Hello, everybody!
I am very happy to announce that Federico (user:nemo) will be our first
Visiting Weasel in Brussels.
He will be in Brussels in the week 13-17 April, just weeks ahead of the
Legal Affairs Committee vote on the Implementation of the InfoSoc Directive
Report ("Reda Report"), which is scheduled for 8 May.
His job will be to concentrate mainly on Italian MEPs and round up support
for PDGov and FoP, which are both part of the first draft but now under
considerable attack. The first might get deleted altogether, while for the
latter there is proposal to include a non-commercial restriction.
Nemo has been very active so far in our advocacy efforts, working on our
strategy, monitoring and contacting decision-makers in Brussels and Italy.
We are already working on filling his schedule.
More details on the amendment proposals and committee opinions next week in
the monitoring report ;)
Have a great weekend!
Dimi
Wikimedia and the EU
March 2015 Report
tl;dr
Two of our main goals, Freedom of Panorama and Government Works in the
Public Domain have been proposed in the draft report on the Implementation
of the InfoSoc Directive (a.k.a. “Copyright Directive”). However a large
number of the tabled amendments aim at limiting or removing the original
paragraphs.
This and past reports: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/EU_policy/Monitor
ToC
1. InfoSoc Implementation Draft Report Amendment Proposals Published
2. IMCO Committee Vote on Opinion for InfoSoc Implementation Report
3. Commission Hates Geo-Blocking and/or Alarm Clocks
4.NYU/HEC EU Regulatory Clinic Work on Freedom of Panorama
-----------------
-----------------
#fixcopyright #DSM #FoP #PDGov
1. InfoSoc Implementation Draft Report - Amendment Proposals Published
Why is this relevant?
The Report on the Implementation of the Information Society Directive is an
own-initiative report by the European Parliament. [1] This means that it is
not legally binding, but it nonetheless tells the European Commission what
reform proposals the EP expects and is likely to approve. After the
rapporteur Julia Reda (Pirate Party, Greens/EFA Group, DE) proposed a draft
text [2] in the Legal Affairs Committee, other MEPs are now allowed to put
forward amendment proposals [3][4] before the rapporteur and her shadow
rapporteurs (one from each political group) look for compromises.
What happened?
The presented draft report included both our core issues – Freedom of
Panorama (FoP) and Government Works in the Public Domain (PDGov). Both were
however fiercely attacked by many MEPs. A group of more than 23 members
from the Socialists (S&D) and People’s Party (EPP) Groups, the two largest
blocks, want to delete PDGov altogether. Another group of 16 members,
mainly made up of EPP MEPs, want to include a “non-commercial” restriction
to European Freedom of Panorama.
A shout-out goes to Mr. Jean-Marie Cavada [5], French MEP and shadow
rapporteur for the Liberal (ALDE) Group. Not only did he propose to include
“non-commercial” in FoP, but when asked about it, his directrice de cabinet
Colette Bouckaert stated that “Wikipedia is stealing from authors because
we give information away for free”. Interestingly enough, Mr. Cavada does
have picture of the European Parliament building in Strasbourg on his
official website. [6][7]
What’s next?
Our two main goals right now are to get rid the FoP NC condition and to
keep PDGov in the report. We are discussing the FoP NC condition primarily
with the EPP group.
To strengthen public domain, we will focus on the S&D. Should we succeed in
getting S&D support, there is a better chance of getting the other large
groups on board. We also have some traction within the S&D from their
Austrian, Polish and Romanian delegations. The largest delegation is the
Italian one. Federico Leva from WMIT is coming to Brussel mid-April as a
first “Visiting Weasel” to help with this.
Currently active Wikimedia chapters, user groups and individuals on these
efforts are from Belgium, Netherlands, France, UK, Germany, Spain, Italy,
Malta, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Czech Republic, Austria, Poland and
Sweden (ordered by an imaginary line drawn in my head, not by merits). If
you want to join, please respond on or off list. Some information
unfortunately cannot be shared on a public mailing list at this point.
-----------------
-----------------
#fixcopyright #DigitalSingleMarket
2. IMCO Committee Vote on Opinion for InfoSoc Implementation Report
Why is this relevant?
Next to the lead committee, which in this case is Legal Affairs (JURI),
other EP bodies get to voice an opinion, too. In this case these are the
Internal Market (IMCO), Industry (ITRE) and Culture (CULT) Committees.
Their opinions aren’t binding even to JURI, but give a somewhat more global
picture of what the Parliament thinks and need to be taken into account.
What happened?
