Dimitar Parvanov Dimitrov
2017-04-07 11:04:02 UTC
Hello, everyone!
This is my first time writing to this list, so I am bit nervous :)
I wanted to let you know about one of the public policy priorities
Wikimedia is currently working on in Brussels.
As many of you will know, we have had some issues in the past when re-using
public domain art [1][2] and the legal situation in many countries,
including at least 5 EU countries is inconclusive. [3]
The long-awaited EU copyright reform is now entering into its first
decisive phase - the committees of the European Parliament are deliberating
what to include.
Wikimedia is asking Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to table
amendments to the Directive that would safeguard the public domain. The
logic behind our request is that there should be no no copyright or related
rights on faithful reproductions of public domain works. Our initial draft
text reads as follows:
2. Member States shall recognise that once a work is in the public
domain (copyright and related rights in a work have expired or never
existed), faithful reproductions in full or in part of that work,
regardless of the mode of reproduction and including digitisation, shall
equally not be subject to copyright or related rights.
We have already managed to get several MEPs to propose such an amendment.
What we might need in the coming weeks is diplomatic support from cultural
heritage organisations. I know Europeana could not agree on supporting
this, but perhaps the readers of this list will have good working
relationships with individual museums and archives that might be willing to
put in a good word for us. All we need is a phone call or a letter to
specific MEPs, something I can help with.
Thank you and have a great weekend!
Dimi
[1]
http://www.communia-association.org/2015/11/24/why-is-a-museum-suing-wikipedia-for-sharing/
[2]compare copyright claims on Commons (
Loading Image...
)
and on the Thyssen Museum website (
https://www.museothyssen.org/en/collection/artists/delaunay-robert/portuguese-woman-large-portuguese
)
[3]https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Reuse_of_PD-Art_photographs
This is my first time writing to this list, so I am bit nervous :)
I wanted to let you know about one of the public policy priorities
Wikimedia is currently working on in Brussels.
As many of you will know, we have had some issues in the past when re-using
public domain art [1][2] and the legal situation in many countries,
including at least 5 EU countries is inconclusive. [3]
The long-awaited EU copyright reform is now entering into its first
decisive phase - the committees of the European Parliament are deliberating
what to include.
Wikimedia is asking Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to table
amendments to the Directive that would safeguard the public domain. The
logic behind our request is that there should be no no copyright or related
rights on faithful reproductions of public domain works. Our initial draft
text reads as follows:
2. Member States shall recognise that once a work is in the public
domain (copyright and related rights in a work have expired or never
existed), faithful reproductions in full or in part of that work,
regardless of the mode of reproduction and including digitisation, shall
equally not be subject to copyright or related rights.
We have already managed to get several MEPs to propose such an amendment.
What we might need in the coming weeks is diplomatic support from cultural
heritage organisations. I know Europeana could not agree on supporting
this, but perhaps the readers of this list will have good working
relationships with individual museums and archives that might be willing to
put in a good word for us. All we need is a phone call or a letter to
specific MEPs, something I can help with.
Thank you and have a great weekend!
Dimi
[1]
http://www.communia-association.org/2015/11/24/why-is-a-museum-suing-wikipedia-for-sharing/
[2]compare copyright claims on Commons (
Loading Image...
)and on the Thyssen Museum website (
https://www.museothyssen.org/en/collection/artists/delaunay-robert/portuguese-woman-large-portuguese
)
[3]https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Reuse_of_PD-Art_photographs