Re: OK Definition is flawed by imposing restrictions

Quoting Rufus Pollock <rufus.pollock@...>:
> Rob Myers wrote:
>> I am aware of the Wikipedia and OSM attribution problems. These are  
>>  a failures of planning by otherwise excellent projects, not a deep  
>>  problem with attribution.
>
> I must confess I am not as knowledgeable as yourself as to what these
> current problems are. Would you mind providing some further
> information? Is it that attribution is required to each individual
> contributor?

OpenStreetMap and Wikipedia are very successful projects with many  
contributors. Each of those contributors must be given attribution  
under the licences that OSM (BY-SA) and Wikipedia (FDL) use. Since a  
town map from OSM or a detailed article on a popular subject from  
Wikipedia may have dozens of contributors, attributing them all  
individually can become a burden.

OSM in particular are discussing how to better handle attribution.

BY-SA 2 introduced group attribution and the ability to separate  
attribution from the work (if this is done for *every* author: I can't  
put my name on the cover then relegate others to a web page somewhere)  
IIRC. Copyright assignment or agreeing to allow indirect attribution  
as a condition for contributing might also work.

>> The OKD's failure to ensure that knowledge is restrictable is not a  
>>  flaw. Its acknowledgement of licences that make knowledge   
>> restrictable is a flaw from my point of view, but I think it's a   
>> reasonable compromise.