Hello Asaf.

Thank you for the response. Stephen was quite clear about my inquiry, I will contact the political parties but in my own personal capacity.

Starting a Wikimedia chapter in Iceland was discussed in the Icelandic Wikipedia community several years ago but the that effort went into coma. I have been trying to revive these efforts partly because there is a 10 year anniversary of the Icelandic Wikipedia coming up in December 2013 and that occasion should be celebrated and used to increase public awareness of and participation in Wikimedia projects. The ideas that have been floated involve regular off-wiki meet-ups, outreach to students and an anniversary conference in December where we could perhaps invite a speaker from the foundation.

I have been in contact with the chairman of the Icelandic Instute for Digital Freedom (FSFÍ) who is eager to assist and help promote Wikimedia in Iceland. It has been suggested that Wikimedians in Iceland could form a sub-group within FSFÍ although I think that in order to be a WM-recognized chapter, our group would need to be independent and focused solely on Wikimedia projects.

There has been some concern about the registration of the domain wikipedia.is which is currently held by an individual who is not using it just to benefit the goals of Wikimedia but as a personal ad space for his business. Although to be fair, he also displays links to Wikipedia. Perhaps you could tell me if the foundation has a policy on these matters? Since there is no local chapter operating in Iceland (yet), it has been suggested that the Icelandic Institute for Digital Freedom could register the domain or an individual who is more aligned to the goals of the foundation, but this would need the backing of the foundation as the trademark holder if the current holder of the domain does not respond to being asked politely.

Regards,
Bjarki

On 26.2.2013 21:15, Asaf Bartov wrote:

Hi, Bjarki.

Thanks for reaching out!  I hope Stephen's response was clear.  I wanted to express my delight at hearing from you and learning about the renewed interest in off-wiki activities in Iceland.  Please consider me your primary contact at WMF.

I would love to hear more about this new group and your plans, and to offer any help I can.  I hope you are aware of the various WMF grantmaking programs -- see http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Start if you're not.  Beyond funding and trademark permission, I might be in a position to help connect you with other Wikimedians who have relevant experience or who are currently working on similar projects.

I look forward to staying in touch.

Cheers,

   Asaf

On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 10:39 AM, Stephen LaPorte <slaporte@wikimedia.org> wrote:

Hello Bjarki,

Your email was forwarded by a member of our volunteer response team. Thank you for contacting us, and I am happy to hear about the group of Wikimedians in Iceland!

In general, a group may receive permission to use official logos after they are recognized by the Affiliations Committee <http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliations_Committee>. The Affiliations Committee recognizes three types of groups: user groups, chapters, and thematic organizations. I would like to introduce my colleague, Asaf Bartov <abartov@wikimedia.org>, who may be able to provide some guidance about the Affiliations Committee's process.

Before your group has received recognition, you may request limited trademark permissions for specific activity or event. These requests are handled on a case-by-case basis. If your group would like to request to use a logo, first I suggest reviewing the trademark policy at <http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Trademark_policy>. If your proposed use will require permission, please send a detailed description of the request and proposal (including a mockup or demo, if possible) to <trademarks@wikimedia.org>. Of course, please feel free to contact me at <slaporte@wikimedia.org> if you have any questions.

Finally, please note that contacting politicians or political candidates is a complicated place to start. For tax reasons, our grants or trademarks may not be used to influence a political election or lobby for legislation. You may provide general education about Creative Commons licenses, but we do not officially contact politicians, political candidates, or political parties. This sort of activity should only be done in an unofficial, non-sponsored, individual capacity. I would recommend starting with other events or activities that support contributors, such as a conference, competition, or edit-a-thon.

Thanks again for reaching out to us, and I look forward to working with you.

Best,

Stephen

On Wed, Feb 20, 2013 at 4:49 AM, Wikipedia information team <info-en@wikimedia.org> wrote:

Hi,

We have a request below for logo use from a fellow editor who would like to use it
in hopes of establishing a chapter in Iceland.

Yours sincerely,
Mike VanHall

--
Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/
---
Disclaimer: all mail to this address is answered by volunteers, and responses are
not to be considered an official statement of the Wikimedia Foundation. For official
correspondence, please contact the Wikimedia Foundation by certified mail at the
address listed on https://www.wikimediafoundation.org/
---- Forwarded message from Bjarki Sigursveinsson <bjarki@gmail.com> ---

From: Bjarki Sigursveinsson <bjarki@gmail.com>
To: info@wikimedia.org
Subject: Requesting a permission to use WMF logo and name for a project in Iceland
Date: 2013-02-20 04:39:47

> Hi,
>
> I am requesting a permission to use the Wikimedia Foundation name and
> logo for a special project in Iceland. There is no currently operating
> local chapter in Iceland but there is a group of enthusiasts that has
> been meeting and talking lately about reviving efforts to establish a WM
> chapter in Iceland. I am one of those people. I am also an administrator
> or a bureaucrat on several Wikimedia projects. (Global user "Bjarki_S").
>
> Parliamentary elections are coming up in April and the political parties
> are making their promotional materials, including promo photos of their
> candidates. Now would be a good time to contact the parties and
> introduce them to the benefits of CC licensing these photographs to
> ensure maximum distribution and nicely illustrated Wikipedia articles.
> The parties need clear directions in the matter to ensure this is done
> correctly and not in violation of the rights held by the photographer
> that they hired to do the shots. The parties need to clarify the terms
> with the hired photographers that make these pictures so that there is
> no doubt that the pictures can be CC licensed and it is preferable that
> the parties themselves publish the photographs on their own sites or
> flickr streams and clearly state the licensing terms there.
>
> A request like this would carry a lot more weight if one could say it
> was approved by the WMF if not directly sponsored by it. It could also
> be seen as a pilot project for the eventual foundation of a local
> chapter as per:
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Step-by-
step_chapter_creation_guide#Step_3:_Run_a_pilot_program_.28Optional_step.29
>
> I was not quite sure about how to contact the Foundation for a
> permission such as this so I sent this request as an email to
> info@wikimedia.org where it can hopefully be forwarded to anyone
> authorised to give such permissions.
>
> Sincerely.
>
> --
> Bjarki Sigursveinsson
> +354 8215644
> Mánagötu 8
> 105 Reykjavík
> Iceland
>
>
>
---- End forwarded message ---

--

Stephen LaPorte

Legal Counsel

Wikimedia Foundation

This message might have confidential or legally privileged information in it. If you have received this message by accident, please delete it and let us know about the mistake. 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.

--

    Asaf Bartov
    Wikimedia Foundation

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-- 
Bjarki Sigursveinsson
+354 8215644
Mánagötu 8
105 Reykjavík
Iceland