Talk:Rabbit-Proof Fence (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

	This article is part of WikiProject Films, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to films and film characters on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can edit the article attached to this page, or visit the project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion.
Start This article has been rated as Start-Class on the quality scale. Unknown This article has not been rated on the importance assessment scale.
Editing Guidelines Please remember these guidelines when editing a film article: If a non-film article already exists with the name of the film that you are trying to create an article for, disambiguate and use (film) in the title: Film Title (film) For more information see: Wikipedia:Naming conventions (films) When writing an article about a particular film, the general format should be a concise lead section, followed by a plot overview, production details, a cast list, a reception section, and references. Create an Infobox that tells all pertinent information about the film. We are always looking for new members! Join us today!

Contents 1 NPOV warning 2 Copyvio discussion 3 First page rename discussion 4 1,500 Miles? 5 Rename/move (to join article on book and film) 5.1 Support 5.2 Oppose 5.3 Neutral

[edit] NPOV warning

Whoever wrote this, you might want to check the Wikipedia:neutral point of view policy. The page as it now stands is an argument, not an encyclopedia article. Clearly, the historical accuracy of the film is disputed, so you should characterise the dispute and attribute claims to specific sources. --Robert Merkel 05:47 20 Jun 2003 (UTC)

[edit] Copyvio discussion

Well, User:Eloquence has pointed out that this content (which was duplicated at Stolen Generation) is actually from an article by Des Moore and Peter Howson. Unless you are one of the those two people, or have permission from them to use that material under the GNU FDL, you're not entitled to copy and paste it here (you can quote from it, but that's not what was done). --Robert Merkel

---

From our anonymous friend:

The material was published in public domain with no copyright notice.

However, I will repost it a different form, with deference to the self-appointed censorial class.

---

This is a typical misconception. Material that is not published with a copyright notice is not in the public domain. It needs to be explicitly placed there, which this article has not been. --Eloquence 07:10 20 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Material can be re-posted and cited, as I did. You need to study Copyright law a little bit more closely.

No, it cannot. Fair use is largely limited to excerpts, and not applicable to entire Wikipedia articles anyway, since these have to be licensed under the GNU FDL -- see Wikipedia:Copyrights again.--Eloquence 07:14 20 Jun 2003 (UTC)

---

The anonymous friend appears to be basing his opinion on 1976 copyright law in the United States, when it was necessary to publish material with an explicit copyright notice, the year published, and the notice "all rights reserved." This requirement was nixed when the U.S. signed on to the Berne Convention in the late 1980s, and in fact things are copyrighted now once "in a fixed medium," even without explicit copyright notice. Koyaanis Qatsi 07:24 20 Jun 2003 (UTC)

... actually, no, our friend is logging on from Australia, so that's doubtful. Nonetheless, Australia had similarly stricter laws before signing on to more recent international agreements giving copyright by default to anyone who creates something without explicitly disclaiming copyright. Koyaanis Qatsi 07:31 20 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Under Australian copyright law, there is no requirement to explicitly claim copyright, simply to create the work. Nor has there ever been such a requirement. (That's defining "ever" as "since I first needed to ask the question", which was perhaps 25 years or so back. You were advised to include the words "Copyright © Tannin, 1972" or something similar, but there was no actual requirement that you did so.)

Interesting. Ok, thanks for clarifying; I think I'll back out of this one now.  :-) The non-Australian, Koyaanis Qatsi

[edit] First page rename discussion

If no-one objects, I'll move the article from Rabbit-Proof Fence (movie) -> Rabbit-Proof Fence, the latter is currently empty, and will be so for eternity unless the movie is there, because a fence that dispells rabbits is a common noun, so can never be written in all cap. --Menchi 13:57 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Better not, Menchi. You see, there is a fence, and it is called (among other things) the Rabbit Proof Fence. Yes, that's it's name, and (of course) that is where the name of the movie came from. The fence has several names because it runs through several states. It is (or at least it used to be) the longest man-made structure in the world. From memory, it's over 7,000 kilometres long. You can read all about it under the other name it goes by, the Dingo Fence ... Er .... Where did that entry go? I clearly remember working on it not so many months ago. (Am I getting infirm in the head? Must be.) Anyway, there is no doubt, the fence comes first, the movie named after the fence needs to stay at Rabbit-Proof Fence (movie). Tannin 14:39 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)

So the Fence is real, as in, a big long structure, a miniature Great Wall, not, in this case, for domestic/farm purposes. Since the movie is about the girls travelling beside the Fence, the article should probably point that out it's not just a metaphor, I mean, it is, and a good one at that, but it's also real (featured-in-the-film real?). --Menchi 14:45 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Not exactly "minature" - it's quite a lot longer than the Great Wall of China. But thinner, of course, and not so tall. :) That's really bizarre! I clearly remember hunting it up on the web to get my facts straight and writing about it. I hit Google just now and there were several of the same pages I hit the first time when I edited the article. And now it's missing! I am losing my marbles! Tannin

Ahh - I found it. It's a paragraph in Dingo, about two-thirds of the way down. Phew! I was worried there for a moment! Tannin

A paragraph is better than a stub (one sentence). The Fence is long, and it's there (and still is!), so it deserves its article, with the reference in Dingo preferrably strunken to one-sentence or less to avoid mindless repetition.

Care to make the start of a great article, Tannin? --Menchi 14:54 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Okay, this issue has been hashed out but not resolved, the redirect from "Rabbit-Proof Fence" to "Rabbit-Proof Fence (film)" needs to be taken down, I was just about to start an article on the structure... but alas, at the moment I can't.... 207.158.1.209 23:46, 30 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] 1,500 Miles?

How can the girls follow the fence for 1,500 miles when the fence itself is only 1,100 miles long? (see Rabbit-proof fence. Lisiate 00:26, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

There are three fences. They followed parts of two of them and went cross-country for other parts of their journey. I agree the statement is confusing and misleading. — Donama 02:32, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Rename/move (to join article on book and film)