Wikipedia:WikiProject Fair use/Explaining fair use

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wikipedia users on the whole do not know much about U.S. copyright law, and are thus generally not very empowered to make reasoned decisions about whether something is "fair use" or not. This often leads to rather bitter arguments between users, which generally collapse as one party notes that the other is not a lawyer and thus not an authority on the topic.

It would be more ideal if there were easy, straightforward references which one could refer users on Wikipedia to which would explain the notion of copyright, "fair use", and their applications to Wikipedia in a manner which would not require any experience in legal reasoning or a large time commitment.

[edit] Possible ideas

Below are just some ideas which interested users are encouraged to consider or even start. If a given idea is started, please create a subsection for it on this page.

  • Creating a "fair use" basics Wikibook
  • Creating graphical flow charts explaining how to reason about whether a given use of copyrighted media is "fair use"
  • Coming up with a quick "checklist" system for "fair use"
  • Coming up with a Wikipedia-specific "list of rules" about "fair use"
  • Improving discussions of "fair use" at Wikipedia:Copyright, Wikipedia:Copyright FAQ, and Wikipedia:Fair use
  • Creating a page which discusses various "fair use" caselaw which may be relevant to Wikipedia
  • Create a Wikipedia:Fair use FAQ which would cover (at least):
    • "Is ___ fair use?" (how to reason)
    • "Why should images be low resolution?" (mostly WP policy, few legal reasons)
    • "Why do I need to label a source?" (number of reasons, mostly WP policy)
    • "Is fair use a form of license?" (no)
    • "How can one decide 'for sure' whether something is fair use or not?" (courts)
    • "Does fair use allow for reuse?" (depends on reuse context)
    • "Why only use U.S. law?" (WP servers)

[edit] Useful resources

Below are some links which might be useful in thinking about creating such projects. They are still probably a bit too technical for the average Wikipedia user, but the information in them could serve as an intellectual base on which to built upon.