Hi all,
tl;dr
This is to let you know, that our "Position Paper on EU Copyright Reform"
[1] has now been signed by 31 organisations and will be send out next week.
Signatories
We have 31 organisations from 17 European countries that signed it
15 Wikimedia chapters/thematic organisations/user groups
5 Open Knowledge (Foundation) chapters/groups
4 Organisations that primarily work on digital rights
3 Organisations mostly dedicated to free/open knowledge and IP issues
3 Organisations focused on free and open software
1 Open Street Map Foundation national partner
Unfortunately, the Open Street Map Foundation wants to sign it (the paper
enjoyed vast support within their community) but for organisational reasons
it would take them quite a while do so and we shouldn't wait much longer to
send it out. Also, at least two more OKFN chapters stated their support for
this, but haven't answered since.
Soft launch
We plan on sending this out to people directly involved in the drafting
process of the copyright reform proposal and ask for face-to-face meetings.
Trying to get general media attention seems like a waste at this point, As
the reform proposal is nowhere near publication at this point. I feel it
wold be wasted without (political) impact.
Nevertheless, if you feel like sharing this, please feel more than free to
do so (social media, blogposts).
Brussels Background
The new European Commission has its eyes on reforming copyright. The unit
responsible for this was moved from the "internal market" directorate (DG
MARKT) to the "internet" directorate (DG Connect), sending a rather
positive signal. However, there is still considerable struggle within the
institutions which way and how far to go. This paper intends to encourage
the reform-willing crowd to act.
PDF Version
I am also attaching a PDF version of the Meta page that will be used in
correspondence. Please let me know if you think something is not okay or it
can be improved until early next week.
Thanks a ton to everyone who helped with this (more than 30 active people
by my count)!
Cheers,
Dimi
[
1]https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/EU_policy/Position_Paper_on_EU_Copyright