IMCO is the first committee that voted and adopted its opinion on the
copyright report. [8] An opinion in this case reads like a list of
different thoughts and amendment proposals. In this case the IMCO opinion
says a little bit of all. It says that authors’ rights and income are
important, that users’ expectations aren’t met and that it sees the
fragmented market both a necessary and as an obstacle. It also claims that
re-opening the directives dealing with enforcement is a must. The opinion
finally calls on the Commission to find a balanced way to solve all these
contradictions. There’s really nothing too offensive in this, except for
welcoming the horribly failed “Licenses 4 Europe” stakeholder dialogue. The
move to cross this particular paragraph off was lost by 1 vote.
What’s next?
We especially note the part of the IMCO report that “urges the Commission
and the Member States to promote a higher level of harmonisation and a
balanced framework for exceptions and limitations that does not cause any
harm to right holders, conforms with consumer expectations, fosters both
creativity and innovation, and adapts to the technology advances in the
digital environment;” We will point out that FoP and PDGov are the
exception to copyright that don’t hurt right holders in any significant
way. This makes them compatible with the IMCO opinion.
-----------------
-----------------
#Ansip #Oettinger #DSM #fixcopyright
3. Commission Hates Geo-Blocking and/or Alarm Clocks
Why is this relevant?
The Commission is hammering away on the actual legal text on copyright
reform so it is important to keep an eye on them and try to keep our
demands afloat. They are expected to publish their proposal around summer
this year.
What happened?
Both responsible Commissioners – Vice-President Ansip and Commissioner
Oettinger – talked about their visions for digital reforms. While the
former wants to abolish geo-blocking and literally said “I hate
geo-blocking”, the latter commented that he hates his “alarm clock in the
morning at five o’clock” and that we shouldn’t be so quick about getting
rid of it. [9][10]
Apart from that, Mr. Oettinger also reconfirmed that he continues to be a
big fan of ancillary copyright, which already failed the on-road test in
Germany and is about to crash other EU countries. The more visionary
statement came from Mr. Ansip, who talked about harmonizing exceptions at
least for libraries and disabled people and guaranteeing that text and data
mining would be legal. [11]
What’s next?
Wikimedia had a meeting with the European Commission copyright unit last
week, presenting the fourth FoP analysis we produced (see below) and trying
to feel out the Commission's position. They seem to be struggling to find a
coherent strategy as internal struggles have deadlocked certain parts of
the proposal. The message that the Copyright Unit would look for political
leadership, including from the European Parliament, was very clearly
communicated.
-----------------
-----------------
#FoP
4. NYU/HEC EU Regulatory Clinic Work on Freedom of Panorama
Why is this relevant?
While studies and analyses are often biased in Brussels, having them is
fundamental to any point you want to make, if you want it to have a chance
of sounding credible. Academic analyses work as door-openers and give your
views extra attention.
What happened?
The New York University and the Haute Ecole des Commerces run a EU
Regulatory Law Clinic in Brussels [12], which produced an analysis [13] of
the the currently fragmented Freedom of Panorama situation in Europe. This
was presented by the participants to the European Commission (Jaime Mendoza
from the Copyright Unit) and the European Parliament (JURI chair Pavel
Svoboda and InfoSoc rapporteur Julia Reda). The conclusion presented was
that harmonising Freedom of Panorama to include commercial and derivative
uses is the optimal way.
Two interesting questions were raised. Jaime Mendoza asked us if we need to
define the commercial use of FoP positively or it would be enough to omit
the word “noncommercial” into the text. The answer given was that
positively defining that any use is allowed would be the best way to go.
Pavel Svoboda wondered if a chocolate model of building and its subsequent
sale would and should be permitted under the FoP exception. The answer
given was that not limiting FoP to 2D reproductions would be wise in light
of future technological developments as 3D TV.
What’s next?
The finalised version of the report will be circulated among EP and the
European Commission decision-makers. This should give us an excuse to
contact everyone again, remind them of our issue and demonstrate the
seriousness of our work.
