Talk:Public Domain Day

Problems

The list of creators whose work is entering PD has several problems. First, it's an arbitrary selection. Second, it's Eurocentric; for the majority of the world's population, the examples are incorrect. Third, to be useful it would have to be maintained every year; for an orphan article about a made-up holiday, I don't have much faith in that happening. The list of this year's events (some of which don't even take place on the designated day) will also become quickly out of date. In fact, one of the events cited actually happened a year ago, and apparently isn't happening again this January... which demonstrates that this is not an established holiday or annual event; it's something that some people would like to be celebrated. On top of that, the article has other problems. The "Public domain" section is just a rehash of info about PD, and some of the content has an obvious argumentative angle to it (e.g. "Many more works would be entering the public domain...") I'm supportive of the ideals behind the PD, but this article is WP:ADVOCACY and only a few steps beyond WP:MADEUP. -Jason A. Quest (talk) 12:47, 25 December 2011 (UTC)

Arbitrary selection - I'd say it's the least of most famous, but I understand your point. I have never liked terrible and arbitrary lists like List of Poles. I'd hope that the list would be expanded into a full and complete list of authors, but I'd prefer few examples to nothing. Ditto, I think it would be useful to record when and where celebrations are taking place. The article, IMHO, seems to cover a notable event, but feel free to rework it to be less of an advocacy. Sadly, people promoting this event have done a rather poor job releasing materials on it; I was barely able to destub it. --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| talk to me} 17:55, 25 December 2011 (UTC)

A "full and complete list of authors" would be utterly impossible, and even if you could find them Wikipedia is not a guide to PD Day parties. If you can't find evidence that people are consistently observing this, how is it notable? -Jason A. Quest (talk) 12:49, 26 December 2011 (UTC)

Earliest mention

As far as I can find, the earliest mention is on Lessig's blog from 2004: [1]. But if anybody can show an even older mention, please do. This really needs an improved history of section. --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| talk to me} 14:17, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

That's what I'm coming up with as well. It actually isn't Lessig but Wallace McLean who used the term, Lessig just quoted McLean's post from a mailing list. McLean also runs a website where he posts on PD issues, and has been known to make up holidays like "Happy BloomsMonth", so it wouldn't be surprised it started with him in 2004 and caught on with others informally, perhaps fueled by Lessig and others. I'll email McLean and see what he knows. Green Cardamom (talk) 15:33, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

Great. Also, I wonder if Wallace McLean is notable? --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| talk to me} 23:21, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

McLean hasn't responded (yet?). He does appear to be the originator. Notable for starting PD day for the purpose of the article, we can mention his name along with Lessig's blog to make sure.

• Public Domain Day 2004.
• Public Domain Day 2005.
• Public Domain Day 2007.

-- Green Cardamom (talk) 16:00, 31 December 2011 (UTC)

Doing some Google searching.. info on Wallace J. McLean, he consulted the Canadian Govt on copyright law issues.[2]. He appears to be a Canadian public domain activist/businessman and/or lawyer who coined the idea of "PD Day" in 2004, and for a few years sent out his annual list of works entering the PD in Canada. The idea has since caught on. Green Cardamom (talk) 16:18, 31 December 2011 (UTC)