As per the Wikimedia Foundation Licensing policy resolution of March 23, 2007, this document serves as the Exemption Doctrine Policy for the English Wikipedia.[1]
Rationale
- To support Wikipedia's mission to produce perpetually free content for unlimited distribution, modification and application by all users in all media.
- To minimize legal exposure by limiting the amount of non-free content, using more narrowly defined criteria than apply under the fair use provisions in United States copyright law.
- To facilitate the judicious use of non-free content to support the development of a high-quality encyclopedia.
Footnotes
- ^ At the time of the Resolution's issuance on March 23, 2007, the page WP:Non-free content served as the exemption doctrine policy and is referenced by the Resolution. Since then, the content has been moved around, specifically discussed the following May, and now WP:Non-free content criteria serves as the exemption doctrine policy, while WP:Non-free content serves as guidance for this.