[WikiEN-l] Knol - Our first major scandel

[Ray Saintonge]

geni wrote:
> 2009/4/26  <WJhonson at aol.com>:
>   
>> I, along with seven other co-authors, write an article on say.... Cheese
>> Whiz.  In the article we state that anyone may copy the article, provided that
>> they state where they got it from, and that the article may be copied by
>> anyone else provided that they state where they got it from...
>>
>> Can I alone bring a lawsuit against anyone else copying the article without
>> stating where they got it from?  Since the article is not exactly
>> *copyright* I would say it's freely licensed under one condition.  Does this really
>> fall under copyright law?  Or would it be more in the way of a standard
>> contract?
>>     
> It falls under copyright law. See Jacobsen v. Katzer.
>
> Multiple authors for the most part isn't a problem. With the possible
> exception of a few major battleground or very popular articles most
> wikipedia articles have someone who would have standing to sue.
>
>
>   
The matters of principle in the Jacobsen v. Katzer appear to have been 
decided for the moment, but the denial of a preliminary injunction 
suggests that the practicalities are far from clear.  While it's true 
enough that someone may have standing to sue with respect to most 
Wikipedia articles, how would it be worth their while?

Remember that pre-registration is still a requirement for a plaintiff 
who wants statutory damages or a recovery of legal costs. Without 
pre-registration he may get injunctive relief, and only recover actual 
damages.

Ec