2023:Program/Legal, Advocacy, and Risks/AJEHKH-The Case for NC Commons

A recording of the presentation.

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Title: The Case for NC Commons

Speakers:

Douglas Ian Scott (User:Discott)

Douglas has been an editor on the English language Wikipedia since 2006 and a member of the South African chapter of Wikimedia since 2012. He was president of Wikimedia South Africa from 2015 to 2020 and was the organizing chairperson for Wikimania 2018, the official annual international Wikipedia conference. He has been involved in copyright advocacy to support the free knowledge movement since 2014 when he has advocated for the adoption of Fair Use and Freedom of Panorama in South Africa. In addition to his copyright advocacy Douglas has organized and implemented over 20 projects for Wikimedia South Africa such as Wiki Loves Monuments (2012, 2013, 2014 & 2015), Wiki From Above, the first climate change edit-a-thon, Kiwix pilot deployments, and Wiki Loves Science. He is always interested in projects that encourage more people to read and edit Wikipedia or contribute to Wikimedia Commons. Additional interests include public policy and the role it plays in the free knowledge movement. He currently lives in Cape Town, South Africa, and in his day job works as a criminologist specializing in technology, data collection, project design, and crime analysis. He has a strong interest in history, technology, the environment and public policy.

James Heilman

James Heilman is an ER physician and long time Wikipedian. He is a founder and the current chair of Wiki Project Med Foundation.

Pretalx link

Etherpad link

Room: Room 310

Start time: Fri, 18 Aug 2023 15:30:00 +0800

End time: Fri, 18 Aug 2023 15:50:00 +0800

Type: Lecture

Track: Legal, Advocacy, and Risks

Submission state: confirmed

Duration: 20 minutes

Do not record: false

Presentation language: en

Abstract & description

Abstract

A discussion workshop on the possibility of allowing CC-NC and CC-ND copyright (copyleft) licenced images hosted on NC Commons to be usable on Wikipedia. The organisers argue that it enrich Wikipedia by allowing hundreds of thousands of new images to be used to illustrate Wikipedia articles at little or no additional risk to Wikipedia.

Description

Although Creative Commons (CC) licenced images can be used to illustrate Wikipedia articles only images licenced under specific CC licence types can be be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. CC licence types such as non-derivative (ND) or non-commercial (NC) can not be uploaded thereby excluding millions of images from being used on Wikipedia unless the uploaded makes a laborious and often unsuccessful Fair Use rational. NC Commons seeks to overcome this problem by allowing NC and ND Creative Common images to be hosted in a central repository which the hoped-for eventual use on Wikipedia. This workshop seeks to discuss, unpack, clarify and hopefully resolve the reasons for and against integrating NC Commons into Wikipedia.

Further details

Qn. How does your session relate to the event themes: Diversity, Collaboration Future?

Currently many articles on Wikipedia can not be adequately illustrated due to Wikimedia Commons policy of not allowing NC and ND type Creative Commons copyrighted images. This presents a greater diversity of content to be collaboratively worked on if NC commons could be used. A good example is that a great deal of South African related content on Wikipedia can not be adequately illustrated because the South African government has chosen to release much of its official content under a CC-ND type licence thereby presenting a barrier for South African editors if they wish to use these images on Wikipedia. This experience is repeated in many places and with many other organisations around the world. NC Commons provides a tool to overcome this problem and a discussion on the integration of NC Commons into Wikipedia is important for achieving greater content diversity for the future collaborative development of Wikipedia.

Qn. What is the experience level needed for the audience for your session?

Everyone can participate in this session

Qn. What is the most appropriate format for this session?

• Onsite in Singapore
• Remote online participation, livestreamed
• Remote from a satellite event
• Hybrid with some participants in Singapore and others dialing in remotely
• Pre-recorded and available on demand