On 8/8/06, Patrick-Emil Zörner <paddyez(a)yahoo.de> wrote:
The "keine Schöpfungshöhe" [[Threshold of
originality]] is a term that
does not exist as such in the english language. But the reason the
german wikipedia does not care is because the german "Urheberrecht"
(copyright) is not infringed. We do not even infringe any law
including the "Markenrecht" (trademarks).
Is there solid legal precedent that under German law, trademarked
logos cannot be copyrighted, under any circumstances? In other words,
has more analysis gone into this than a few de: users reading the law
for themselves and working out what they think it means?
I do not care about that [a lawsuit] at all. It is the
responsibility of the
uploader. Wikimedia projects do not even need logo images IMHO. And
even if the uploader is sued I do not know on what grounds. If someone
prints a logo on a t-shirt and sells the stuff he infringes the
"Markenrecht". That is of no concern of the uploader whatsoever.
The uploader may be the first responsible person, but not the only
person who could be sued, I'm sure. If de: image policy is changed to
allow such use, and it is later found to be incorrect to consider
logos as uncopyrightable, it's possible that those involved in that
enabling decision - or the foundation itself, or the German
equivalent, could be sued. Even if such a lawsuit is unsuccessful, it
would require time and money we'd rather not spend.
From commons
yes. But that is because commons needs to think about
international law. And in
other countries such a thing as "keine
Schöpfungshöhe" does not exist. So please do not confuse issues like
WP de and WM commons.
WP de needs to respect international law as well, for that matter,
unless all the servers are now located in Germany and have severed all
ties to the Florida-based Foundation, which I don't believe has
happened.
I would especially argue caution for trademarks of non-German
entities, but I think that caution is required all round.
-Matt