[WikiEN-l] Would you like one of your videos posted on Wikipedia?

Tue Sep 19 11:58:56 UTC 2006

On 19/09/06, Stephen Streater <sbstreater at mac.com> wrote:
> Would the original poster be liable in the UK
> for each copy made though? I don't have a
> clear answer on this yet. By releasing something
> under a free licence, am I saying:
> "you have the right to copy this"
> or am I saying
> "you have the right to copy this subject to applicable laws"?

My interpretation is that you're saying "I have the right to copy
this, and I'm giving you these rights subject to the following
conditions..."

If you don't have the right to make commercial copies (or whatever),
you can't license the rights to do so. If you've attempted to license
it under something like the GFDL without first possessing all the
rights you're licensing, at the very least the license is invalid -
and there's a nontrivial possibility you're liable for breach of
contract. Even though you yourself haven't made commercial use of it,
you've knowingly permitted people to do so...

(It becomes more complex if you distribute it legally and then  *I*
steal it and redistribute it under a free license - the license is
still invalid, but you're probably no longer liable)

-- 
- Andrew Gray
  andrew.gray at dunelm.org.uk