On 10/03/11 11:34 AM, Ryan Kaldari wrote: > I think we are fairly safe hosting the images of the original fragments, > even by Israeli law. Israel does not recognize "sweat of the brow" and > requires a minimal degree of originality to claim copyright.[1][2]
Then it is a question of fact. Do these images involve that minimal degree of originality? Do we need to publish the scans? How important is a good relationship with the museum? > The Israeli Supreme Court did declare that a transcription of the Dead > Sea Scrolls was copyrightable, but mostly because a large percentage of > the source material was lost or damaged and required educated guesswork > to fill in the gaps. If we were doing our own guesswork based on > photographs of the fragments, I think it would be reasonable to say that > we are the sole copyright holders of such a transcription. Absolutely! It still takes someone with an understanding of the material to do that kind of work. Without that, this question is moot. Ray > > Ryan Kaldari > > 1. Tempska, Urzula (2002). "'Originality' After the Dead Sea Scrolls > Decision: Implications for the American Law of Copyright". /Marquette > Intellectual Property Law Review/ *6* (1): 132. > > 2. Elkin-Koren, Niva (2001). "Of Scientific Claims and Proprietary > Rights: Lessons from the Dead Sea Scrolls", /Houston Law Review/ *38* > (2): 458, 460. > > > On 10/3/11 6:16 AM, Anthony wrote: >> On Mon, Oct 3, 2011 at 4:55 AM, Ray Saintonge<sainto...@telus.net> wrote: >>> On 10/01/11 5:36 AM, Anthony wrote: >>>> On Sat, Oct 1, 2011 at 6:44 AM, Elias Gabriel Amaral da Silva >>>> <tolkiend...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>> In practical terms, what they can do? Wikipedia is hosted in US. >>>>> Therefore, for a successful takedown, the museum must sue in US. >>>> Well, for one thing, they could sue reusers. >>>> >>>> WMF using the work is one thing. WMF telling the rest of the world >>>> that the work is public domain and anyone can use it for any purpose >>>> without permission, is another. >>>> >>> The people who really feel offended by the Israel Museum's claim would >>> do best to accept responsibility for their claims. Given the nature of >>> the work there is perhaps a little more skill to these scans than was >>> the case for NPG portraits. I don't know how a court decision would turn >>> out. I am certainly not confident enough to pursue this myself, nor >>> would I want to do it for material I don't understand. >>> >>> Anyone who simply feels that these scans should be freely available can >>> simply put them up on his own site in whatever country he wants, and >>> wait for the lawsuit to happen or not happen. There are some areas >>> where I feel that Wikimedia policies about copyright are wrong, and even >>> paranoid, but I would be wrong to insist that any WMF project host them >>> unless I am ready to defend a legal action against a site that I fully >>> own and control. That's what being responsible is about. >> I don't see a problem with hosting them on projects which allow >> non-free material, with a tag at the least saying that The Israel >> Museum claims copyright. The museum doesn't seem to mind >> copying/distribution "for research or private study". But the list of >> projects which allow non-free material doesn't include the most >> relevant project - wikisource. >> >> The "free content only" rule is meant to protect third parties, not WMF. >> >> But note here that I'm only talking about the images, not the text. >> The photographs do not, and are not meant to, depict the "image" which >> was created on the scrolls hundreds of years ago. They are meant to, >> and do, depict the scrolls as they existed at the time the photos were >> taken. This, I believe, is a major distinction between the NPG >> portraits and this one. >> >> The scrolls themselves were created to depict text, not an image, and >> there is there seems to be absolutely no dispute at all that the >> *text* of the scrolls (to the extent it can be determined) is public >> domain. >> _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
