Wikipedia:Wikipedia as a court source

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Wikipedia as a source:

In academic studies

In books

In conference

In court cases

In the press

In webcomics

On TV and radio

Elsewhere

Below is a small list of documents used in legal proceedings that have cited Wikipedia as a source.

Contents 1 2007 2 2006 3 2005 4 2004 5 2003

[edit] 2007

• Michael Ferguson v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (United States Tax Court, February 28, 2007). Cites articles on video poker, expected value, and progressive jackpot [1]
• Delisa Ross v. RJM Acquisitions Funding LLC (United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, March 13, 2007). Cites articles on Soundex and approximate string matching: "There are other types of search algorithm as well, such as phonetic and approximate-string matching algorithms, see, e.g., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soundex; www.codeproject.com/string/dmetaphone6.asp; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Approximate_string_matching, but they probably would not have detected the error either." [2]

[edit] 2006

• Citation of Wikipedia in an order of the Swiss Federal Council. excerpt of the judgment
• Citation of Wikipedia in a judgment of the Swiss Radio and Television Surveillance Authority UBI copy.
• First known citation of Wikipedia in a European Court of Human Rights judgment: the article on Demographics of Latvia was cited in the second footnote of Judge Zupančič's dissenting opinion in the court's judgment in the case of Ždanoka v. Latvia (Application no. 58278/00) delivered on 16 March 2006, supporting a statement regarding "the Russian-speaking minority of some thirty per cent" (copy of the judgment from BAILII (HTML), original judgment from the ECHR (MS Word document, see page 53))
• The Wikipedia article on Unix was used as exhibit #391 by IBM in the SCO v. IBM case. (October 4, 2006: Groklaw's list of IBM's exhibits)
• The Wikipedia article on Call sign was cited in the decision in the WIPO Administrative Panel Decision on Media General Communications, Inc. v. Rarenames, WebReg, Case No. D2006-0964, deciding a domain name dispute in accordance with the UDRP.
• Wikipedia, specifically Critical Mass, is cited in paragraph 4 of the Judgment of the High Court of England and Wales in the case of Kay v. the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (June 27, 2006: BAILII report)
• Wikipedia, specifically Rent, is cited in paragraph 117 of the Judgment of the Competition Appeal Tribunal in the case of Media Marketing & Promotions v. Office of Communications (15 May 2006: BAILII report)
• First known citation in the UK courts - BBT Thermotechnology UK Ltd v Brainfire Group [2006] DRS 3931 (12 January 2006) (Nominet UK Dispute Resolution Service re buderus.co.uk)
  • Wikipedia cited in correspondence between the parties, quoted in the reported decision: Buderus is not a fanciful term coined by your company. Its origins are as a last name. Please see for example the online encyclopaedia entry on Danny Buderus: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Buderus (BAILII report)
• The May 26, 2006 decision of the California Court of Appeal in Apple v. Does includes eleven references to Wikipedia, including Firewire (Slip Op. at 3 n.3), Breakout box (Id.), GarageBand (Slip Op. at 3 n.4), Breakout (Slip Op. at 6 n.5), Asteroids (Id.), Arkanoid (Id.), Forum moderator (Slip Op. at 26 n.16), BBS (Slip Op. at 27 n.16), Blog (Slip Op. at 45 n.21), Webzine (Id.), Electronic Paper (Slip Op. at 46 n.22).
• First known citation of Wikipedia in Philippine jurisprudence — the article on List of Latin phrases (P–Z) is cited by Philippine Supreme Court Associate Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez in her concurring opinion in Lambino v. COMELEC, G.R. No. 174153, 25 October 2006. The citation is found in Footnote No. 1, the main text explaining the origin of the phrase Vox populi, vox Dei.
• Coolstar Holdings Pty Ltd v Cleary Ors [2006] FMCA 1442 (7 September 2006) [3]
• Build-A-Vest Structures Inc. v. Red Deer (City) 2006 ABQB 869: quotes portion of Funeral Home article at para. 68. [4]
• Fi v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) 2006 FC 1125, the judge citicizes use of wikipedia, stating at para. 9: "In particular, the use of information from the Wikipedia website is highly questionable, as the reliability of its sources has not been demonstrated to the Court."[5]

[edit] 2005

• Wikipedia and the courts
• Amco Ukrservice & Prompriladamco v. American Meter Co., 2005 WL 1541029, (E.D.Pa., 29 June 2005) cites Wikipedia in a footnote on the definition of "Sea of Okhotsk": "The Sea of Okhostsk is part of the western Pacific Ocean, lying off the southern coast of Siberia and between the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Russo-Japanese Kurile Islands. See The Sea of Okhotsk, Wikipedia, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_of_Okhotsk (last visited June 23, 2005)."
• U.S. v. Krueger, 415 F.3d 766, (7th Cir., July 28, 2005) cites Wikipedia on the definition of a "shake" in the context of marijuana: "(According to Wikipedia, a free-content on-line encyclopedia, 'shake' is a term used to describe the small bits of marijuana, usually leaves, that break off and accumulate at the bottom of a plastic bag containing marijuana when the bag is handled roughly. See http://en.wikipedia.org; see also R. 19 at 78.)"
• Allegheny Defense Project, Inc. v. U.S. Forest Service, 423 F.3d 215, (3rd Cir., September 15, 2005) cites Wikipedia on "understory": "'Understory' is the term used for the area of a forest that grows in the shade of the overstory or canopy. Plants in the understory consist of a mixture of seedlings and saplings of canopy trees together with understory shrubs and herbs. See Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, Understory, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Understory (last visited 24 August 2005)"
• English Mountain Spring Water Co. v. Chumley, 2005 WL 2756072 (Tenn. Ct. App., October 25, 2005) cites Wikipedia on whether a "beverage" includes water: "A drink specifically prepared for human consumption. Almost always it largely consists of water. These include water, from the tap or from a bottle.". It then goes on to discuss Wikipedia's lack of authority:

The sources that offer the strongest support for the Department's argument that the term "beverage" includes water are those set forth in Group A, as these definitions are quite broad and generally define "beverage" as a drinkable liquid of any type. However, in our view some of the sources listed in Group A are of questionable authority.

