I have, and it's linked to http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/Quality#Content_Partnerships which is the page on content partnerships. :-)
Philippe On Sep 22, 2009, at 3:06 PM, Sue Gardner wrote: > Yann, thanks for this -- it's useful. Can I ask, have you or David > put yourselves forward for the strategy project? I don't know who the > best person for it would be, but it looks like the strategy project > will have a task force dedicated to exactly this topic (cultural > partnerships) and the experiences and views of the French chapter > would be valuable there. And regardless of direct participation, we > should post this summary as fodder for the task force, on the strategy > wiki. > > (And when I say "we should," I mean you could, or I will, or maybe > Philippe would. If you've got a minute, please feel free :-) > > Thanks, > Sue > > On 22/09/2009, Yann Forget <y...@forget-me.net> wrote: >> Hello, I think this is worth a larger audience. Yann >> >> -------- Original Message -------- >> Subject: [Commons-l] a heads-up on Wikimedia France's adventures with >> the French cultural authorities >> Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:51:12 +0200 >> From: David Monniaux <David . Monniaux @ free . fr> >> To: common...@lists.wikimedia.org >> >> Since its foundation, the French chapter has attempted to reach out >> to >> French cultural institutions, such as museums, and incite them to >> either >> put their images under free licenses, either allow photographers that >> contribute freely licensed pictures to take photographs in good >> conditions. >> >> At first, to be frank, we got the cold shoulder. At the time, >> Wikipedia >> was demonized by the French media, calling it a cesspool of >> amateurism, >> plagiarism, a danger to the youth's intellect, and so on. In >> addition, >> certain members of the cultural establishment were at the time >> attacking >> Google and other big American sites, pushing their own solutions. >> >> Things might be changing though. In 2008, I represented Wikimedia >> France >> before a commission tasked with proposing new policies to the >> Minister >> of Culture regarding the reuse of public cultural works. The >> Ministry of >> Culture is in charge of most national museums and monuments (e.g. the >> Louvre, the Versailles Castle...) and its agencies have large >> collections of photographs - but these are copyrighted by the >> agencies >> and available under unfree licenses. >> >> Our position was as follows: unfree licenses may in the short term >> allow >> cash-strapped government agencies to earn some money from selling >> photographs to publishers, but in the long run they are >> counter-productive, because media, publishers and important sites >> such >> as Wikipedia, worldwide, prefer free and easy to obtain photographs >> to >> photographs that they need to purchase from unfamiliar foreign >> institutions, and thus French cultural institutions would lose >> visibility. >> >> We gave the example of aerospace activities on Wikipedia, which are >> overwhelmingly illustrated by US government pictures, which somehow >> convey the impression that countries outside the US do nothing in >> this >> field. We pointed out that museums such as the Smithsonian >> Institution >> were putting up content on FlickR, and that it was inevitable that >> publishers and other people that want an illustration from an artist >> would prefer getting one from FlickR rather than ordering one from >> the >> French museums. In contrast, if French museums would release pictures >> under a free license, they would get free publicity - imagine what it >> would cost them if they wanted to advertise their exhibitions on >> Wikipedia (if Wikipedia accepted advertisements), whereas they can >> get >> publicity for free simply by the attribution of the photographs! >> >> Note that it is not out of ill will that museums and other >> institutions >> refuse to release pictures under a free license. There are some legal >> difficulties involved - sometimes they do not own the rights to the >> pictures (only in 2006 it was established for sure that rights to >> works >> done by civil servants as part of their duties belonged to their >> employer; also, they sometimes employ private photographers), and >> besides, there are tricky issues with so-called "moral rights" that >> may >> render certain aspects of free content licenses illegal in France. >> Also, >> public institutions are pressured to make some money by themselves. >> >> I had written a memo, which I gave to the commission. >> http://david.monniaux.free.fr/pdf/Wikimedia_France_Monniaux_oeuvres_publiques.pdf >> >> This August, I received the report from the commission, with an >> associated letter from the Minister of Culture, Frédéric >> Mitterrand, >> stating that he endorsed the findings in the report. This report >> advocates many changes that we approve: >> * stop trying to make insignificant sums of money - instead release >> as free >> * cut the red tape - authorizations for reuse of content should be >> centralized to competent, professional services, rather than be >> decentralized to many institutions most of whom do not have the >> technical, legal and financial infrastructure to deal with them >> * collaborate with free content sites such as Wikipedia - more on >> this. >> http://david.monniaux.free.fr/pdf/rapport_culture.pdf (scanned >> version) >> http://david.monniaux.free.fr/pdf/rapport_culture_ocr.pdf (OCR >> version) >> >> The cultural services are reluctant to release pictures under free >> licenses. When I met them, they expected that it would be possible to >> "negotiate" with Wikipedia and get an exemption from this >> requirement. I >> explained to them that freedom was not negotiable. It was, I think, >> very >> surprising to them that Wikipedia, an amateurish organization, would >> dare say that to the Government! >> >> I proposed a way out: release lower resolution pictures under free >> license, keep high resolution pictures (those suitable for art books, >> posters and so on) proprietary. The suggestion has been retained by >> the >> commission - even though they still seem to toy with this idea of >> "negotiation". >> >> In the meantime, the National Library of France (www.bnf.fr) >> announced >> it was entering negotiations with Google for digitizing their >> content. >> This would announce a sharp change in policies since when Jean-Noël >> Jeanneney was head of the library - Jeanneney had written a book >> denouncing Google's hold on the world. >> >> I seized the occasion to make our point of view heard. On Wednesday >> September 16, I published in op-ed column in the national daily >> Libération, explaining that our cultural policies on were >> counterproductive - rather than fight the "American cultural >> invasion" >> as their proponents suggest, they actually reinforce this invasion by >> making French content invisible on the Web - because it is kept >> proprietary. >> >> *** This is, I think, the first time such ideas were exposed in the >> mainstream media. *** >> >> Since the report called for renewed contacts between the Ministry and >> free content sites, I wrote to them thanking the Minister for sending >> the report and telling them that we are at his disposal for further >> discussion with his services. >> >> We are trying to keep up the "buzz" on these issues - see the >> Heritage >> Day email. >> >> Just to avoid misconceptions: >> >> I do not expect that anything will change soon in the policies of >> French >> cultural institutions. It is extremely difficult to change the >> policies >> of large, traditional organizations unless there is a strong >> political >> will to do so - and I do not think that putting up free content >> online >> is a national priority. >> >> My foremost goal is to get the ideas of free content and free access >> across, to the common public and to the people in charge. >> >> This is not so easy, because there are many misconceptions about what >> Wikipedia is about. For instance, contrary to what is often implied >> by >> the media, Wikipedia is not a free-for-all where anybody can do >> anything >> anytime - but many people believe it and thus are horrified by such a >> pandemonium, and because of this, they simply won't listen to what we >> say. Simply overcoming such misinformation is already considerable >> work. >> It took us years to be considered respectable enough to be heard by >> officials, and to get a short op-ed printed in the press. This means >> that in the meantime, myself and others (Florence Devouard, Pierre >> Beaudouin, and so on) had to go to many meetings, whose outcome many >> often just have been that people that did not know us would then see >> that we are not dangerous anarchist teenagers or raving idealists, >> but >> sensible, responsible folks. >> >> -- >> http://www.non-violence.org/ | Site collaboratif sur la non-violence >> http://www.forget-me.net/ | Alternatives sur le Net >> http://fr.wikisource.org/ | Bibliothèque libre >> http://wikilivres.info | Documents libres >> >> _______________________________________________ >> foundation-l mailing list >> foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org >> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/ >> foundation-l >> > > > -- > Sue Gardner > Executive Director > Wikimedia Foundation > > 415 839 6885 office > 415 816 9967 cell > > Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in > the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! > > http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate > > _______________________________________________ > foundation-l mailing list > foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
