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

[Lodewijk]

I'm very sorry to see that it had to come to this (imho) radical step. I
however can agree with your analysis - I have always felt very
uncomfortable since I found out (after the fact of course) that the legal
department had made the decision to register this as a trademark. This went
against the very spirit of this logo (I indeed remember the discussions
which lead to the very creation of it) and was even more disappointed that
the WMF did not change its mind when the community explained the
intentions, situation and consequences to them.

I sincerely hope that the Board (yes, I think this should be a board level
decision - legal proceedings between a group of community members and the
WMF, even in a procedure like this, is an unprecedented situation and imho
highly undesirable) or otherwise the staff will seriously reconsider their
earlier decision to register this as a trademark, and re-apply the logo to
its original use.

Tomasz, I hope you will keep the wider community updated on progress being
made in this case.

Best,
Lodewijk



2013/9/21 Tomasz W. Kozlowski <tomasz at twkozlowski.net>

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