As a Wikisource admin, should I close copyright violations discussions that I started?

Question

On Wikisource potential copy right discussions occur in forum style at Wikisource:Possible copyright violations. When anyone notices a potential copyright violation they are able to blank the text of the page(s) and begin a discussion about the copyright status. In some cases weeks or months can pass before the discussion is closed.

If I am an Admin on the site and I start the discussion and tag the page(s) should I also close the discussion and delete (or not) the page? Am I morally OR legally obligated (servers are in the US) to close or not close the discussion and make appropriate changes to the page(s)?

Answer 1

Am I [...] legally obligated (servers are in the US) to close or not close the discussion and make appropriate changes to the page(s)?

It depends on a few factors. Note that I'm not a lawyer, so consult one. I'm just giving general advice.

Your TOS most likely states that they can't post content without being the owner of the content. I'm no expert, but usually in these cases only the contributer is liable. The server owner is technically liable if they don't respond to a takedown notice, but that's not for you.

Am I morally [...] obligated[?]

Depends on your moral values. :-) I can't advise you on that, but I'd say that you should try to take action. Although a takedown notice probably will happen sometime if you get big enough, it'd be

Talk to the server owner because if anyone else is liable, it'd be them. Make sure that they know so they can take appropriate action. They also might have to remove that from backups and server logs to avoid legal action against them if they knew about it. Like I said, I don't know anything about law, but I think it'd be best to just tell the server owner so they can take the appropriate action.