[pmwiki-users] SALIENCE for the WikiSite's terms of use, copyright, copyleft, and etc?

Joachim Durchholz jo at durchholz.org
Mon Apr 25 13:48:25 CDT 2005


Monty wrote:

> To be salient, links/buttons to the copyright page must be, IMHO:
> * in the page footer of every page in the WikiWiki (which naturally 
> includes every main entry point into the site)
> * on the Edit page (especially) where the WikiUser contributes I.P. in 
> the form of copy, phonographs, photographs, or files
> 
> The legal agreement that a copy submitter "agrees" to, must be made 
> known and "agreed to" (implicitly through use or explicitly through a 
> "digital signature") if it is to be binding.

I agree that some kind of legal disclaimer should be part of every site. 
However, what exactly is needed can vary wildly, from "nothing at all" 
for company-internal sites to several links fulfilling various legal 
requirements of different countries. (German sites must state who's 
legally responsible for them, for example.)
I don't think that PmWiki can do much more than offer a general warning 
of "you're legally responsible for the site, make sure that visitors 
can't do bad things with it and leave you out in the cold with the 
responsibility". Even that may be beyond what Pm is willing to take - 
after all, as soon as the PmWiki distribution includes legal advice, he 
may be held responsible for any errors and omissions in that. In other 
words, if he really wishes to help administrators along (something I'd 
like to see done), he should take professional legal counsel.

Regards,
Jo



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