Hi Achal, For those cases there is a Wikisource clone called Wikilivres, whose server is in Canada and it is operated by a Canadian citizen. http://wikilivres.ca/
It is not very fast, but it serves as storage for such cases since the Canadian copyright law is quite permissive in that regard (50 years after author/translator death). Then you can link the works from the Wikisource author page to the work page in Wikilivres as some Wikisources do. If you have time, take also a look to the proposed improvements for Wikisource. Thanks! https://wikisource.org/wiki/Wikisource_vision_development/Applying_the_WS_values David ---User:Micru On Sun, May 12, 2013 at 5:27 AM, Achal Prabhala <[email protected]> wrote: > Of relevance here: http://www.publicdomainday.** > org/sites/www.publicdomainday.**eu/files/World_copyright-**terms.jpg<http://www.publicdomainday.org/sites/www.publicdomainday.eu/files/World_copyright-terms.jpg> > > > > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Wikimedia Servers and Copyright > Issues > Date: Sun, 12 May 2013 14:51:27 +0530 > From: Achal Prabhala <[email protected]> > To: Wikimedia India Community list <wikimediaindia-l@lists.** > wikimedia.org <[email protected]>> > > > > Hi Balasankar, > > The question you raise is a very important one. The solution, however, is > not likely to be to host content in India (I don't speak for the Wikimedia > Foundation, but there are sound legal reasons why all Wikimedia content is > hosted in the US; mostly liability risk and freedom of expression and this > is unlikely to change). > > The default across Commons and Wikisource, the two projects that host the > bulk of public domain content (images, videos, sounds, books) in Wikimedia, > is the US copyright term - it's the only yardstick that matters for what > qualifies as public domain by virtue of being out of copyright. You are > absolutely right, however, in that there's a big difference btw US > copyright terms and those of other countries, for instance: > > For photographs, while the binding limit (Berne/TRIPs) is 25 years from > the making of the work, India is life of photographer + 60 years after > death, and in the US it is life + 70. > > For literary works, the binding limit (Berne/ TRIPs) is life + 50 years, > whereas in India it is life + 60, whereas in the US it is life + 70 or > 120/95 if made on work for hire. > > (The binding limit is the WTO mandated term that country members - US and > India and 150 others - have to follow. As you can see, typically, most > countries exceed the limit for reasons of their own, which they are allowed > to do, with the US exceeding in far greater amount than India.) > > In short, there can be a difference of between 10 and 40 years between the > time a work goes into the public domain in a country with shorter terms > than the US (any number of countries in the non-Anglo-European world) and > the US. This seriously affects even 'Indian' works (where India is the > first country of publication) because of the copyright protection granted > to such works in the US, thus effectively placing them under copyright for > our purposes within Wikimedia long after they've gone in to the public > domain in their source country. > > The case to consider here is Golan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/** > Golan_v._Holder <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golan_v._Holder> > > A summary of the US Supreme Court decision in this case is - US law trumps > international agreements, so the US copyright term holds within US > territory, and restores copyright protection to any works that have gone > into the public domain by virtue of a shorter copyright term in another > country. Because Wikimedia servers are based in the US, Golan applies to us. > > But your question is an extremely pertinent one, and if we were to find > unusual solutions to it, they would seem to lie in: > > 1) Whether hosting on US servers for a global audience makes any > difference, since we do not serve readers only bound by US law (Wikimedia > reader numbers bear this out, ie US readership = minority percentage of > whole) and whether we specifically have anything special on the basis of > which to mount some kind of strategic litigation on the issue of allowing > us to exploit the shortest possible route to public domain anywhere in the > world for all or some of our readers. > > 2) Whether hosting on US servers but using publicly audited geolocation to > switch off for readers from IP addresses where the material in question is > still under copyright is a legally and operationally feasible workaround > (connected to whether Wikimedia Tech thinks this is both doable and worth > our while to do) > > 3) Whether, if all fails and there is no getting around this in any way, > Commons and Wikisource (if there is sufficient interest in those > communities) should be interested in looking at a way of allowing external > links to chapter-managed local sites from the US-served base to see the > material in question; and if this is something, say, the India chapter > wants and is willing to do, whether this route poses any legal risks. > > In any case, I passed around your question to a few friends for comments > and suggestions - as well as to Geoff Brigham at the Wikimedia Foundation, > who is not too hopeful for a solution but is very receptive to looking into > it and getting back to us - and I'll tell you when I know something. > > Meanwhile, if you have other ways of looking