Talk:Copying from copyrighted works

Forums: Index > Help desk > Copying from copyrighted works

What are the rules on submitting text copied from DnD books?

Specifically: User:Jarredkh3 copied a huge chunk of the Races of Stone book from some PDF somewhere into the Dwarf article. I reverted this change as I think it is copyright infringement. Jarredkh3 feels it is Fair Use.

Next 2 sections copied from my use talk page:

Backley (Contributions • Message) 17:31, October 23, 2012 (EDT)

Re: edit https://ddowiki.com/index.php?title=Dwarf&diff=153414&oldid=153391 Fair use is a limitation and exception to the exclusive right granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work. In United States copyright law, fair use is a doctrine that permits limited use of copyrighted material without acquiring permission from the rights holders. Examples of fair use include commentary, search engines, criticism, news reporting, research, teaching, library archiving and scholarship. It provides for the legal, unlicensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material in another author's work under a four-factor balancing test.

Teaching -the purpose of a wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_3.0_Unported_License

I posted the source of the information fully crediting them aswell as it was for non profit and the books are no longer in print or being sold by wizards of the coast. User:Jarredkh3 16:31, October 23, 2012

Teaching is not a blanket valid reason to qualify as Fair Use. The "four-factor balancing test" you mention in your quote of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use (which you also plagiarized since you quoted it without giving the source) has to be looked at for each instance of Fair Use.

Also, just because a wiki is used for learning info, that doesn't mean it is part of the "Teaching" excuse they mention there - they probably mean teaching in schools etc can copy works under Fair Use. This wiki is more about Gaming than Teaching, and that really doesn't help it apply as Fair Use (since using the info here would substantially compete with the source book itself).

And I don't see where in the Dwarf page you even mentioned that it came from Races of Stone (I just found it via a Google search of the first line of text).

In any case, we need a better ruling from the wiki admins on what sources are allowed for full copy-and-paste like that. I'll put this on the https://ddowiki.com/page/Forum:Help_desk

Backley (Contributions • Message) 17:31, October 23, 2012 (EDT)

Anything quoted from en.wikipedia has been contributed under share alike which makes it fair use on any wiki or anything that is not intended for monetary gain. Now, as to the original issue at hand... The content pasted in does not seem to have much educational value in my opinion and did not belong on the wiki in the first place regardless of legality and copyright issues...

ShoeMaker (Contributions • Message) 18:20, October 23, 2012 (EDT)

I figured that it was describing background details of a dwarf which all races on this wiki has some form of detail it was alright, also the background may be of use to those who like to roleplay in taverns or in cerulian hills and as for copyright; if that is not allowed here then a large majoraty of the information on this wiki is not allowed. What exactly IS supposed to go on this wiki? ( I personally thought that a wiki is supposed to be an educational tool for individuals who have questions about certian topics or a collection of information) -Jarredkh3

I recognize that text it looks it is directly from the Races of Stone sourcebook without even formating changes for readability. Deffinitly would need to be quoted and sourced. I think it isnt fair use. Book O Dragons (Contributions • Message) 19:44, October 28, 2012 (EDT)

There is a disclaimer each time a user edits (right above the summary, and save/preview buttons):
"You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource. Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!"
The material in question was pulled down for violation of this. Please see Copyright info for questions on the wiki's content licensing. "Tauro" (Contributions • Message) 01:07, October 29, 2012 (EDT)