Statement on Wikipedia Copyright and Licensing
editTHIS CERTIFIES THAT:
- PARTICIPATION. I have participated in English Wikipedia by writing articles, through editing, through contributions of photography, through contributions of audio clips, and through involvement in the management of the creative process (by participating in the creation of editorial guidelines).
- INDIVISIBILITY. I consider the totality of the English Wikipedia to be a single creative work, organized into articles for ease of reading and editing. The presence of a unified editorial policy, a common article structure, extensive linking between articles, the use of categorization, and the crosschecking performed by Wikipedia editors outside their own personal area of expertise are, in my view, evidence of the indivisibility of the English Wikipedia as a creative work.
- INTENT. My intent in my original and ongoing participation in Wikipedia has been to create a single work with joint authorship.
- LICENSING. Though I am not an attorney, it is my understanding that, under U.S. law, any author of a jointly-authored work is permitted to license said work as they see fit, with no obligation to the other authors save the sharing of any royalties garnered thusly.
- GRANT. Due to the problems inherent in the GFDL license explicitly adopted by the project, I permit my Wikipedia contributions, to the extent permitted by law, to be licensed pursuant to the CC-By-SA-2.0 license or the CC-By-SA-1.0 license. It is my intention that the scope of my contributions be interpreted as broadly as possible under the law, perhaps including the entire English Wikipedia, but see item #6 below.
- NO WARRANTY. None of the foregoing is intended to serve as a legal opinion, nor is it intended to operate as a guarantee of authorship. Opinion on points #1-4 is divided among known authors to the project. Before relying upon provisions unique to the CC-By-SA licenses, distributors and publishers are encouraged to retain counsel and make their own determination of Wikipedia authorship. Other exclusions and limitations made explicit in the CC-By-SA licenses also apply.
- NO CONTRACT. This is a statement of intent and licensing and is not intended to operate as a contract.
Pseudonymously yours, The Uninvited Co., Inc. 23:10, 8 Feb 2005 (UTC)