
even less likely to be able to reuse the content than visitors of the
English Wikipedia are, but still, it's quite weird. The servers are hosted
in Florida and technically the wiki has nothing to with the Netherlands
except being Dutch-language.

Salaskan

2007/6/18, Ray Saintonge <saintonge at telus.net>:
>
> b m wrote:
>
> >(lagging behind because im new and being moderated)...anyway, the
> reference
> >issue IS being discussed on the Dutch wikipedia, but it just doesn't
> catch
> >on apparently.
> >
> I'm glad to hear it's being discussed.  If it doesn't catch on, that's
> the way things are.
>
> >As for copyrighted images...did wikimedia ever contact the 5 largest
> media
> >conglomerates and as nicely if they could use their copyrighted images
> >(album covers, movie posters) in wikipedia? If necessary watermarked to
> >prevent them being used as illegal covers? Most media are controlled by
> few
> >companies, surely it could be done to get permission, it's in their
> interest
> >too to have more exposure and info about their artists and such.
> >
> I can't say for sure that anyone has tried such contact, but it wouldn't
> surprise me to hear that some have done this on their own.  The interest
> of the company is probably best served by stonewalling and refusing to
> answer such questions at all, even when the answer is obvious.  They, or
> their legal advisers, know that anything that they say could be
> embarrassingly brought into evidence in some future case that may have
> nothing to do with the current request.  Someone who is refused could
> argue, "But you allowed this for Wikipedia."  These companies do not
> want to put loose canons on the deck
>
> >I mean, what's an article about "Abbey Road" or "Dark Side of the Moon"
> >without the album cover....?
> >We Dutch read articles about music without seeing album covers or other
> >copyrighted media, that's a bit of a shame, because describing it and
> seeing
> >it are two different things altogether!
> >
> English does this through fair use policy.  Dutch Wikipedians could do
> this, but that's their decision.  In many respects the media
> conglomerates can be seen as satisfied by the application of fair use to
> achieve the exposure that you mentioned.  As long as the usage of
> material, such as album covers, comes within what they accept as fair
> use, they can sit back and do nothing without committing themselves.
> This leaves open the option for them to act when _they_ feel that the
> fair use claims have gone too far.  They are not likely to complain
> about most low resolution reproductions of album covers.  Even with the
> more rigid fair dealing rules of the European Union, I can't see them
> taking any action.  It only gets tricky when the government feels it has
> a right to prosecute with or without the support of the copyright
> owner.  To repeat it's really up to the Dutch to decide what sort of
> risk management policy should be followed there.
>
> Ec
>
>
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