Pine,

Nonprofits may lobby, but not without limit. In the U.S., a tax-exempt nonprofit is absolutely prohibited from engaging in political campaign activity (opposing or favoring a political candidate), and lobbying (attempts to influence legislation) cannot be a substantial part of its activity. The lobbying regulations are very technical, so lobbying activity must be monitored for proper accounting.

There are alternative types of organizations, such as social welfare organizations (§ 501(c)(4)) and political organizations (§ 527), that have more flexibility to engage in political or lobbying activity. However, these organizations to do not enjoy the same tax benefits as a charitable organization (501(c)(3)).

The IRS has useful information on the topic:

* http://www.irs.gov/Charities-&-Non-Profits/Lobbying
* http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/election_year_phone_forum_slides.pdf

I am happy to see that the discussion on Commons is considering a number of different approaches to the issue. Lobbying is one approach, but outreach and creative licensing can also have a big impact.

Thanks,
Stephen

On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 3:42 PM, ENWP Pine <deyntestiss@hotmail.com> wrote:
Hi Steven,

My understanding was that nonprofits can lobby all that they like but they cannot support individual candidates for elected political office. Is that not true?

Since Congress seems to be the obstacle rather than the courts then I think maximizing lobbying by the community, chapters, and WMF when the next round of US intellectual property law revisions happen would seem to be the right time. Isn't there some discussion that the US patent system is so cumbersome that it's forcing a lot of technology organizations to spend a lot of their effort on amassing patent portfolios and defending against patent trolls? When Congress discusses intellectual property law seems like a good time to also bring up the issue of FOP for the Internet age.

Pine

Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2012 14:21:12 -0800
From: slaporte@wikimedia.org
To: advocacy_advisors@lists.wikimedia.org
Subject: [Advocacy Advisors] Freedom of Panorama


[Was: [Wikimedia-l] Fwd: [Internal-l] Israeli Government to Release its images under a free license for public use]

Hello Pine,

A number of possible freedom of panorama initiatives are being discussed here: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Freedom_of_panorama_campaign These proposals are not being led by the WMF itself because there are strict regulations on how a tax-exempt nonprofit organization may engage in legislative activism.

The Wikimedia community has many creative ideas. Here are the proposals under discussion on Commons: 

* Write a convincing rationale for why FoP is a good thing
* Petition
* US chapters lobby Congress
* Set-up an umbrella lobbying organization
* Geotargeted CentralNotice banner
* Identify allies (was: "Talk to Google")
* Identify educational audience for these photos
* Sample offline Wikipedias with Kiwix offline reader that need photos
* Summary FoP law table
* Proposed wording
* Short and long term goals
* Baby step: state-level arts grants
* Identify violations
* Throw our toys out of the pram
* Lead by example
* Guerilla art campaign

Which do you think would be the most effective?

Best,
Stephen

On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 1:39 PM, ENWP Pine <deyntestiss@hotmail.com> wrote:
Good!

To the WMF folks, is WMF doing any advocacy of its own regarding FOP in the US?

Pine

--
Stephen LaPorte
Legal Counsel
Wikimedia Foundation

For legal reasons, I may only serve as an attorney for the Wikimedia Foundation. This means I may not give legal advice to or serve as a lawyer for community members, volunteers, or staff members in their personal capacity.


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--
Stephen LaPorte
Legal Counsel
Wikimedia Foundation

For legal reasons, I may only serve as an attorney for the Wikimedia Foundation. This means I may not give legal advice to or serve as a lawyer for community members, volunteers, or staff members in their personal capacity.