[Advocacy Advisors] Freedom of Panorama

Thu Dec 20 09:07:24 UTC 2012

According to this laws what WMIL did to lobby and push legislation to
release  government photos under CC was not ok?

- Sent from my mobile device
On Dec 20, 2012 2:34 AM, "Stephen LaPorte" <slaporte at wikimedia.org> wrote:

> Pine,
>
> Nonprofits may lobby, but not without limit. In the U.S., a tax-exempt
> nonprofit is absolutely prohibited from engaging in political campaign
> activity (opposing or favoring a political candidate), and lobbying
> (attempts to influence legislation) cannot be a substantial part of its
> activity. The lobbying regulations are very technical, so lobbying activity
> must be monitored for proper accounting.
>
> There are alternative types of organizations, such as social welfare
> organizations (§ 501(c)(4)) and political organizations (§ 527), that have
> more flexibility to engage in political or lobbying activity. However,
> these organizations to do not enjoy the same tax benefits as a charitable
> organization (501(c)(3)).
>
> The IRS has useful information on the topic:
>
> * http://www.irs.gov/Charities-&-Non-Profits/Lobbying
> * http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/election_year_phone_forum_slides.pdf
>
> I am happy to see that the discussion on Commons is considering a number
> of different approaches to the issue. Lobbying is one approach, but
> outreach and creative licensing can also have a big impact.
>
> Thanks,
> Stephen
>
> On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 3:42 PM, ENWP Pine <deyntestiss at hotmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Hi Steven,
>>
>> My understanding was that nonprofits can lobby all that they like but
>> they cannot support individual candidates for elected political office. Is
>> that not true?
>>
>> Since Congress seems to be the obstacle rather than the courts then I
>> think maximizing lobbying by the community, chapters, and WMF when the next
>> round of US intellectual property law revisions happen would seem to be the
>> right time. Isn't there some discussion that the US patent system is so
>> cumbersome that it's forcing a lot of technology organizations to spend a
>> lot of their effort on amassing patent portfolios and defending against
>> patent trolls? When Congress discusses intellectual property law seems like
>> a good time to also bring up the issue of FOP for the Internet age.
>>
>> Pine
>>
>> ------------------------------
>> Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2012 14:21:12 -0800
>> From: slaporte at wikimedia.org
>> To: advocacy_advisors at lists.wikimedia.org
>> Subject: [Advocacy Advisors] Freedom of Panorama
>>
>>
>> [Was: [Wikimedia-l] Fwd: [Internal-l] Israeli Government to Release its
>> images under a free license for public use]
>>
>> Hello Pine,
>>
>> A number of possible freedom of panorama initiatives are being discussed
>> here:
>> http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Freedom_of_panorama_campaignThese proposals are not being led by the WMF itself because there are
>> strict regulations on how a tax-exempt nonprofit organization may engage in
>> legislative activism.
>>
>> The Wikimedia community has many creative ideas. Here are the proposals
>> under discussion on Commons:
>>
>> * Write a convincing rationale for why FoP is a good thing
>> * Petition
>> * US chapters lobby Congress
>> * Set-up an umbrella lobbying organization
>> * Geotargeted CentralNotice banner
>> * Identify allies (was: "Talk to Google")
>> * Identify educational audience for these photos
>> * Sample offline Wikipedias with Kiwix offline reader that need photos
>> * Summary FoP law table
>> * Proposed wording
>> * Short and long term goals
>> * Baby step: state-level arts grants
>> * Identify violations
>> * Throw our toys out of the pram
>> * Lead by example
>> * Guerilla art campaign
>>
>> Which do you think would be the most effective?
>>
>> Best,
>> Stephen
>>
>> On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 1:39 PM, ENWP Pine <deyntestiss at hotmail.com>wrote:
>>
>> Good!
>>
>> To the WMF folks, is WMF doing any advocacy of its own regarding FOP in
>> the US?
>>
>> Pine
>>
>>
>> --
>> Stephen LaPorte
>> Legal Counsel
>> Wikimedia Foundation
>>
>> *For legal reasons, I may only serve as an attorney for the Wikimedia
>> Foundation. This means I may not give legal advice to or serve as a lawyer
>> for community members, volunteers, or staff members in their personal
>> capacity.*
>>
>>
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>
>
> --
> Stephen LaPorte
> Legal Counsel
> Wikimedia Foundation
>
> *For legal reasons, I may only serve as an attorney for the Wikimedia
> Foundation. This means I may not give legal advice to or serve as a lawyer
> for community members, volunteers, or staff members in their personal
> capacity.*
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Advocacy_Advisors mailing list
> Advocacy_Advisors at lists.wikimedia.org
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/advocacy_advisors
>
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