Guild Wars Wiki:Fair Use

This page is a rejected policy proposal. It has been unable to gain consensual support or it was replaced by an improved proposal.

This policy need to be reviewed by ArenaNet's legal team before coming in to full force and effect.

Fair Use

This is a draft policy to allow users to upload non-ArenaNet copyrighted images under Fair Use. Fair Use is a part of United States copyright law of 1976¹ and allows non-free content to be used without having permission from the copyright holder.

Non-free content

All content (Text, images etc.) uploaded to the Guild Wars Wiki must be licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License or be copyrighted by ArenaNet. Non-free content means that content is not compatible with a 'free' licence, such as the GFDL.

Policy

There are four factors to consider when deciding if the copying of a copyrighted work is fair and allowable without the consent of the copyright holder:

"Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include—

1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for non-profit educational purposes;
2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of Fair Use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors."[1]

Then the following criteria must be met:

1. No free equivalent if there is a free equivalent - use it.
2. Location Non-free content is only to be used in the main namespace - never in user pages - use of non-free content should be kept to a minimum.
3. Content The non-free image/text has to have some good use - it is only to be used when it is necessary to - in other words; Non-free content is used only if its presence would significantly increase readers' understanding of the topic, and its omission would be detrimental to that understanding. Non-free media files are not used if they can be replaced by text that serves a similar function.
4. Respect the copyright owner if the image means that the owner cannot make money - or a reduced profit from the use of the image on GWW, it cannot be used.
5. Cite the source You must say where the image comes from and why it qualifies for fair use. Tag it with the necessary fair use tag. (An idea for a fair use tag)

Failure to meet criteria

If the image does not meet all five criteria, it becomes a candidate for speedy deletion as a copyright violation.

Notes

1. You, as the uploader, are legally responsible for determining whether your contributions are legal. United States copyright law applies because the wiki is hosted on servers in the US.