[WikiEN-l] Knol - Our first major scandel

[Jussi-Ville Heiskanen]

Anthony wrote:
> Free licenses are generally written from the point of view that
> modifications to works constitute derivative works, and not works of joint
> authorship.  Either is certainly possible.  The key legal question is
> whether the authors intended to collaborate on a single work
> (Lennon/McCartney), or if one author created a work which was then modified
> by another author (a movie created from a screenplay).
>
> It's by no means clear which better fits what happens on Wikipedia.  I could
> see things going either way, but considering the use of the GFDL I'd lean
> toward believing that the *intent* of most authors was for each subsequent
> edition to be a derivative work, and not a work of joint authorship.  And
> that's what matters, the intent of the authors (unfortunately, some authors
> probably intended different from other authors).
>   

Purely on the question of what extra-wiki artistic analogue would
be most apposite to the current state of affairs, might I propose:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_of_the_Rising_Sun

Wikipedia is very much jamming on each others contributions, with
participants being variously incensed or exhilarated by others
appropriating, re-using, re-invigorating old content. Personally I am
glad that very few of my early contributions have remained in any
form at all as live content. What supplanted them has been much
better.


Yours,

Jussi-Ville Heiskanen