[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #15769: Hello Dolly plugin doesn't explain license of copyrighted lyrics

[WordPress Trac]

#15769: Hello Dolly plugin doesn't explain license of copyrighted lyrics
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 Reporter:  novasource    |       Owner:
     Type:  defect (bug)  |      Status:  reopened
 Priority:  normal        |   Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  Plugins       |     Version:  3.0.2
 Severity:  major         |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  2nd-opinion   |
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Changes (by novasource):

 * keywords:   => 2nd-opinion
 * status:  closed => reopened
 * resolution:  invalid =>


Comment:

 Fair use for educational purposes means you must educate on the item being
 used. You can't use someone else's work just to decorate.

 WordPress's uses someone's entire copyrighted work just to decorate.
 Nothing is being taught about about Hello, Dolly!, music, theater, etc.
 Hence not even a minimal basis for the educational provision.

 Rogers v. Koons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_v._Koons) is a good
 example. Koons uses Rogers's work, in its entirety, to decorate a work.
 Koons's final work did not parody, educate on, transform, etc. Rogers's
 work. The court found Koons's work to violate copyright. An exception
 seems to be if the use of the work is transformative, but in this case it
 is certainly not.

 WordPress's use of Hello, Dolly! is just like Koons's use of Rogers's
 work. WordPress is not teaching anything about nor commenting on Hello,
 Dolly!.

 Also, "nonprofit" or "non-commercial" clarifies the educational use. Since
 there is no educational purpose in using Hello, Dolly! in this module,
 nonprofit is irrelevant.

 Wikipedia has worked through this, and their fair use policy includes this
 proviso: "Non-free content [used under fair use] is used only if its
 presence would significantly increase readers' understanding of the topic,
 and its omission would be detrimental to that understanding."
 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Fair_use) Hello, Dolly! does not
 enhance understanding of module creation versus equivalent, free content.

 Please review http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ21.pdf; in there, you'll
 find no basis for WordPress's unlicensed use of Hello, Dolly!.

 I'd like to ask for a 2nd opinion from someone with reasoned experience of
 fair use.

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Ticket URL: <http://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/15769#comment:9>
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