[Taxacom] Your input, please, on attribution, rights and lic...

[Stephen Thorpe]

The issue is a complex one. There was a recent attempt to make hyperlinking subject to copyright, but, thankfully that attempt has failed (for now, anyway). It seems to me (not wanting to sound like some sort of "conspiracy theorist") that there is a faction out there who want to control everything for $$$, and, if they had their way, Wikimedia sites, for example, would have very little information free to use. It would be a case of "user pays" scientific knowledge, which might work with applied science, but I think it would spell the end of pure science (though with certain universities now promoting engineering and commercially oriented science ahead of less commercially viable subjects, the end of millipede taxonomy might not be as far away as you think, Bob!)
 
There is a distinction here which may not have been made clear between aggregators and their source databases. The questions of funding and attribution surely apply differently in each case? As Bob points out, things can get rather complicated if you get your data from EoL, who gets it from CoL, who gets it from source databases. Who to cite? Who controls the data??
 
As I understand it, statements like: 
 
The database as a whole is to be cited as follows:

Appeltans W, Bouchet P, Boxshall GA, De Broyer C, de Voogd NJ, Gordon DP, Hoeksema BW, Horton T, Kennedy M, Mees J, Poore GCB, Read G, Stöhr S, Walter TC, Costello MJ. (eds) (2012). World Register of Marine Species. Accessed at http://www.marinespecies.org/ on 2013-03-06.'

is to be understood as simply a recommended form of citation, not a requirement. Some appropriate form of citation may be a requirement, but on Wikimedia sites, the simplest and most efficient way to cite another site is by simply linking to the relevant page on the other site ...
 
Stephen


________________________________
From: Robert Mesibov <mesibov at southcom.com.au>
To: Tony.Rees at csiro.au 
Cc: TAXACOM <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu> 
Sent: Wednesday, 6 March 2013 12:49 PM
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Your input, please, on attribution, rights and lic...

Tony, I don't see the point that Stephen is supposed to be missing.

Look at CoL's copyright page, and you can see that it 'requires' 3-level attribution. Now go to Encyclopedia of Life - any species page based on CoL. Where's the 3-level attribution? Maybe EoL is in a special relationship with CoL, and doesn't need the attribution that ordinary humans are supposed to use. What should a re-user of EoL data do?

What about your own WoRMS? You contribute to/assist/backend top-down aggregators. How many of them reproduce this:

'Terms of Use and Citation

Unless otherwise stated, these web pages and associated information are free to use on condition that they are cited (CC-BY). A recommended citation style is provided on each page. We do not permit the re-distribution of the entire database unless by prior written agreement. Copies of the database may be requested using this form.

You can also cite the individual global or regional species lists as appropriate. Their citations are shown on their web pages.

The database as a whole is to be cited as follows:

Appeltans W, Bouchet P, Boxshall GA, De Broyer C, de Voogd NJ, Gordon DP, Hoeksema BW, Horton T, Kennedy M, Mees J, Poore GCB, Read G, Stöhr S, Walter TC, Costello MJ. (eds) (2012). World Register of Marine Species. Accessed at http://www.marinespecies.org/ on 2013-03-06.'
-- 
Dr Robert Mesibov
Honorary Research Associate
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, and
School of Agricultural Science, University of Tasmania
Home contact: PO Box 101, Penguin, Tasmania, Australia 7316
Ph: (03) 64371195; 61 3 64371195

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