Re: Copyright violation claim in Solid CG

Dear Sarven, Christine Gefaell, Ralph Swick, and Rigo Wenning, and Solid CG
participants,

Since my name has been brought up in this conversation, I wish to clarify
what "I was informed by Jesse Wright (in Cc) that W3C Team is evaluating"
means.

Concerns over the copyright complaints were originally raised to the ODI;
as these complaints all took place on
https://github.com/solid/specification/ - which is W3C remit - we handed
these concerns over to the W3C to address. We have not had involvement in
this case since handing it over to W3C.

Best,

On Wed, 24 Sept 2025 at 10:45, Sarven Capadisli <info@csarven.ca> wrote:

> Dear Christine Gefaell, Ralph Swick, and Rigo Wenning, and Solid CG
> participants,
>
> I was informed by Jesse Wright (in Cc) that W3C Team is evaluating the
> copyright claims that was brought up by a former Solid CG participant in
> the group's repo:
>
>
> https://github.com/solid/specification/issues?q=is%3Aissue%20in%3Atitle%20%22%5BUse%20of%20copyrighted%20material%20without%20permission%20or%20consent%5D%22%20
>
> * https://github.com/solid/specification/issues/7
> * https://github.com/solid/specification/issues/21
> * https://github.com/solid/specification/issues/34
> * https://github.com/solid/specification/issues/129
> * https://github.com/solid/specification/issues/139
> * https://github.com/solid/specification/issues/198
> * https://github.com/solid/specification/issues/219
> * https://github.com/solid/specification/issues/313
> * https://github.com/solid/specification/issues/340
> * https://github.com/solid/specification/issues/379
> * https://github.com/solid/specification/issues/454
>
> This is based on the understanding that
> https://github.com/solid/specification/ is a W3C Solid CG asset and is
> referenced from https://www.w3.org/groups/cg/solid/tools/ (the reference
> date also predates the issues creation), and so it is a W3C matter.
>
> Have you reached a decision based on your investigation that can be
> shared with the CG?
>
> Please note the order of events (using
> https://github.com/solid/specification/issues/454 as example but it is
> the same for the other issues). You may be able to find fragments in the
> Internet Archive for these issues as well e.g.,
>
> https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://github.com/solid/specification/issues/454
> , https://archive.is/https://github.com/solid/specification/issues/454 ).
>
> 2022-09-21: The individual originally created the issue with title
> "Create serialization format goals and strategy" within the purview of
> the Solid CG while being a participant of the group under Affiliation X.
>
> 2023-09-30: The individual left the CG (
> https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Member/w3c-archive/2023Sep/0786.html )
>
> 2023-11-10: The individual closed the issue without CG's consent (
> https://github.com/solid/specification/issues/454#event-10922785499 )
> under Affiliation X while being Employed by Y.
>
> 2025-02-18: As editor, I reopened the issue (
> https://github.com/solid/specification/issues/454#event-16351188184 )
> and gave rationale (
> https://github.com/solid/specification/issues/454#issuecomment-2666186875
> ).
>
> 2025-02-18: The individual left a comment and then deleted (
> https://github.com/solid/specification/issues/454#issuecomment-2666226002
> , which can be verified by other individuals getting email notifications
> from GitHub):
>
>  >The above text was written by me, and I do not consent to its usage
> without prior conversation.
>  >Please remove at your earliest convenience to avoid the need for
> reporting this copyright violation.
>
> 2025-02-18: I replied explaining why their statement has no basis for a
> copyright violation claim (
> https://github.com/solid/specification/issues/454#issuecomment-2666339495
> ).
>
> 2025-02-18: The individual left a comment and then deleted (
> https://github.com/solid/specification/issues/454#issuecomment-2666359607
> , which can be verified by other individuals getting email notifications
> from GitHub ):
>
>  >The contributions were not publicly available; copyright claims will
> be filed.
>
> 2025-02-19: The individual changed the title of the issue to "Use of
> copyrighted material without permission or consent" (
> https://github.com/solid/specification/issues/454#event-16360750285 )
>
> I have left the unauthorised and inappropriate change of the issue title
> as is in order to avoid further back and forth conflict, and to revisit
> this matter with the support and guidance of the W3C Team.
>
> It would be greatly appreciated if you could respond to the allegations
> in the issues on this mailing list ( public-solid@w3.org ) or on the
> issues (one might suffice, e.g.,
> https://github.com/solid/specification/issues/454 ).
>
> I have also Cc'd the current CG chairs to take this matter seriously,
> discuss it in CG and take appropriate action, such as changing the
> titles of the issues back to their original at this point, and take
> additional measures on handling actions of non-CG participants by
> coordinating with organisation hosting the `solid` GitHub organisation.
>
> Thank you for your time and attention,
>
> -Sarven
> https://csarven.ca/#i
>


-- 
*Jesse Wright (he/him)*

*Project Lead, Solid
<https://theodi.org/news-and-events/news/odi-and-solid-come-together-to-give-individuals-greater-control-over-personal-data/>*
The Open Data Institute
4th Floor, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9AG
Website: theodi.org
Book a meeting: https://cal.com/jesse-wright-zdbdal/public
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