[Foundation-l] Clearing up Wikimedia's media licensing policies (some important points)

Thu Feb 8 16:53:10 UTC 2007

Gregory Maxwell wrote:

>
>I hope, we will make our decisions based on reasoned thought and
>research, and not based on who can scream the loudest.  To that end,
>wouldn't it be better if we did as suggested and sought guidance from
>experts on how best to set the policy for itwiki?
>
>Please stop to consider for a moment:  In no way does the board only
>allowing image which would be fair use/fair dealing preclude itwiki
>from getting permission.
>
>Lets assume for a moment that under Italian law, there is no exception
>for excerpting for education.  So, itwiki does not permit this
>exception.  Instead, itwiki users will go obtain permission.  This is
>fine, you can continue to do this, the foundation already said you may
>be more restrictive than they require and many projects already are.
>However, even with permission you may still only submit images which
>the rest of the world, which has the concept of fair dealing, could
>use as fair dealing.  This ensures that itwiki are not getting
>non-free permission for images which we could easily create as free
>works ourselves, and it ensures that the work is maximally free.
>
>Why does this make you mad? What do you think you are losing?
>
>All I can see is itwiki losing images which are non-free and could be
>replaced with free ones... and that is a gain for everyone.
>
>_______________________________________________
>  
>
I agree with this view, personally I think it satisfies both the needs 
of being free in the US (because of the fair use) and being acceptable 
in those unfortunate countries where you need permission. But, ehm, in 
the previous email you said that you shouldn't say that the author 
authorizes every ND or NC use, so where are we going to write that we 
have the explicit permission to use that media?

Marco (Cruccone)