License

From Anarchopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Anarchopedia licensing is per page. If you see a licensing template at the bottom of the page, then you should follow those licensing rules. If you do not see any template, then you may use the content without any restriction (in some jurisdictions it means that you must mention the author(s) of the content).

Rationale[edit]

Anarchopedia is edited mostly by anarchists and antifascist, most of whom do not care about copyright. However, Anarchopedia is an Internet site hosted by the collective Tachanka in the United States of America. While state force may damage Anarchopedia (ultimately, to shut down Anarchopedia), Anarchopedia must follow the minimal set of rules described inside of the USA copyright law. Following those rules is related just to the adoption of the external materials and materials contributed by non-anarchists (and others who care about licensing).

The Anarchopedian community will not impose copyright restrictions on third parties. Any licensing restriction related to Anarchopedia content is strictly connected to materials adopted from external sources, as well as to materials contributed by particular contributors who care about licensing. Thus, just those persons and entities in such cases may try to impose copyright restrictions.

Using the content[edit]

Default values[edit]

If there is no licensing template on the article page (usually at the bottom), then you are able to use Anarchopedia content without restriction. In Anglo-Saxon jurisdictions this means that you are able to use Anarchopedia content as public domain content, while in the Continental jurisdictions you should treat the content as though published under an attribution-only license (one example of such a license is the Creative Commons Attribution License).

Even in such cases (in Anglo-Saxon jurisdictions) that you are not compelled by law to provide attribution, it is advisable to do so, so that the source of the information can be located if necessary. However, in such cases, you are left to your own discretion whether to follow this common practice or not.

Reading and personal use of content[edit]

You are able to read and use for personal purposes any material without any restriction. No license is acceptable for Anarchopedia which forbids those rights.

On site modification of content[edit]

You may modify content on Anarchopedia. No license is acceptable for Anarchopedia which forbids that right.

Terms of use related to anarchists[edit]

Anarchopedia content may be licensed "for Anarchopedia only". If you see such a template on the article page (usually at the bottom), then you should not distribute that particular content.

Anarchopedia content may be licensed under the "terms of anarchist solidarity". If you are not an anarchist or anarchist organization, then you should not distribute that particular content.

Anarchopedia content may be licensed under the terms of any other acceptable solidarity (socialist, anti-authoritarian, etc.). If your political positions are not as described, or if you do not belong to such an organization, then you should not distribute that particular content.

Commercial and non-commercial use of content[edit]

The vast majority of Anarchopedia content may be used commercially. If you do not see it explicitly written that some particular content may not be used for commercial purposes (i.e., if the template at the bottom of the page does not contain the word "non-commercial" or the abbreviation "NC"), then you may use the content commercially.

Contributing content to Anarchopedia[edit]

A primary goal of Anarchopedia should be to provide useful content. Although we generally do not care about licensing, entities and persons who care about statist and capitalist rules generally do care about licensing. If we do not explicitly allow them to use our content, then they will not use it; but a free society is not possible without free access to knowledge.

In light of the above, here is a list of licenses from the most acceptable to the least acceptable:

  1. Public domain / attribution-only (depending of jurisdiction). This is the Anarchopedia default. If you do not put any license template on the content you have contributed, then that content will be published under those conditions. Content licensed in this way is compatible with any other license.
  2. Attribution-only forced. We may use and create content explicitly licensed under attribution-only terms of use or under some license which defines it. Such licenses are, for example, CC-BY and GNU Lesser General Public License, and BSD revised license. Content licensed in this way is compatible with any other license except public domain.
  3. Copyleft license. Examples of copyleft licenses are the GNU Free Documentation License, the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike License, and the GNU General Public License, among others. In brief, such licensing allows any kind of usage, distribution and modification of the content, provided that any modifications are likewise released under the same license. Content licensed in this way is usually not compatible with other licenses.
    • Important note: If you choose to license your content under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike License and the GNU Free Documentation License (or if you have adopted content licensed in this way), or under the first two licensing types listed above, then Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects may reuse that content. This is not true for the types of acceptable licenses below.
  4. Solidarity terms. "Solidarity terms" mean that the content may be used only by a particular group related to anarchists and Anarchopedia. We may adopt materials which may be used only by anarchists, socialists, anti-authoritarians and so on. Content licensed in this way is not compatible with other licenses.
  5. Non-commercial attribution-only licenses. We may use non-commercial content, as Anarchopedia is not a commercial project. One example for such licenses is the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License. Content licensed in this way is not compatible with other licenses, except with non-commercial share-alike licenses.
  6. Non-commercial share-alike licenses. We may use this type of licenses. One example of such licenses is the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike license. Content licensed in this way is not compatible with other licenses.
  7. Anarchopedia only. The least of our acceptable licenses. Note that such content should not be used anywhere else and, because of that, it does not allow the free spreading of knowledge.

If there is similar content licensed by two different types of licenses, then we should prefer the more acceptable options.

Below is an incomplete list of unacceptable license types:

  1. Non-derivative licenses. Such licenses are not acceptable for Anarchopedia because, by its very nature, Anarchopedia content is constantly changing. Examples of such licenses are the Creative Commons Non-Derivative licenses.
  2. Time-limited license. Such licenses are not acceptable for Anarchopedia because usage of Anarchopedia content should not be subjected to expiration.
  3. Unacceptable "solidarity" terms. There are no "solidarity" terms of use which assume any kind of segregation or discrimination based on ethnic, cultural, or any other lines that are incompatible with anarchism.
  4. Any kind of limited usage not described as acceptable.

If you have any questions related to licenses, or if you want to be better informed about them, then see the license descriptions page at GNU.org.[1]