We’re endorsing a proposed copyright treaty that adds educational and research exceptions. Here’s why.
This may come as a surprise, but copyrighted works often cannot be used in educational and research materials. For example: students in France, Italy, Luxembourg and Romania cannot legally quote an entire artwork in a digital presentation. In Denmark, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom a teacher may not send an email to….
EU copyright vote leaves the future of online participation uncertain
The European Parliament’s September 12 vote on the proposed Copyright Directive was a missed opportunity to improve copyright, after many years of discussion: Two years ago, the European Commission set out to modernize copyright laws across the EU with a flawed proposal with potential to improve. This proposal was referred to several committees in the….
Your internet is under threat. Here’s why you should care about European Copyright Reform.
You can also read this post in Spanish and in French. Back in 2001, the European Parliament came together to pass regulations and set up copyright laws for the internet, a technology that was just finding its footing after the dot com boom and bust. Wikipedia had just been born, and there were 29 million websites. No one….
Wikimedia to Senate: Don’t weaken the public domain
In an attempt to harmonize copyrights for the use of sound recordings created before 1972, the U.S. Senate is currently poised to pass a bill which could endanger the preservation and sharing of historical sound recordings online. The Music Modernization Act (MMA), which was passed in the House of Representatives in April and recently received….
Join the Wikimedia Foundation as an Open Web Fellow
The Wikimedia Foundation is proud to host an Open Web Fellow, a nine-month position to develop data-driven responses to questions around public policy for free knowledge.
Advocating for a better legal framework for free knowledge: Brussels
Independent Wikimedia chapters in Europe have a pair of policy advisers working to promote the Wikimedia movement's ideals in the European Union's public policy.
A Wikimedian asks European Parliament members for copyright reform
European copyright laws are very complex, making it hard to share free knowledge. To address this issue, a longtime Wikimedia contributor traveled to Brussels to meet members of the European Parliament and explain why copyright reform is needed.