Hi,

this is really a great initiative. I immediately thought that you should report the experiences you'll have with this so it can be copied by other EU chapters. Having an "organisation from home" asking for something is often more efficient than receiving a letter from an interntional HQ. Ideally, the two will be complementing each other (like in our case).

As to Mathias' comment on the MEPs: Yes, there will be some considerable turnover, but at the same time politicians are most likely to pay attention to such a thing before election time. Sending it out just to the ones we believe might get reelected would be - diplomatically speaking - bad diplomacy. Can't we just resend it after the elections to just the newly elected MEPs?

As to the length, indeed three pages might be a bit long, but if the opening (i.e. the first page) is informative and interesting enough and the other two pages are additional information, this could just work.

Dimi




2014-03-14 9:19 GMT+01:00 Mathias Schindler <mathias.schindler@wikimedia.de>:
Hi Stevie,

I really like the initiative. There are a couple of things that came
to my mind that might deserve some consideration.

1. You intend to send this to those 73 UK MEPs whose legislative turn
will be over in about 2 months. There will be some considerable
turnover. One option could be to adjust the recipient list to all
candiates for an MEP seat or those with realistic chances of getting
elected. After all, those candidates might be in a good mood to listen
to suggestions right now.

2. The term "Public domain of publicly-funded works" might be
perceived in two possible ways: Open Access to publicly funded works
and Public Domain of Government works. Given the framework agreements
such as Berne Convention and others, it will be unlikely to deny
copyright protection just because funding came from a public source.

3. I really like the idea of illustrations. The picture of Big Ben and
a crossed out European flagpole installation however might be
interpreted slightly different than intended. Spending time and effort
(and possibly even money) to get a layout that is appealing to the eye
is definitely worth it.

4. Size. Three pages might exceed the attention span of your target audience.

Mathias

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