In this regard, we note the source designated Wikipedia which specifically defines bottled water as a beverage. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org), is a computer internet site describing itself as follows:

Wikipedia ... is a multilingual, Web-based, free-content encyclopedia. It is written collaboratively by volunteers with wiki software, meaning articles can be added or changed by nearly anyone.

It appears that the only case in the United States that has ever referenced Wikipedia is a nonpublished/nonciteable California case. See Patel v. Shah, 2004 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 11509, No. G033741, 2004 WL 2930914, (Calif. App. 4 Dist. 17 December 2004). Given the fact that this source is open to virtually anonymous editing by the general public, the expertise of its editors is always in question, and its reliability is indeterminable. [*12] Accordingly, we do not find that it constitutes persuasive authority.

• M.K. Plastics Corp. v. Rossi, N.E.2d, 2005 WL 3358644 (December 12, 2005) cites Wikipedia: "AutoCAD is computer-aided drawing software for two-and three-dimensional design and drafting. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, AutoCAD, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autocad (last visited November 17, 2005)."
• Neeley v. West Orange-Cove Consol. Independent School Dist., S.W.3d, 2005 WL 3116298, (Tex., November 22, 2005) cites Wikipedia on "efficiency": "Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, Efficient, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efficient (last visited 13 October 2005) ('Efficiency is the capability of acting or producing effectively with a minimum of waste, expense, or unnecessary effort.')"
• State v. Kante, (Iowa App., November 23, 2005) cites Wikipedia that "'French is the official language of the Republic of Guinea.' Wikipedia, http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinea"

• Friends of the Metolius and William Johnston, petitioners, and Tomas Finnegan Ryan, interventor-petitioner, v. Jefferson County, proceeding before the Land Use Board of Appeals, State of Oregon, cites Wikipedia's entry for grok in a footnote, to explicate the petitioners' claim that the county’s failure to adopt adequate findings addressing the issue is “hard to grok.”[6] (PDF)
• Nine Films & Television Pty Ltd v Ninox Television Limited [2005] FCA 1404 (Australia): definition of reality TV. [7]
• Bajraktaraj v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), 2005 FC 261 (Canada): The judge citicized counsel for citing wikipedia, stating at para. 9: "the quality of the sources relied upon by the applicant, ... a downloaded extract from an on-line encyclopaedia, "Wikipedia," that provided no references for its content, did not impress." [8]

[edit] 2004

• Patel v. Shah, 2004 WL 2930914, (Nonpublished/Noncitable) (Cal. App. 4 Dist., 17 December 2004) cites Wikipedia on "Simple majority": "The trial court pointed out that Patel received more votes for than against of the votes that were counted. This meets a definition of "simple majority." (See, e.g., Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org).)"

• On page 16 of an opinion by a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit striking down the use of mass metal-detector searches at protests (Bourgeois v. Peters), Judge Tjoflat referenced Homeland Security Advisory System:

"Although the threat level was 'elevated' at the time of the protest, to date, the threat level has stood at yellow (elevated) for the majority of its time in existence. It has been raised to orange (high) six times.' Wikipedia, Homeland Security Advisory System, available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Homeland_Security_Advisory_System (last referenced 16 August 2004)."

• October 15, 2004 - Demmon v. Loudoun County Pub. Schs, 342 F. Supp. 2d 474 (2004) cites Hollywood Walk of Fame

• 30 July 2004 - Bryant v. Oakpointe Villa Nursing Centre, 471 Mich. 411 (2004) PDF cites a definition from Positional asphyxia in a footnote: "Positional asphyxia refers to suffocation that results when someone’s position prevents them from breathing properly. See <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positional_asphyxia> (accessed July 27, 2004)."

• In footnote 2 on page 5 of [9], 23 August, "Defendant/counterclaim-plaintiff IBM's memorandum in support of motion to strike materials submitted by SCO in opposition to IBM's cross-motion for partial summary judgement (oral argument requested)". (Presumably there was previously a motion for permission to file a memorandum with overlength title.)

• 10 June 2004 - A decision by a WIPO arbiter in Wachovia Corporation v. American Consumers First cites Schwa: "Because WACHOVIA is not a familiar word in English and because of the propensity of English-speakers to substitute a “schwa” sound for distinct vowel sounds (see http://www.onestopenglish.com/ProfessionalSupport/Tips/schwa.pdf; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwa), consumers with low familiarity with the WACHOVIA mark are likely to misspell the mark in these ways."

• In April 2004, the German Federal Court on Patents (Bundespatentgericht) ruled on the question if the word Explorer can be used as a trademark. One of their sources on the usage of the word explorer was the relevant entry in the German wikipedia. court ruling:

In diesem Zusammenhang hat das gegenständliche Zeichen auch in den deutschen Sprachalltag Einzug gehalten (Wikipedia, Die freie Enyklopädie, Stand: Januar 2004, Stichwort: „EXPLORER“).

In this context the graphic sign has entered the everyday life of the German language (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Status: January 2004, keyword: "EXPLORER"). -- rough translation by Mathias Schindler, edited

[edit] 2003

• Eric Vanatta, Motion on the constitutionality of the word "Fuck". Cites Fuck. [10]

• Association of American Publishers, Amicus curiae brief in New Times v. Bruce Isaacks. Cites Satire and A Modest Proposal. [11]