Communia

Last updated

COMMUNIA is a thematic project funded by the European Commission within the eContentplus framework addressing theoretical analysis and strategic policy discussion of existing and emerging issues concerning the public domain in the digital environment - as well as related topics, including, but not limited to, alternative forms of licensing for creative material; open access to scientific publications and research results; management of works whose authors are unknown (i.e. orphan works).

COMMUNIA [1] effort is aimed at helping to frame the general discourse on and around the public domain in the digital environment by highlighting the challenges arising from the increasingly complex interface between scientific progress, technological innovation, cultural development, socio-economic change on the one hand and the rise and mass deployment/usage of digital technologies in the European information society.

Coordinated by Prof. Juan Carlos De Martin of the Politecnico of Torino's NEXA Research Center for Internet and Society, [2] COMMUNIA started its activities on 1 September 2007 and ended on 28 February 2011. The network includes 51 members (initially were 36) - universities, consumer organisations, libraries, archives, non-profit entities, etc. - mostly from the EU, but also from a few overseas countries, such as United States and Brazil, where similar policy discussions are underway.

Among its activities, [3] COMMUNIA is organizing several workshops and three International conferences in EU countries, and will produce and disseminate a final strategic report. Under the title "Global Science and the Economics of Knowledge-Sharing Institutions", the Second COMMUNIA International Conference [4] was held in June 2009 in Torino, Italy. The event addressed the conceptual foundations and practical feasibilities of contractually constructed “commons” and related bottom-up public domain initiatives (joint policy guidelines, common standards, institutional policies, etc.) capable of offering shared access to a variety of research resources, identifying models, needs and opportunities for effective initiatives across a diverse range of research areas. The third and final conference [5] was held on 28–30 June 2010 in Torino, Italy, under the title of Universities & Cyberspace: Reshaping Knowledge Institutions for the Networked Age. [6] In several sessions, workshops and keynote speeches, more than 200 attendees from all over the world discussed such issues as: What can universities contribute to the future of the internet? How can our educational institutions promote ideals of free exchange of information yet cope with the complex intellectual property challenges presented by the Net? Video-recordings, papers and other material related to the conference are fully available on the COMMUNIA website. [7] Also, YouTube hosts several videos, [8] including many video-interviews [9] with Conference speakers.

Along with on-going activities of its five working groups [10] (particularly finalized to the Project's Final Strategic Report), the COMMUNIA network co-hosted the Free Culture Research Conference [11] (October 8–9, 2010) in Berlin.

The COMMUNIA network also drafted the Public Domain Manifesto, [12] a document aimed at "reminding citizens and policy-makers of a common wealth that, since it belongs to all, it is often defended by no-one". The Manifesto has been signed by hundreds of individuals and organizations worldwide, and anybody can sign it. [13]

Another initiative launched within the context of COMMUNIA is Public Domain Day: [14] Every year on New Year's Day, due to the expiration of copyright protection terms on works produced by authors who died several decades earlier, thousands of works enter the public domain (differing in the various countries according to their copyright laws). Several events were also planned for January 1, 2011, to celebrate the role of the public domain in our societies.

Related Research Articles

The Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society is a research center at Harvard University that focuses on the study of cyberspace. Founded at Harvard Law School, the center traditionally focused on internet-related legal issues. On May 15, 2008, the center was elevated to an interfaculty initiative of Harvard University as a whole. It is named after the Berkman family. On July 5, 2016, the center added "Klein" to its name following a gift of $15 million from Michael R. Klein.

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) is the leading international body representing the interests of people who rely on libraries and information professionals. An independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit organization, IFLA was founded in Scotland in 1927 and maintains headquarters at the National Library of the Netherlands in The Hague. IFLA sponsors the annual IFLA World Library and Information Congress, promoting universal and equitable access to information, ideas, and works of imagination for social, educational, cultural, democratic, and economic empowerment. IFLA also produces several publications, including IFLA Journal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virtual museum</span> Museum in a digital format

A virtual museum is a digital entity that draws on the characteristics of a museum, in order to complement, enhance, or augment the museum experience through personalization, interactivity, and richness of content. Virtual museums can perform as the digital footprint of a physical museum, or can act independently, while maintaining the authoritative status as bestowed by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) in its definition of a museum. In tandem with the ICOM mission of a physical museum, the virtual museum is also committed to public access; to both the knowledge systems imbedded in the collections and the systematic, and coherent organization of their display, as well as to their long-term preservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Malamud</span> Technologist, author, and public domain advocate

Carl Malamud is an American technologist, author, and public domain advocate, known for his foundation Public.Resource.Org. He founded the Internet Multicasting Service. During his time with this group, he was responsible for developing the first Internet radio station, for putting the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's EDGAR database on-line, and for creating the Internet 1996 World Exposition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet governance</span> System of laws, norms, rules, policies and practices

Internet governance consists of a system of laws, rules, policies and practices that dictate how its board members manage and oversee the affairs of any internet related-regulatory body. This article describes how the Internet was and is currently governed, some inherent controversies, and ongoing debates regarding how and why the Internet should or should not be governed in future.

