Re: [Foundation-l] Programs & how to pay for them (was: A modest proposal: ads on wikipedia.com)

== 1) The Copyright Liberators == OUTCOME: Acquiring copyrighted materials that would be useful to our projects (see [[m:copyright wishlist]] on meta which followed Jimmy's $100M brainstorming question). HOW TO GET THE MONEY: This seems like a task ideally suited for an organization exclusively dedicated to it, rather than WMF. I'm only aware of a few disjointed efforts by individuals in this direction right now. I could imagine some billionaire philanthropist might be willing to endow such an effort. Grants for liberation would be difficult, but a [[Blender (software)]]-style fundraiser for the community-driven liberation of specific works might be doable (WMF could potentially direct some broad attention to such an effort). RISKS: You can essentially sink infinite amounts of money into this that might be better spent elsewhere. My key question would be whether we could not benefit much more if we invested much smaller amounts of money in a joined copyright reform strategy, together with various other organizations of the broadly defined "Free Culture" movement. MY CONCLUSION: I'd support allocating some funds to develop a good software platform for this and then spin it off into a separate organization that partners with ours. I'm also interested in sustainable resourcing strategies that do not require spending incoming revenue that is needed elsewhere.

*locating and scanning old PD materials Sounds like something that can be ideally done by interns, students, and volunteers if provided with a physical space & equipment to do it.