-----------------
-----------------
[1]
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?reference=2014/…
[2]
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+COMPARL…
[3]
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+COMPARL…
[4]
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+COMPARL…
[5]http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/28206/JEAN-MARIE_CAVADA_home.html
[6]http://jeanmariecavada.eu/
[7]https://twitter.com/dimi_z/status/573415046300209152
[8]
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0QRHCpjYWN2Ym95cGpNSmg3STA/view?usp=shari…
[9]https://euobserver.com/digital/128194
[10]
https://www.newday.mk/digital-commissioner-oettinger-against-rapid-abolitio…
[11]
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6c53690e-d2f1-11e4-a792-00144feab7de.html#axzz3Vy…
[12]http://www.law.nyu.edu/global/globalopportunities/nyulawabroad/paris
[13]
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0QRHCpjYWN2LXZsR1JmSTBlTmM/view?usp=shari…
Hi all,
Without taking too much focus and energy off copyright reform and the
current debate in the Parliament this is to let you know that the European
Commission is currently conducting a survey on "Digital Education and
Copyright". [1]
I have received information that so far the overwhelming majority of
participants have been publishers and collective management organisations.
We need to step up the game and get more free knowledge and free
information organisations to participate.
The survey is pretty much straightforward. I filled it out keeping our
Position Paper [2] in mind. The overall question is whether current
copyright is helpful or a hurdle to digital education. It also asks whether
current copyright guarantees high quality of educational content and thus
copyrighted content is of higher quality than free licensed content.
In this case more important than having multiple Wikimedia chapters saying
more or less the same thing would be to actually get other like-minded
organisations to participate. If you can think of likely candidates willing
to spare 15-20 minutes in your networks, please share!
Thank you!
Dimi
[1]http://surveys.ppmi.lt/s/copyright/
[2]https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/EU_policy/Position_Paper_on_EU_Copyright
Hi All,
I wanted to let you know that the Wikimedia Foundation will be signing on
to a letter addressed to Congress, President Obama, and the NSA, among
others, calling for (1) an end to the U.S. government's bulk collection
under the USA PATRIOT Act <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Act>; and
(2) greater transparency and accountability.
The letter, as well as the identities of the broad coalition of co-signers,
is unfortunately embargoed until Wednesday (25 March) morning when it goes
public. I will follow up with this list then with a copy of the letter, but
wanted to let you know about the action we plan on taking to further voice
our opposition to mass government surveillance and the chilling effect it
has on Wikimedia users and projects.
Thanks!
-Michelle
==
Michelle Paulson
Senior Legal Counsel
Wikimedia Foundation
149 New Montgomery Street, 6th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
mpaulson(a)wikimedia.org
415.839.6885 ext. 6608 (Office)
415.882.0495 (Fax)
*NOTICE: This message may be confidential or legally privileged. If you
have received it by accident, please delete it and let us know about the
mistake. As an attorney for the Wikimedia Foundation and for legal/ethical
reasons, I cannot give legal advice to, or serve as a lawyer for, community
members, volunteers, or staff members in their personal capacity. For more
on what this means, please see our legal disclaimer
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Legal_Disclaimer>.*
Today EU Observer published an article with the title "Screenwriters
call for EU rights on royalties"
The text, which is not primarily about the Freedom of Panorama, ends
with these two paragraphs:
"In [the screenwriter] Thijm's story A'dam - E.V.A., a TV series, the
cityscape of Amsterdam played an important role. He was fortunate that
the Netherlands has this freedom of panorama.
“It would have been a lot more difficult”, he said, to shoot the series
in Brussels or Paris, where freedom of panorama has not been transposed
into national law."
This is a great example to bring whenever we speak about Freedom of
Panorama with people who want policies in the interest of creative artists.
Link to the article:
https://euobserver.com/digital/128128
Best regards,
Karl
--
Karl Sigfrid
+32 487 94 76 30
karl(a)wikimedia.be
Rue du Trone 51
1000 Brussels
Information about the upcoming reform of the Digital Single Market is
leaking from the European Commission, which is now working on a strategy
document that they plan to release before summer.
The Commission is clearly focusing on measures to promote economic
growth. The information that has so far gotten out does not address the
issue of copyright exceptions, but it does say a few words about other
priorities of ours like open data.
In the context of digitization and data-based business, the Commission
views it as a problem that not more statistics and other data is in the
public domain. They are also considering how to promote the further
development toward open science, where a key element is the open access
to publications and research data through new business models in the
publishing world.
This could be good news. Perhaps it's a sign that the Public Sector
Information Directive may be up for review and ultimately strengthened
to allow for more and easier access to publicly funded information.
The Commission's ideas are at this stage quite vague. We will of course
be there to help with suggestions on how to turn the ideas into concrete
policy.
Best regards,
Karl
--
Karl Sigfrid
+32 487 94 76 30
karl(a)wikimedia.be
Rue du Trone 51
1000 Brussels
Hello everyone,
Apologies for cross posting.