A cybersecurity regulation comprises directives that safeguard information technology and computer systems with the purpose of forcing companies and organizations to protect their systems and information from cyberattacks like viruses, worms, Trojan horses, phishing, denial of service (DOS) attacks, unauthorized access and control system attacks. There are numerous measures available to prevent cyberattacks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Association of Public Transport</span> Non-profit advocacy organization for public transport authorities

The International Association of Public Transport is a non-profit advocacy organization for public transport authorities and operators, policy decision-makers, scientific institutes and the public transport supply and service industry. The association was founded on 17 August 1885 by King Leopold II in Brussels, Belgium, to support the Belgian tram and steel industries. UITP supports a holistic approach to urban mobility and advocates for public transport development and sustainable mobility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public Domain Day</span> Observance of when copyrights expire and works enter into the public domain

Public Domain Day (PDD) is an observance of when copyrights expire and works enter into the public domain. This legal transition of copyright works into the public domain usually happens every year on January 1 based on the individual copyright laws of each country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open data</span> Openly accessible data

Open data is data that is openly accessible, exploitable, editable and shared by anyone for any purpose. Open data is licensed under an open license.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European League of Institutes of the Arts</span>

ELIA represents some 300.000 students in all art disciplines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Europeana</span> Digital collection of European cultural heritage

Europeana is a web portal created by the European Union containing digitised cultural heritage collections of more than 3,000 institutions across Europe. It includes records of over 50 million cultural and scientific artefacts, brought together on a single platform and presented in a variety of ways relevant to modern users. The prototype for Europeana was the European Digital Library Network (EDLnet), launched in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marietje Schaake</span> Dutch politician

Maria Renske "Marietje" Schaake is a Dutch politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from the Netherlands between 2009 and 2019. She is a member of Democrats 66, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party.

The NEXA Center for Internet & Society is a research center founded at the Department of Control and Computer Engineering of Polytechnic University of Turin. It is an academic research center which studies the Internet with a multidisciplinary approach: technical, legal and economic.

The Centre for European Volunteering (CEV), established in 1992, is the European network of over 60 organisations dedicated to the promotion of, and support to, volunteers and volunteering in Europe at European, national or regional level. Through the network, CEV works to ensure that: the value of quality volunteering as an expression of Solidarity and European values is understood, supported and celebrated; policies & programmes, together with the European social environment, inspires, encourages and supports quality European Volunteering; Individuals and organisations that are active in the volunteering and civil society sphere share, learn and are inspired from one another in the framework of CEV. In this way CEV reaches out to the many thousands of volunteers and volunteer organisations in Europe as a source of support bringing the European dimension to their work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EUROGEO-European Association of Geographers</span> European scientific society

EUROGEO is a European scientific society, which networks geographers. It is an international non-governmental organisation. Since 1987 EUROGEO has been a participative member of the Conference of International NGOs of the Council of Europe. The association is involved in national and international activities and projects in geography including those related to education and training. It is a not profit organisation, which aims to develop, support and promote policies designed to advance the status of geography; establish and promote cross-border cooperation; promote education and training in geography from a European perspective and represent nationally and internationally the views of its members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juan Carlos De Martin</span> Italian academic

Juan Carlos De Martin is an Italian academic.

The European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education is an independent organisation that acts as a platform for collaboration for its 31 member countries, working towards ensuring more inclusive education systems. The Agency's mission is to help member countries improve the quality and effectiveness of their inclusive provision for all learners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Altmetric</span>

Altmetric, or altmetric.com, is a data science company that tracks where published research is mentioned online, and provides tools and services to institutions, publishers, researchers, funders and other organisations to monitor this activity, commonly referred to as altmetrics. Altmetric was recognized by European Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn in 2014 as a company challenging the traditional reputation systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open access in Belgium</span> Overview of the culture and regulation of open access in Belgium

In Belgium, open access to scholarly communication accelerated after 2007 when the University of Liège adopted its first open-access mandate. The "Brussels Declaration" for open access was signed by officials in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Primavera De Filippi</span> French legal scholar and Internet activist

Primavera De Filippi is a French legal scholar, Internet activist and artist, whose work focuses on the blockchain, peer production communities and copyright law. She is permanent researcher at the CNRS and Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. She is author of the book Blockchain and the Law published by Harvard University Press. As an activist, she is part of Creative Commons, the Open Knowledge Foundation and the P2P Foundation, among others.

References

  1. ↑ "communia-project.eu". communia-project.eu. 2011-06-16. Archived from the original on 2013-01-16. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
  2. ↑ (in Italian) Mauro Vecchio, Nexa, un manifesto per il pubblico dominio, "Punto Informatico", 25 gennaio 2010
  3. ↑ "The activities of COMMUNIA | COMMUNIA - The European Thematic Network on the Digital Public Domain". Communia-project.eu. Archived from the original on 2013-04-04. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
  4. ↑ "Full report on the COMMUNIA Conference 2009 | COMMUNIA - The European Thematic Network on the Digital Public Domain". Communia-project.eu. 2009-06-28. Archived from the original on 2012-02-27. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
  5. ↑ "communia2010.org". communia2010.org. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
  6. ↑ University and Cyberspace: Reshaping Knowledge Institutions for the Networked Age, Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard University, June 30, 2010, 25 gennaio 2010
  7. ↑ "communia-project.eu/". communia-project.eu/. 2011-06-16. Archived from the original on 2013-01-16. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
  8. ↑ "communia 2010". YouTube. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
  9. ↑ "Polimedia webTV". YouTube. 2009-06-10. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
  10. ↑ "The activities of COMMUNIA | COMMUNIA - The European Thematic Network on the Digital Public Domain". Communia-project.eu. Archived from the original on 2013-04-04. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
  11. ↑ The 3rd Free Culture Research Conference: October 8-9, Berlin
  12. ↑ The Public Domain Manifesto. "publicdomainmanifesto.org". publicdomainmanifesto.org. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
  13. ↑ The Public Domain Manifesto (2009-12-23). "The Public Domain Manifesto". The Public Domain Manifesto. Archived from the original on 2013-03-05. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
  14. ↑ "publicdomainday.org". publicdomainday.org. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.