[wp-docs] Codex licence issue

[Frederick Ding]

I agree with Lorelle in that publishing a book composed entirely of the work of others is a bad reflection of the author. I also think that it’s a gross error to republish the work of others without adding their own contributions and edits. However, at this point I don’t believe we have enough information to judge the intentions of the author because all that was said was “a person asking me if she can publish parts of the Codex in a book”.

 

In any case, the transformation of a work from one medium into another can be useful, even if few changes are made. If a snapshot of Wikipedia were to be printed, published and bound, that becomes a useful contribution to human knowledge because it’s more accessible to those without access to the Internet. Similarly, a printed WordPress book (I’m waiting for the handbook in this case) might actually be a useful transformation of the Codex materials, even though the licensing becomes confusing.

 

I can understand that the WordPress project is very proud of its GPL licensing. Perhaps adaptations to the Codex licensing can be a topic for future discussion.

 

Regards,

Frederick Ding 

 

From: Lorelle VanFossen [mailto:lorellevan at gmail.com] 
Sent: November 14, 2009 21:08
To: WordPress Documentation
Subject: Re: [wp-docs] Codex licence issue

 

As one of the long time editors and contributors to the WordPress Codex, I echo the thoughts of other documentation team members. First, thank you for asking. That is much appreciated. Few do, so thank you for your gracious inquiry.

However, I have a few thoughts on this, unrelated to the legal ramifications. If someone just copies the WordPress Codex content and puts it into a book without adding their own original contributions, edits, and voice, who would bother spending money on what they can get for free, and really, what does that say about the quality of the author's work that plagiarism would even be considered acceptable, not to mention the reflection of the work on the editor and publisher of such a book. But that's my personal opinion, as a fellow author and web publisher. In today's social web, reputation is really important. I'd hate to risk it.

Regarding the rest, the license is as stated. The WordPress Codex is open to all to contribute and make use of the content. The WordPress Handbook is different and will use Codex content but is its own creature which may have different rules and licenses. We'll have to face that when it is available. 

As for changing the copyright status of the Codex, this has been debated extensively since day one and we're really proud of the licensing as it stands. We're open to changes, especially if there are changes in copyright laws with the evolution of web publishing and such, so if anyone has better recommendations, let's start digging again into the legal ramifications of how this all works. 

Lorelle VanFossen
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