Being bold here...
Africa Centre tried vaguely to claim intellectual property rights over the term when Isla stopped working there. It does not really make sense as
1) the first one to use the term (and who made the logo I think) was Iolanda back in 2006. And back then, her project was a "lettera27 Foundation project run in collaboration with Wikimedia Italia".
2), The Africa Centre first got involved in a WikiAfrica project in ... 2011, with Isla.
So from an anteriority perspective... their claim can simply not make it.
3) Several projects which run under that banner never involved Africa Centre. For example WikiFundi was never related to them. And has been clearly called a WikiAfrica project since its inception.
So if they felt they had a ground... they would complain. Which they do not. I am not aware they object to anything at the moment.
Actually, Africa Center considered making a grant request to WMF a few months ago. I think for an education project. But I did not see any project grant from them the last two sessions, so I guess they finally decided otherwise.
I think... it is normal that Africa Centre use its legacy and show what they have done in the past. I do not think they have run ANY WikiAfrica project since Isla left. At least, I am not aware of any and there is nothing new on their website. But, what was done under Africe Centre banner is part of their legacy. And that's a non profit organization that needs to show what it has done to get funding for other projects. So WikiAfrica is one of their programmes..
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I would not say WikiAfrica is a program. That's a set of initiatives led in the wiki world, to improve production and availability of free knowledge about Africa and Africa participation. In my view, that's a UserGroup. And we probably should create an official one at some point. But that's the concept.
I think it is complementary to what the chapters and usergroup do in the sense that it is cross-countries.
For example, a few days ago, some people decided to kick start a "education-focused User Group". There are education programmes in every chapter basically... the User Group will just be a "transversal" thing.
There is also a WikiWomen UserGroup (https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiWomen%27s_User_Group ). And there are projects women related in many chapters as well.
Who owns WikiAfrica ? Well, no one. Maybe we should ask for a trademark... but really... I am not sure why we should bother.
If one of you guys want to start a WikiAfrica project (the missing tile...), just move on and do it. But if the project is going to be run in only ONE country, it is probably better to do it within your country UserGroup or Chapter. If the project is cross-country... WikiAfrica makes sense.
(if needed, I am sure Isla or I can have other ideas for that nemissingw tile... we can also make an entire NEW ROW ! Trust that part)
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To go back to the Africa Center question... I see no problem for them to run projects under the WikiAfrica banner...
* as long as they do not claim they own the whole stuff...
* as long as they do not claim they managed all the WikiAfrica projects...
* as long as they do not prevent others to run projects under this banner...
* as long as the projects are within values and rules consistant to what wikimedians would consider the "right thing" (such as free licence outcome etc.)If they start a new project within this framework... that can be the missing tile ;)
The last projects we run, we did so with other hosts and partners (Wikimedia CH, Ynternet.org and Goethe Institute in particular). We may run future ones under the newborn Wiki in Africa association. We may also run them with the Kiwix association. Who knows !!!!
We thought important to have a place to showcase those projects as a whole. We also thought important to acknowledge the role each of those hosts and partners have played. Africa Centre certainly played an important part there and it is important that its role and involvement be recognised. But it is one amongst others. As displayed here : http://www.wikiafrica.org/
category/wikiafrica-is-hosted- and-supported-by/
Flo
Le 09/06/2017 à 13:23, Isaac Olatunde a écrit :
Thank you, Isla.My understanding of your comment is that "Wiki Africa" is an intellectual property of Flo, Lopenza and you and Africa Center do not have any control over it. Correct? Per the claim here, do you think Africa Center is mistaken? or they are in fact, correct (i.e it's their program, they owns it?
Let me know if you wish to discuss off-list.
Regards,
Isaac
On Fri, Jun 9, 2017 at 1:02 AM, Isla Haddow-Flood <isla@wikiloveswomen.org> wrote:
It is on a wordpress site is there a problem with it Rexford?
Excuse the brevity, sent from my iPhone.Is there any chance the website could use a WordPress theme instead of this custom made one?
Something similar along the lines of what was used for the wikilovesafrica website?
rexford
On Thursday, June 8, 2017, Isla Haddow Flood <isla@wikiloveswomen.org> wrote:
HelloAfter a lot of time and effort, we are VERY pleased to announce the launch for the WikiAfrica.org website. www.wikiafrica.org
The website has been completely revamped in order to give due credit to all the members of the moment - including sponsors, hosts and, of course, to showcase the projects. Please feel free to look through the website and suggest changes or where you feel more information could be added. At the moment, the information is very sparse and is designed to lead people to investigate the projects in more depth via their own websites, or to get involved with the existing wikimedia chapters and affiliates.
We look forward to your feedback,
Isla and Florence
Isla Haddow-FloodCo-project ManagerUsername: Islahaddow
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