[Foundation-l] Fair Use (again)

[Ray Saintonge]

Brad Patrick wrote:

>I wanted to simply state that I have been reading this thread with
>interest.  When it comes to content, it is the editors and users and not the
>Foundation who decide what is on.  I don't presently serve as, and don't
>intend to become, the central authority for what is and isn't acceptable for
>fair use questions. It is not a subject that is prone to sweeping policy
>decisions, as counterexamples etc. abound.  Again, since the license is the
>key to the forward looking nature of the project (here en:wp) why someone
>feels compelled to take the easy way out and {{fairuse}} image the heck out
>of articles out of a sense of obligation to "improve" it is beside the
>point.
>
>The images are fair - not free - and that isn't the same thing.  You can
>argue til the cows come home about any particular example.  People do.  ;-)
>But I would once again encourage anyone interested in the issue to ask
>themselves first why the fair image *must* be there instead of a free one
>(rare examples) and why it is not instead an easy way out in lieu of the
>harder task of obtaining free images as equivalents.
>
>What happens in legal terms depends, of course, on the situation.  WMF has
>no interest in fighting really hard for "fair use" in principle, since we
>are all about free images where there is a choice.  Be honest - wouldn't the
>best Wikipedia be one with no strings attached, with content of equivalent
>quality?
>
Thank you for expressing this position.  I absolutely agree that it 
should not be the Board's function to defend some user's claim to fair 
use, or, for that matter, any user's challenge of a specific copyright 
under other provisions of the law.  Nevertheless, I do feel that the 
Board should help to facilitate challenges to copyright by individual 
users, providing that they understand that they are doing so at their 
own expense, and that WMF must comply fully with legal orders arising 
from the issue.

I do agree too that what some users claim to be fair use may not be fair 
use at all.  Some of these claims seem to be based on little more than 
the convenience of the uploading editor.  Individual free access should 
be accompanied by individual free responsibility.

Ec