[Foundation-l] re GFDL publisher credit

Thu Jul 13 23:08:04 UTC 2006

On 7/13/06, Anthony <wikilegal at inbox.org> wrote:
> And FWIW, the US Code defines "publication" as "the distribution of
> copies or phonorecords of a work to the public by sale or other
> transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending. The offering
> to distribute copies or phonorecords to a group of persons for
> purposes of further distribution, public performance, or public
> display, constitutes publication. A public performance or display of a
> work does not of itself constitute publication."
>
> Wikimedia doesn't transfer the ownership of anything, and there is no
> rental, lease, or lending.  But then again, by that definition
> *nothing* distributed over the Internet is published, and I doubt a
> court would agree with that.
>

Looking further, "To perform or display a work "publicly" means—
(1) to perform or display it at a place open to the public or at any
place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle
of a family and its social acquaintances is gathered; or
(2) to transmit or otherwise communicate a performance or display of
the work to a place specified by clause (1) or to the public, by means
of any device or process, whether the members of the public capable of
receiving the performance or display receive it in the same place or
in separate places and at the same time or at different times."

Seems 2) fits in closer with what Wikipedia is doing than the
definition of "publication".

Anthony