[Foundation-l] Help requested on Commons copyright woes

Thu Jul 20 12:12:22 UTC 2006

On 7/20/06, Brianna Laugher <brianna.laugher at gmail.com> wrote:

> * To what extent are we bound by local laws

Every user is bound by their own local laws. Whether the project
decides to adhere to any of those is more of a policy issue than a
legal one.

> * Flickr allows users to change the licenses on their images with no
> external notice. So CC-BY or CC-BY-SA images uploaded to Commons might
> later appear to be CC-BY-NC-ND or even "all rights reserved". This is
> an increasing problem. Obviously Flickr needs a "history" tab, but
> until then...? (current discussion at
> http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Village_pump#Flickr_allows_license_changes
> )

The problem here is whether to trust the user who originally added a
tag that no longer matches what is on flickr.

> I really feel distaste at the idea that the Foundation would avoid
> involving itself in such questions in order to avoid legal
> culpability.

Has anyone said the avoid Foundation is refusing to answer questions
for that reason? I'd assumed the problem was that no one knew the
answers, not that they did but were purposefully withholding the
information.

Angela