TLDR:

What: IRC chat with members of Wikimedia Foundation legal

Topic: Freedom of panorama

When: Tuesday, April 19 at 11:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time / 18:00 UTC

Reminder: We can’t do legal advice.

Hi all,

We’re happy to announce the return of Legal Team IRC office hours, starting tomorrow, April 19 at 11:00 AM PDT / 18:00 UTC! We’re planning to host these once every 3 months or so going forward.

IRC office hours provide an opportunity for members of the Wikimedia communities to chat directly with members of the Wikimedia Foundation legal team on topics of interest including public policy, legal issues facing the Wikimedia movement, and what you can do to get involved. Please keep in mind that under California law we can’t give out legal advice, so rather than giving out legal advice, we will talk about the Wikimedia Foundation’s stance on issues.

For this format, we’ll begin at 11:00 by doing a brief introduction and then start taking questions from everyone that’s present. We’ll aim to have a few people on at the same time to be able to respond faster and to discuss different aspects of the issues.

For our first office hour, we’re planning to discuss the freedom of panorama (FoP). With the recent decision in Sweden, holding that Wikimedia Sweden's website/database was in violation of Swedish copyright law for making available on the internet photographs of artwork permanently situated in public areas, FoP has become more pressing than ever. We believe that the ability for members of the public to photograph public monuments and landscapes is a fundamental part of free expression. We plan to raise this issue to the European Commission this summer, and need your help to let them know that it’s important. This first one of a series of IRC office hours will be a great opportunity to exchange thoughts about it.

If you have questions that you would like to discuss during the office hour, you can add them on Meta Wiki here.