[mb-users] Using archive.org for cover art

[Robert Kaye]

On Oct 8, 2007, at 3:05 AM, Philip Jägenstedt wrote:

> I was asked to stop
> adding them since the legal issues were fussy.

Well, the legal situation is actually in our favor, or at least it  
should give us enough breathing room should things get dicey.

 From my perspective its a touchy social situation. Chris B is firmly  
in the belief that adding these links is wrong. Lots of people see no  
problems with this at all. I can see all the arguments made by all  
sides and... agree with all of them.

Which puts me into a real tricky situation and I really don't have a  
good feel for how to move forward. I do know that a lot of cover art  
issues are currently on the table, and I need to ask more questions,  
have more conversations with partners and continue to let this  
situation play itself out as I try to figure out the best course of  
action.

> If no one has anything to say, I will continue adding cover art and
> encourage others to do the same, since there is nothing in the current
> guidelines suggesting that we shouldn't do so.

Let's see if I can lay down some additional guidelines that may or  
may not make things more clear:

1. Adding cover art to approved sites (aside from archive.org) as  
listed on CoverArtSites is ok and should continue to be ok. Look for  
8bitpeoples and ozon.ru support for the next server update.
2. Adding cover art to content store NOT in the wayback machine (e.g.  
CC content) is ok.
3. Adding cover art to content stored in the wayback machine is  
questionable. If not legally questionable, it may be socially  
objectionable.
4. Adding cover art to content stored in the wayback machine, where  
we've been given permission to use the images, but not deep link is  
ok. However, we may decide to host this cover art ourselves in the  
future. There is also a chance that we may need to reneg on this.

For items #3 and #4 continue for now if you wish. The tide may change  
and we may change the rules and have to remove these in the future,  
so please take this into account when adding these links. If you want  
to not possibly waste your time, then stick to #1 and #2.

This is one of the most complex issues that MusicBrainz has ever  
faced and thus its on my radar. I can't promise any timeframe for  
when things may change -- I'll start more conversations trying to  
figure this out and I will continue the conversations I've already  
have going on.

When something becomes clear, I'll holler -- thanks for your  
understanding!

--

--ruaok      Somewhere in Texas a village is *still* missing its idiot.

Robert Kaye     --     rob at eorbit.net     --    http://mayhem-chaos.net