Wikimedia UK, along with the Open Coalition <http://open-coalition.org/>
and Demos <http://www.demos.co.uk/>, are developing a project called "From
ticks to clicks - understanding and building digital democracy".
We have just made a proposal
<https://www.newschallenge.org/challenge/elections/entries/from-ticks-to-cli…>
to the Knight News Challenge and we would really appreciate your feedback
and support. If you can spare just a couple of minutes please do take a
look and let us know what you think. Comments on the site, rather than
here, are especially appreciated!
With thanks and regards,
Stevie
--
Stevie Benton
Head of External Relations
Wikimedia UK
+44 (0) 20 7065 0993 / +44 (0) 7803 505 173
@StevieBenton
Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England
and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513.
Registered Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street,
London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a
global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the
Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
*Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal
control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.*
Hi all,
this is a somewhat odd question, but as you know we're trying to target our
advocacy activities as much as possible. I would be very happy to have
someone from Malta or speaking Maltese write a letter for us. Let me know
if you know such a person.
Thanks!
Dimi
Wikimedia and the EU
February 2015 Report
tl;dr
There are two copyright theatres at this point - the European Parliament
and the European Commission. The former is working towards the media, the
latter is writing away in a cloud of mystery. Wikimedia is engaging in both
on an ongoing basis.
This and past reports: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/EU_policy/Monitor
ToC
1. IMCO, CULT & ITRE Committees Publish Draft Opinions on Copyright Reform
2. Wikimedia Participates in High-Level Roundtable with Commissioner
Oettinger
3. #AskAnsip and #AskOettinger Twitter Events
4. Scope and Terms of Wikimedia Requested PD Contribution Study
-----------------
-----------------
#fixcopyright ##DigitalSingleMarket
1. IMCO, CULT & ITRE Committees Opinions on JURI’s Draft Report on the
Implementation of the InfoSoc Directive
Why is this relevant?
Whenever the European Parliament is working on a dossier, several
committees are usually involved. In this case there are three additional
committees giving their opinions on the report. These usually take the form
of a list of unassorted remarks or amendment proposals that MEPs from
outside the responsible committee want to float. These may or may not be
accepted, but they give an idea about how Parliament’s general thoughts on
a given topic.
What happened?
The three Committees for opinion released their draft opinions on the
Report on the Implementation of the InfoSoc Directive. [1] These are:
1. José Blanco López (PT S&D) for the Committee on Industry, Research and
Energy [2]
2. Isabella Adinolfi (IT EFDD) for the Committee on Culture and Education
[3]
Catherine Stihler (UK S&D) Internal Market and Consumer Protection [4]
The texts essentially lack anything very worrisome or positive, in fact
they stay away from specifics as much as possible. One thing they have in
common is that they’re all asking the Commission to square the circle,
meaning that they are saying that we need a copyright reform that
strengthens authors’ rights, is makes users’ lives easier and facilitates
access to knowledge. Another thing that can be observed in the reports is
that they talk about enforcement. Normally enforcement is not part of the
InfoSoc Directive (it is regulated by the e-Commerce Directive instead),
but the recent move by the industry in Brussels has been to demand stronger
enforcement instead of engaging in actual copyright debate.
What comes next?
Just like the actual report, each of these opinion papers will be discussed
and amended in their respective committee. They will then be sent to Julia
Reda and the legal Affairs Committee for consideration.
It is clear that everyone would like to be the hero of the day but no one
believes to have a solution. We should put our energy into selling our
demands as solutions that facilitate access to knowledge, make users’ lives
easier and don’t hurt authors.
As for the enforcement talk, my personal take is that this is a tactical
manœuvre by industry advocates that won’t work. There seems to be very
little appetite by the Commission to reopen the enforcement dossiers at
this stage. We should just focus on our core proposals, underlining that
we’re in favour of authors’ rights and that we (are perhaps the only ones
that) rigorously apply copyright on our projects.
-----------------
-----------------
#fixcopyright ##DigitalAgenda
2. Wikimedia Participates in High-Level Roundtable with Commissioner
Oettinger
Why is this relevant?
Formally the Commission has had its round of consultations on the topic of
copyright. However, individual Commissioners continue to meet with
stakeholders. The type of organisations they tend to meet also reflect
their political preferences. Participating in a small-scale, pre-selected
roundtable demonstrates we can be one of the relevant players when it comes
to the aspects of digitisation and cultural heritage in copyright.
What happened?
