[Foundation-l] Dead Sea Scrolls

[Ray Saintonge]

On 10/01/11 5:36 AM, Anthony wrote:
> On Sat, Oct 1, 2011 at 6:44 AM, Elias Gabriel Amaral da Silva
> <tolkiendili at gmail.com>  wrote:
>> In practical terms, what they can do? Wikipedia is hosted in US.
>> Therefore, for a successful takedown, the museum must sue in US.
> Well, for one thing, they could sue reusers.
>
> WMF using the work is one thing.  WMF telling the rest of the world
> that the work is public domain and anyone can use it for any purpose
> without permission, is another.
>
The people who really feel offended by the Israel Museum's claim would 
do best to accept responsibility for their claims. Given the nature of 
the work there is perhaps a little more skill to these scans than was 
the case for NPG portraits. I don't know how a court decision would turn 
out.  I am certainly not confident enough to pursue this myself, nor 
would I want to do it for material I don't understand.

Anyone who simply feels that these scans should be freely available can 
simply put them up on his own site in whatever country he wants, and 
wait for the lawsuit to happen or not happen.  There are some areas 
where I feel that Wikimedia policies about copyright are wrong, and even 
paranoid, but I would be wrong to insist that any WMF project host them 
unless I am ready to defend a legal action against a site that I fully 
own and control.  That's what being responsible is about.

Ray