[Wikiversity-l] licenses

Tue Apr 1 11:47:32 UTC 2008

Hi James (just back from holiday - catching up),
The strong preference for using third-party non-free content (images, text)
is always to request a free copy, ie by asking the copyright holder to
relicence the content (not simply ask for permission for use on a single
project, as this is not free enough). Fair use is a cop-out, and used (only
by some projects) as a pragmatic (some would argue "defeatist") response to
virulent copyright protection in place. I would encourage you to contact the
copyright holder(s) and request for a free copy of content - there is a
similar sample letter at:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Permission_Letter_Samples - though I would
stress that the response needs to be sent to the following address: <
permissions at wikimedia.org>. In fact, it is  a good idea to have someone
watching the permissions queue for this - I have access, so I could send
this and similar types of requests myself. We could also set up a page on
Wikiversity where people could add requests, and which would be monitored by
a group of people with OTRS access (OTRS is the mailing system that
Wikimedia volunteers use). How about [[Wikiversity:OTRS requests]]?

Cheers,
Cormac

PS: Regarding odg formats, we can always allow for more file types to be
uploaded to Wikiversity - I don't know why Commons doesn't accept this
format.

On Mon, Mar 24, 2008 at 1:09 PM, James Neill <lists at wilderdom.com> wrote:

>  I've found some good reading on this:
> http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Fair_use (needs improving)
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Non-free_content
>
> with a meaty discussion at:
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Avoid_copyright_paranoia
>
> there are 10 policy requirements for fair use:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Non-free_content#Policy_2
>
> In my example below, the two images in question may qualify for fair use.
> I know of no free alternatives to the two images in question. I am making
> enquiries, but currently don't have the technology/know-how to create
> alternative free images (this is somewhat debatable - I could, and
> eventually intend to, create open format, free alternatives). Since they are
> diagrams, the text is disadvantaged without them. There does not appear to
> be any commercial disadvantage caused by fair-use of the images since they
> are available on public URLs.
>
> So, perhaps I could use these images under fair use.
>
> Alternatively, I could approach the authors and request permission. Then
> usage could be possibly become far more free, which is more desirable. So,
> I'm wondering, is there a proforma letter which can be adapted for
> approaching copyright owners for giving permission for free usage of their
> work?
>
>
>
>
> James Neill wrote:
>
> Here's a specific example, which is prototypical of my situation/needs:
>
>
> http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Exploratory_factor_analysis/Lecture_notes#Conceptual_models
>
> In this section, I would to be able to show three images. At this stage,
> however, I link to the first two images (because they are from non-free
> sources) . For the third image I uploaded it to Wiki Commons with CC
> Attribution (because I created it). However, I have only uploaded a .png and
> I would like to also upload a .odg version so that others can remix.
>
> Appreciate any advice.
>
>
> James Neill wrote:
>
> what's the procedure to use if i have an images from unknown sources which
> i wish to use in wikiversity?
>
> is it simply no go?
>
> or are there particular conditions under which it may be appropriate - i
> seem to sometimes see images on wikipedia which are tagged to indicate that
> there is no other option except to use that particular image - how does this
> work?
>
> feel free to point me to reading - i just want to get clear guidelines in
> my head
>
> i don't have any specific images in mind - each year i rework teaching
> materials, i remove a few more proprietary images and add a few more free
> images, but it is a gradual process to eventually get everything fully free
>
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