Hello!

Summary - 
  • Anyone can host a Wikipedia party in their local university, library, or community center
  • You should host a Wikipedia party in January 2019
  • The Wikimedia Foundation offers event funding support up to $2000 with a simple form that you fill out by 15 November
  • January 2019 is unusual for a change in public domain legal status, and your local uni / library is probably keen to co-host with you if you bring cake
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On January 15, 2001, Wikipedia was established and also creativecommons.org was registered. The organizations came to be good collaborators, with content in Wikipedia being available through Creative Commons licenses. There is a tradition in January of celebrating Wikipedia's birthday, Wikipedia Day!, and anyone can host a birthday party. Celebrate Creative Commons also! See previous events and documentation at

If you think you might host an event, please request funding NOW and by 15 November for response in December. Expenses which the Wikimedia Foundation has sponsored in the past include the cost of snacks for attendees, fees associated with renting a meeting space in a community center, and costs associated with promoting accessibility and diversity among participants.

Something unusual about this year is that 2019 in the United States is the first time since the late 1990s when there will be copyright expiration of published works. See context:
In practical terms, for as long as Wikipedia has existed we have given the general copyright advice that works published after 1923 are under copyright. In January 2019, our advice changes for the first time in nearly 20 years to be 1924, and we will count forward every year from this point with all the media from those years entering the public domain. Many librarians know about this shift in public domain, and your local university library might be hosting an event already to which you can add a Wikipedia talk or workshop + cake. If you show up with cake and wiki then they will love you and wiki forever.

Public Domain Day + Wikipedia Day + <3 Creative Commons in January 2019!

Thanks everyone and speak up here or on the Wikipedia Day talk page if you have questions.



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Lane Rasberry
user:bluerasberry on Wikipedia