User:MJL/sandbox3

Rfc about whether public domain list articles present OR concerns

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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Do the contents of a series of list articles including 2020 in public domain, 2019 in public domain, etc., back to 2011 in public domain present concerns over original research? Largoplazo (talk) 17:58, 17 January 2019 (UTC)

I've set forth my analysis and the basis for my question above at Wikipedia:No original research/Noticeboard#Lists of works by year of entry into the public domain. My thesis in summary: Contributions to these articles are mostly uncited and based on contributors' own application of arithmetic to data about the authors and their own understanding of public domain law in all the authors' respective countries. This falls squarely into the realm of synthesis as defined at Wikipedia:SYNTH and corroborated by my reading of WP:NOTSYNTH. It may even amount to Wikipedia issuing a legal opinion about the legal status of the works of each of these authors.

I created this Rfc because I received little feedback.

I believe responses can fall into three basic categories, though others may have answers that fall outside of that box:

1. The content doesn't amount to impermissible original research or synthesis.
2. The articles include WP:OR but it suffices to tag each of the articles with {{original research}}, possibly with the eventual removal of noncompliant content if the issue isn't remedied.
3. The articles include WP:OR that should be removed immediately because Wikipedia doesn't allow WP:OR.

Largoplazo (talk) 18:09, 17 January 2019 (UTC)

• 1: I'd say it counts as an exception under WP:CALC. While I would maybe split it up a bit more (e.g. into language, medium, etc) and come up with a reusable intro with a bit of background on common concepts like rule of the shorter term, I can definitely imagine this being helpful for someone, which is my main criteria. I myself, in fact, have thought about joining LibriVox, and wondered about where I could get a list of works which have recently entered the public domain and so won't have been covered yet. ─ ReconditeRodent « talk · contribs » 04:09, 26 January 2019 (UTC)
  • It's that this isn't like saying "I've got 7, and I'm adding 12 to it, and I'm getting 19." It's more like "I've got 7, and I've got this source that claims it's as simple as 12, but as far as I know there are extenuating circumstances under which it's 9 or 11 or 15, or something else altogether apart from that formula, because laws can vary tremendously by country, and they can adopt international conventions with their own additional provisos, and because List of countries' copyright lengths isn't a reliable source, and, because Wikipedia isn't a lawyer, it isn't my place to have Wikipedia issue what is basically a legal opinion that the answer is 19." Largoplazo (talk) 04:00, 29 January 2019 (UTC)

• I take your point, but I think with an expanded disclaimer explaining both potential complications that may apply to specific works and that any given work's status depends both on the specifics of copyright law in the jurisdiction it was published and the one the reader is in would be enough to make sure that it can't be construed as legal advice. ─ ReconditeRodent « talk · contribs » 14:59, 29 January 2019 (UTC)

• Option 3. This is blatant OR with a touch of legal advice. EEng 12:26, 29 January 2019 (UTC)
• Option 3. WP:PROVEIT by citing a reliable source that directly supports the assertion. If you can't, it's OR and can be removed on sight. – Finnusertop (talk ⋅ contribs) 03:42, 12 February 2019 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.