[Wikimedia-l] It's time to reclaim the community logo

[Tomasz W. Kozlowski]

Hello community,
this is to inform you that in response to the trademarking of the 
Wikimedia community logo[1], created in 2006 by Artur “WarX” 
Fijałkowski, which was discussed on this mailing list[2] as well as on 
Meta[3] back in March, a small group of community members—Artur, myself, 
Federico Leva (Nemo) and John Vandenberg—have initiated a formal process 
of opposition against the registration of the trademark by the 
Foundation in order to *reclaim the logo* for unrestricted use by the 
community.

We appreciate the Foundation’s protection of the other trademarks they 
have registered so far, including the logos of Wikipedia, Wikisource and 
some other sister projects. In the case of the community logo, however, 
it is our belief that the Foundation’s actions are exactly opposite to 
what the community logo stands for and contradict the purpose behind its 
very existence.

We would like to make it clear that it is not our intention to damage 
anyone; our actions are a challenge against what we perceive as 
unilateral declaration of ownership of an asset that has always belonged 
to the wider community, and not to one or another organisation that is 
part of the movement. By formally opposing the registration of the 
trademark we hope to ensure the history of this logo is not disregarded, 
and we wish to protect the community against unnecessary bureaucracy 
and, to use another quote, let “groups who do not purport to represent 
the WMF”[4] to continue to be able to freely associate with a logo that 
has been part of their identity for so long.

We also want to note that this is in no way a legal action against the 
Foundation, but a simple notice of opposition against the registration 
of the logo in the European Union. If we assume good faith, we can only 
be confident that the WMF, having now a formal occasion, will withdraw 
its registration of the logo rather than continue using movement 
resources to force the community into lengthy, expensive proceedings.

We invite all community members interested in this issue to express 
their opinions at:

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Community_Logo/Reclaim_the_Logo

If any of you would like to help us in any way (covering the costs of 
the opposition, promoting the discussion, etc.), please feel free to 
contact us off–list.

Artur Fijalkowski (WarX)
Tomasz Kozlowski (odder)
Federico Leva (Nemo)
John Vandenberg (jayvdb)

== References ==
* [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimedia_Community_Logo.svg
* [2]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2013-March/124715.html
* [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Community_Logo
* [4]
http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2013-March/124730.html