How Can I Use Wikipedia's Content?
October 24, 2005 4:18 PM Subscribe
I would like to start a Comic Book Encyclopedia (Which I am calling, for lack of a better name, "Heropedia"), using mediawiki as the engine. I've been a comics fan forever, and a contributor to wikipedia. It's a great project, and I dig it a lot. However, I think branching off into a seperate project would be good for a subject with as much ephemeral information as comic books. My question is, can I use the infromation in Wikipedia pertaining to comic books, as long as the text of my site is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License?
My only real reason for asking this question is that I plan on using ads to support the site. However, my understanding of the GNU is that it's okay so long as A) The text is licensed under the GNU Freedoc license, and B) Said license is included with the work in question. I've read the license, and it seems like I'm right, but I don't want to do this and look like an asshole.
My only real reason for asking this question is that I plan on using ads to support the site. However, my understanding of the GNU is that it's okay so long as A) The text is licensed under the GNU Freedoc license, and B) Said license is included with the work in question. I've read the license, and it seems like I'm right, but I don't want to do this and look like an asshole.
Yeah, you're fine, and people'll think better of you than the people just republishing wikipedia with ads.
posted by Zed_Lopez at 4:32 PM on October 24, 2005
posted by Zed_Lopez at 4:32 PM on October 24, 2005
Be careful with your use of trademarks and copyrighted material though - a lot of the comic book publishers are ridiculously litiginous.
posted by aubilenon at 5:18 PM on October 24, 2005
posted by aubilenon at 5:18 PM on October 24, 2005
First note Comixpedia, which concentrates on webcomics, but might overlap what you want to do. Then read and understand the GNU Free Documentation License, under which Wikipedia and Comixpedia license their content, and if you have any questions about any of the clauses thereof, talk to the FSF compliance folks, who know the licenses better than anyone. Then familiarize yourself with the fair use or fair dealing legislation of your country so you'll know when you can and can't use images and so forth from your primary sources.
That takes care of the legal part.
The legal part is unrelated to assholery, though. It's perfectly legal to mirror Wikipedia in its entirety and surround the content with ads, but lots of Wikipedia contributors find that assholish even with the legality. Your standing (which is important, because that's how you'll get volunteers, and you'll need them!) is based on how the community perceives you, not on your compliance with the GFDL. Consider it an absolute minimum below which you are breaking the law.
The rest is marketing. You need to sell your project as complementary to Wikipedia (and Comixpedia, but they're small and new and thus less important). Doing so well will take some understanding of what makes Wikipedia contributors tick, which is something you might already have an idea of, or something you might want to hang around there a bit to pick up.
On top of all that you've got the technical problems of providing working servers and bandwidth, and the people problems of managing all the volunteers you end up with, and the legal problems of dealing with the comic publishers, who will probably put pressure on you even if you are strictly within your rights.
If you're concentrating on published comic books, which are pretty much safely within the realm of "encyclopedic" on Wikipedia, you may find that the time is better spent contributing to the Comics WikiProject on Wikipedia to build up a great comics encyclopedia within Wikipedia.
posted by mendel at 8:58 PM on October 24, 2005
That takes care of the legal part.
The legal part is unrelated to assholery, though. It's perfectly legal to mirror Wikipedia in its entirety and surround the content with ads, but lots of Wikipedia contributors find that assholish even with the legality. Your standing (which is important, because that's how you'll get volunteers, and you'll need them!) is based on how the community perceives you, not on your compliance with the GFDL. Consider it an absolute minimum below which you are breaking the law.
The rest is marketing. You need to sell your project as complementary to Wikipedia (and Comixpedia, but they're small and new and thus less important). Doing so well will take some understanding of what makes Wikipedia contributors tick, which is something you might already have an idea of, or something you might want to hang around there a bit to pick up.
On top of all that you've got the technical problems of providing working servers and bandwidth, and the people problems of managing all the volunteers you end up with, and the legal problems of dealing with the comic publishers, who will probably put pressure on you even if you are strictly within your rights.
If you're concentrating on published comic books, which are pretty much safely within the realm of "encyclopedic" on Wikipedia, you may find that the time is better spent contributing to the Comics WikiProject on Wikipedia to build up a great comics encyclopedia within Wikipedia.
posted by mendel at 8:58 PM on October 24, 2005
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by phrontist at 4:31 PM on October 24, 2005