[WikiEN-l] Wikilists and GDFL

Tue Sep 30 12:36:12 UTC 2003

Who decides if they were fair use? Do we have a US Federal District
Court judge who can render binding fair use opinions? Do we have
someone who can even say what is a copyright violation? It is all opinion.

Well, observance of law is a duty of citizens, most of whom have limited
access to legal expertise. However being regularly engaged in a regulated
activity as our editors are, results in gradual development of expertise
which is "good enough" for our purposes.

Even if one of regular contributors was a US Federal District Court judge
and they chose to share their expertise with us it would not serve as that
would be the opinion of only one judge in one jurisdiction in a complicated
field with diverse authority.

What we have to do is in good faith do our best.

These and discussions on talk pages are a vital part of our self-education
and our program for compliance.

It is of course, opinion, but we need to form opinions which are sufficient
for our purposes, which are to appropriatly apply fair use and avoid
infringement and possible litigation.

Fred