Ooops, didn't looked on my wikisource-l gmail label before fwding the message. Sorry for duplicating the announce done by Aubrey Em 30/01/2014 06:00, "Luiz Augusto" <[email protected]> escreveu:
> May be an interesting read for those of us that lives outside the USA and > curates public domain contents. > ---------- Mensagem encaminhada ---------- > De: "Yael Meron" <[email protected]> > Data: 28/01/2014 06:52 > Assunto: [Wikimedia-l] A letter from WMIL to the Board of Trustees > regarding the deletion of images from Commons under URAA > Para: <[email protected]> > > Hi everyone, > > Here is a letter I just sent on behalf of the Board of Wikimedia Israel to > the WMF Board of Trustees, regarding the deletion of images from Commons > under URAA. > The letter is also posted on Meta: > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Israel/Letter_to_the_BoT_regarding_URAA > > We would love to hear your thoughts on this, preferably in the discussion > page on Meta. > > Regards, > > Yael Meron > WMIL Board Member > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > Date: Tue, Jan 28, 2014 at 10:36 AM > Subject: A letter from WMIL regarding the deletion of images from Commons > under URAA > To: [email protected] > > > Dear Board of Trustees, > > As you might know, there was a discussion on Wikimedia Commons regarding > the Golan v. Holder copyright case, where the copyright status of a massive > amount of non-US images was changed from public domain to copyrighted. The > conclusion of the discussion was that there was indeed a problem with such > images, but that they would be deleted on a case-by-case basis. The actual > effect is not only that masses of public domain images be deleted from > Commons (with the burden of proof lying on the uploader), but also millions > of PD images waiting to be uploaded to Commons which are now in limbo. This > will certainly hinder or eliminate many GLAM partnerships around the world > and, again, deprive Commons of millions of images, many of them > historically important or iconic. > > The reason behind the community decision was that, since Commons' servers > are located in the United States, all public domain images must > specifically be in the public domain in the United States, regardless of > their status in any other country. The Foundation's legal team issued a > legal position, which did not actually take any position but gave the > pertinent legal arguments. It is clear however that the community was in > fact trying to legally protect the Wikimedia Foundation from lawsuits, > therefore it stands to reason that the Foundation should specifically > address where it stands on this issue. > We believe that Wikimedia's position is not just to interpret the current > legal status, but to act and change it. > > In light of this, we implore you to speak out and act in favor of uploading > public domain images to Commons that are not necessarily PD in the United > States, whether by allowing it directly, or making other arrangements to > allow such uploads without risking legal backlash. Millions of images are > at stake. This is possibly more than the amount of content that would be at > risk had PIPA/SOPA passed, and the Foundation made its position on > PIPA/SOPA very clear. It goes without saying that blocking access to public > domain images on Commons goes against the stated aims of our movement and > deals a severe blow to its legitimacy. > > This is a similar case to PIPA/SOPA, and the Foundation can and should do > everything in its power to allow the use of these images in the Commons and > making them available to the public. Clearly the community is starting to > delete these images reluctantly, thinking it protects the legality of all > Wikimedia projects, but this only has to be true if the Foundation stands > on the sidelines. We believe that should the Foundation get involved, as > with the PIPA/SOPA case, the matter will be resolved quickly. > > It should be noted that we the volunteers, both in Israel and in other > countries, are doing the utmost to obtain official documents that make it > clear that the relevant images are in the public domain. However, this can > only be done for images owned by governments. For images owned by > individuals the process is next to impossible, and is no different from the > process of asking every individual to release copyright on any image. As we > are frantically looking for all sorts of solutions, we expect the > Foundation to act on the behalf of the entire community and by extension, > the public. > > This brought our chapter, as well as other chapters, to rethink about the > operation of Commons, and to seek alternatives. We may be forced, if this > issue is not properly addressed by the Foundation, to consider moving the > images to alternative servers located in other countries. > > Thank you in advance, > --Wikimedia Israel Board > > --------------------- > Yael Meron > WMIL Board Member > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list > [email protected] > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> >
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