Copyrights

Santa Cruz Wiki uses a Creative Commons Attribution-By 2.0 license for all text, most images (some exceptions), and other content on the Web site.

The Creative Commons Attribution-By license means that every editor who puts work onto Santa Cruz Wiki gives you the right to do whatever you would like with the material, the only restriction being that if you distribute it you must give attribution to the creators of the content or the collective "Santa Cruz Wiki"/"SCWiki.org." This means you don't need to ask permission first — you've already got permission!

Please note that in some cases we allow material (usually images) on Santa Cruz Wiki that is not licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-By license, and in these cases there is an indication of strict copyright by the material, such as a note saying "Copyright The SF Chronicle." Usually, this occurs with images, and you must obtain permission from the individual in these cases — it was placed on Santa Cruz Wiki but not necessarily allowed elsewhere.

There is NO WARRANTY on any of the material you may find in Santa Cruz Wiki. We try to ensure our material is accurate and of the highest quality, but we are not responsible for any discomfort or potential injury that may befall you as a result of the content.

The Creative Commons Attribution-By 2.0 license means that every single friend, weirdo, researcher, book publisher, nerd, newspaper editor, etc can use any content you put on to Santa Cruz Wiki for whatever purposes they want. It can be ruthlessly modified, edited, and redistributed without your permission or direct control. Your material can be used for good and it can be used for bad — anyone can use it for any purpose allowable under law provided they give credit to you or Santa Cruz Wiki in their use of the content!

For usage details, just read the overview. It's simple. Just remember that 'original author' can mean the author or the collective "Santa Cruz Wiki." An easy way to think about this is to pretend that every time someone asked us, "Hey, can I use X from Santa Cruz Wiki?" We answer "Yes, just say who created it or note it was from Santa Cruz Wiki."

Because most of our content falls under this license, you are legally responsible not to put other people's copyrighted work into Santa Cruz Wiki without permission.

For images, if you wish to allow your image on Santa Cruz Wiki but not fall under this umbrella of Creative Commons, just note explicit copyright. e.g. "Copyright Me, 2005." Under or near the image. This will let people know you allow it on Santa Cruz Wiki, but want others to get your permission before using it elsewhere. If you just want to give yourself credit for the image, just say "Image by Me" somewhere near the image. You still retain copyright on images where you do not note "Copyright.." — it is just assumed that you are also placing said image under the Creative Commons license.

Note that you cannot copy material verbatim from Wikipedia and place it on the Wiki. They use the GFDL, which has quite a few restrictions on what you can and cannot do with their information. Santa Cruz Wiki does not have those restrictions, and as a result, you cannot copy other people's text that they have written for Wikipedia and use it here. As an example: a newspaper, campus flier, brochure or any other publication that runs over 100 copies has fairly substantial requirements and responsibilities in order to use material from Wikipedia. Any information from Wikipedia has very strict title and ending requirements, while there is no requirement other than attribution to use material from Santa Cruz Wiki.

We want to foster an environment where information and ideas can be shared and used as easily as possible for the longest period of time, and we feel this is the best way to achive this.

For instance, the contents of this copyrights page is adapted from the Davis Wiki.