Re: Re: [Wikipedia-l] FDL used to stifle distribution of articles

On 30 Nov 2003 at 12:12, Bryan Derksen wrote:

> At 11:55 AM 11/30/2003 +0000, Martin Harper wrote:
> >The GFDL requires you to list [the authors] on the "Title Page",
> >which is defined in section 1:
> >
> >The "Title Page" means, for a printed book, the title page itself,
> >plus such following pages as are needed to hold, legibly, the
> >material this License requires to appear in the title page. For works
> >in formats which do not have any title page as such, "Title Page"
> >means the text near the most prominent appearance of the work's
> >title, preceding the beginning of the body of the text.
> 
> Does Main count as a title page? If so, we'd only need to come up with
> five names for the whole entire Wikipedia and put them there. Seems
> even easier in that case.

There is a debate over whether we license Wikipedia under the GFDL as a single 
document, or as a collection of Documents. In broad terms, the former interpretation 
is easier for us, while the latter interpretation is easier for our redistributors. The 
Cunctator favours the former interpretation, while I favour the latter.

According to The Cunctator's interpretation, the Main Page would be our title page, 
and we could have our "principal authors" something along the lines of: "Wikipedia 
contributors, Nupedia contributors, FOLDOC contributors, and other authors used 
with permission".

Redistributors can similarly choose to treat their entire website as a single 
Document, license the whole thing under the GFDL, and have a similarly brief 
tagline on their front page (Title Page). However, redistributors typically do not wish 
to license their entire website under the GFDL, so this option is not as useful to them 
as one might imagine.

> BTW, there's no need to shout.

Apologies. 

-Martin "IANAL" Harper