Wikimedia Deutschland/2013 annual plan/projects/p16

All 2013 projects | Key theme 3: Establishing free knowledge in society – Goal 4: Cooperations – Change 4.2: Freeing government works

Project description: Legislative proposal on government works

• In 2013, Wikimedia Deutschland will present its own regulatory proposal on making more government documents freely available for further use. (P16)

Contact / Project Manager

Mathias Schindler (Politics & Society)

Total budget

€85,000

Implementation period

December 12, 2012 – November 2013 (GM)

What is the project about?

The general public does not have legal and free access to the majority of government works for follow-up use, such as works produced by ministries. We would like to change this state of affairs.

Wikimedia Deutschland will present its own regulatory proposal on government works and attract attention and support for this cause. With the help of this proposed amendment, which should make government works freely available for follow-up use on a permanent basis, we will acquire a reputation as a qualified voice among the specialized public.

We will hold events on this topic in order to draw attention to our proposal and to gain further support for it.

How will this project help us meet our annual goals?

Our own suggestions on reforming copyright law are best suited to achieving the aim of improving Wikimedia Deutschland’s access to policymakers. By making concrete suggestions on how this proposal could be implemented, we will show policymakers viable ways of making government works freely available for follow-up use.

On the one hand, we will thus consolidate Wikimedia Deutschland’s role as a competent interlocutor for political actors. On the other hand, we will show that we – along with other organizations and interested parties – will not only closely observe important legal developments, but will also actively help to generate and promote them.

What are the key milestones along the way and by when should we reach them?

No.	When	What
1.	End of March 2013	We will publish our own regulatory proposal on government works, which will be drafted by legal experts. We will publicize this proposal among the general public and experts, thus creating a concrete point of reference for our project in 2013 in order to attract attention, obtain suggestions for improvement, and garner support.
2.	June 2013	We will co-organize a major copyright conference in Berlin in order to present our regulatory proposal to an expert audience. This will give us an opportunity to discuss the proposal with copyright experts and people interested in the topic, and to lay the foundations for support for the proposal. (The conference dates have yet to be confirmed.)
3.	August 2013	We will present our regulatory proposal, objectives, and methods to the Wikimedia communities and chapters at WikiSym and Wikimania. We will provide other national organizations with material on how they can best adopt this campaign in their own countries.
4.	July – September 2013	We will hold events in Germany in order to draw attention to the topic of government works and to our regulatory proposal and to gain support for the proposal. This will be accompanied by information communicated via blogs, press releases, etc. aimed at creating greater awareness of our regulatory proposal.
5.	By September 2013	We will use the available methods of communication – in particular the association’s blog and its blog on government works – in order to play a direct role in the central discussions on the topic until the federal election.