into creative solutions > around this problem (not at all easy to crack, but the benefits are > significant) - or if anyone else on this list does - you should. > > Cheers, > Achal > > > > On Friday 10 May 2013 10:20 PM, Balasankar Chelamattath wrote: > >> Hi Srikanth, >> I didnt quite understand what you meant by example. >> An example for a work which is in public domain in India and not in US - >> Works by Changampuzha Krishnapillai ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/** >> Changampuzha_Krishna_Pillai<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changampuzha_Krishna_Pillai>). >> He passed away in 1948, and hence it is 65 years after the author's >> death. So the books are copyright-free in India as of now (in pubic domain). >> But they >> >> 1. were not published before 1923 >> 2. were not in the public domain in India as of 1 January 1996 ( >> because criteria of "60 years after author's death" not satisfied >> on 1996) >> >> Hence they are not in public domain according to US Laws. So we cannot >> store them in US servers. >> >> The main problem is India considers copyright based on date of author's >> death and US does it based on date of publication. >> >> Regards, >> Balasankar C >> >> >> >> 2013/5/10 Srikanth Ramakrishnan <[email protected] <mailto: >> [email protected]**>> >> >> Hi Balasankar, >> Can you point out specific instances and show when and where the >> book or publication was first published? If the works are still >> copyrighted in India, then they should be copyrighted in the US as >> well, generally speaking. The term India awards to creators is >> lesser than the one provided in the US under copyright laws. >> Regards, >> >> >> On Thu, May 9, 2013 at 10:31 PM, Balasankar Chelamattath >> <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]**>> wrote: >> >> Hi all, >> As most of you know, the Indian copyright law says that a book >> gets relieved of copyright after 60 years from the author's >> death. But this is not the case with US Law. As given here >> <https://upload.wikimedia.org/**wikipedia/commons/9/9b/** >> Copyrightterm.pdf<https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Copyrightterm.pdf> >> > >> , of all the works published outside US, only those published >> before 1923 are directly in the public domain. The ones >> published between 1923 and 1977 without compliance to the US >> formalities will be in the public domain only if they are in >> the public domain in their source country as of 1 January >> 1996. Almost all the other categories of published works will >> not be in the public domain until 95 years after publishing. >> >> This induces a confusion and when looked in a legal >> perspective, most of the books in Indian Wikisources, are >> still not in public domain and hence must be removed. This >> makes a huge negative impact on the hard work done by >> contributors. Their contributions are wasted which may cause >> them to stop contributing. In short, this may be a negative >> impact on Wikimedia's image in the society. >> >> The only solution to this problem is to *host the servers of >> Indian Wikimedia services in India*, so that the data we >> upload is stored under Indian Laws. Can Wikimedia India >> Chapter do anything on this? We can plan and conduct a >> fundraiser in India to raise money for the hosting expenses. >> >> Please consider this issue with maximum priority as it >> involves legal procedures and related headaches. >> >> Regards, >> Balasankar C >> >> https://ml.wikisource.org/**wiki/User:Balasankarc<https://ml.wikisource.org/wiki/User:Balasankarc> >> Regards, >> Balasankar C >> >> >> ______________________________**_________________ >> Wikimediaindia-l mailing list >> >> Wikimediaindia-l@lists.**wikimedia.org<[email protected]> >> >> <mailto:Wikimediaindia-l@**lists.wikimedia.org<[email protected]> >> > >> To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences >> visit >> >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/**mailman/listinfo/**wikimediaindia-l<https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l> >> >> >> >> >> -- Srikanth Ramakrishnan >> Treasurer, >> Wikimedia Chapter [India] >> >> Donate to the Wikimedia India Chapter today >> <http://wiki.wikimedia.in/**Donations<http://wiki.wikimedia.in/Donations> >> > >> >> ______________________________**_________________ >> Wikimediaindia-l mailing list >> >> Wikimediaindia-l@lists.**wikimedia.org<[email protected]> >> >> <mailto:Wikimediaindia-l@**lists.wikimedia.org<[email protected]> >> > >> To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit >> >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/**mailman/listinfo/**wikimediaindia-l<https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l> >> >> >> >> >> ______________________________**_________________ >> Wikimediaindia-l mailing list >> Wikimediaindia-l@lists.**wikimedia.org<[email protected]> >> To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visithttps:// >> lists.wikimedia.**org/mailman/listinfo/**wikimediaindia-l<http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l> >> > > > > > > ______________________________**_________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list > [email protected].**org <[email protected]> > Unsubscribe: > https://lists.wikimedia.org/**mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l<https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l> > -- Etiamsi omnes, ego non _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