Wikimedia had managed to meet the political cabinets of President
Jean-Claude Juncker and Vice-President Andrus Ansip almost immediately
after they were confirmed by the Parliament. The office of Commissioner
Oettinger turned out to be somewhat of a challenge. Eventually we received
a meeting and were told about these “high-level” roundtable dialogues. We
asked to be included - which was again a challenge - and in the end
received an invitation. Lukas Mezger, vice-chair of Wikimedia Deutschland,
represented us at the event and reported his experience on the WMF blog. [5]
What comes next?
We will follow up by sending a written version of Lukas’ statement and some
additional information to the Oettinger cabinet and the copyright unit. Now
that we were a personal invitee of theirs, this gives us the extra minute
of attention that we must use to generate more attention.
Simultaneously the European Parliament has formed an ad-hoc Working Group
on Intellectual Property Rights and Copyright Reform coordinated by MEP
Jean-Marie Cavada (FR ALDE). We’re trying to get invited to one of their
next coming meetings.
-----------------
-----------------
#AskAnsip #AskOettinger
3. #AskAnsip and #AskOettinger Twitter Events
Why is this relevant?
Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger are responsible for the upcoming proposal
to create a European digital single market. Their participation in public
discussions, whether online or offline, gives stakeholders a chance to
reinforce their arguments. It's also an opportunity to get an idea about
what the Commission is planning and what their priorities are.
In addition, events that attract stakeholders give a good overview of who
the active players are, which allows us to identify opposing views to
address as well as potential allies to approach.
What happened?
The #AskAsip event with Commissioner Andrus Ansip had a broad focus on the
digital single market. While this Twitter chat was largely taken over by
interest groups with a tax-policy agenda, a number of Wikimedians
contributed with questions and comments on FoP.
As in many of his previous public appearances, Ansip made clear his
commitment to get rid of geoblocking. Anyone in Europe should be allowed
access to any European online service. Except for that, his visions were
quite vague.
The #AskOettinger event with Commissioner Günther Oettinger dealt
specifically with copyright. Oettinger repeated Ansips call for ending
geoblocking and added a few other points. For instance, he said that
enforcement “is high on the agenda,” adding that “violators need to fear
the stick.”
On the positive side he expressed that the Commission wants to “unlock
access to our rich cultural heritage.” He also stated that 28 national sets
of rules are not practical and that a proposal will be indeed released
mid-2015.
What comes next?
The EU Commission's online dialogue continues through the newly launched
website Digital4EU: https://ec.europa.eu/futurium/digital4eu
The web site is a channel for those who want to initiate or participate in
online discussions. The site also offers an events calendar and will likely
serve as a portal for anything relating to the Commission's work on related
to the Digital single market.
-----------------
-----------------
#PDvalue
4. Study on the Economic Value of the Public Domain in the EU
Why is this relevant?
As we reported back in November 2013 [6], we’ve been pushing the EU’s IPR
Infringements Observatory to commission a study on the economic value of
the Public Domain in the EU ever since they released a rather shameful
report claiming that restroom maintenance at fast food restaurants creates
IPR intensive jobs. [7]
What happened?
In 2014 we managed to put a “Study on the Economic Contribution of the
Public Domain in the EU” in the Observatory’s work programme for 2015. Last
week in Alicante, they presented the scope, concept and timeline of the
report. The study will be rather small at first, done in-house and very
focused. According to the scientists working there, they want to do
something credible and clean at first with the possibility of expanding it
later.
The study will analyse the derivative value of the public domain for the
film industry by analysing which films have been based on public domain
elements and what part of their economic value (measured in revenues) can
be attributed to PD elements. For this they will introduce a PD dummy
variable. [8] The main reason for picking the film industry is the
availability of information in IMDB.
On a side note, the study plans to build on the work of people already on
this list (shout out to James and Communia members).
What comes next?
We should follow the process closely and make sure we get decent results
that will withhold scientific and public scrutiny. The study will be
attacked even while it is written, which is not always a bad thing, as it
helps to know what kind of criticism to expect.
We’re already making it known that we’d like the scope of the study to be
broadened in a second phase.
Some interim information will be presented during the working group
meetings on 15 September this year and a first draft is planned to be
published on 16 February 2016.
-----------------
-----------------
[1]
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?reference=2014/…
[2]
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&reference=PE-549…
[3]
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-%2f%2fEP%2f%2fNONSGML…
[4]
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&reference=PE-549…
[5]https://blog.wikimedia.org/2015/03/02/free-knowledge-european-union/
[6]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2013-December/129015.html
[7]http://keionline.org/node/1803
[8]
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0QRHCpjYWN2a01zUkMwV2dydzA/view?usp=shari…