Public Domain Manifesto
The Public Domain Manifesto aims to remind citizens and policy-makers that the Public Domain is a common good that, since it belongs to all, it is often defended by no-one. The Manifesto has been produced within the context of COMMUNIA, the European Thematic Network on the digital public domain, and the work on the recommendations continues with COMMUNIA, the association. On this website, we invite you to read the Manifesto and sign it, if you wish to show your support.
A2K Coalition
COMMUNIA is a member of the A2K Coalition, which represents educators, researchers, students, libraries, archives, museums, other knowledge users, and creative communities around the globe. Our individual missions are varied, but we all share a vision of a fair and balanced copyright system that is underpinned by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This website provides a platform for sharing insights, evidence, and opinions related to the mission of the A2K Coalition.
Copyright Exceptions
The Copyright Exceptions project is a collaborative effort to map user rights in the European Union’s copyright framework. To achieve this, copyrightexceptions.eu provides information on the national implementations of the various exceptions and limitations to copyright and related rights foreseen in the EU copyright directives. This is a joint project by COMMUNIA and its members, Open Future and Digital Republic.
Eurovision DSM Contest
On June 7, 2021, the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive came into effect. To commemorate the occasion, COMMUNIA launched the Eurovision DSM Contest, which provides a playful overview of the Directive’s implementation across the 27 EU member states. On this website, we track progress of each member state’s implementation and assign a score based on the quality of their implementations and implementation processes. The information on this site is based on two years of work that we have undertaken with a network of local partners.
DSM Implementation Portal
The DSM Implementation Portal serves two purposes: it provides suggestions to local advocates for implementing the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive, and it provides detailed information on the status of the implementation of the new Directive in all EU Member States. COMMUNIA partnered with different organizations to create these guidelines, and works with local advocates to collect information on each national implementation process.
10 Years
In 2011, when COMMUNIA was founded, we issued 14 policy recommendations. They guided our public domain advocacy for a decade. On the occasion of our 10th anniversary, on June 15, 2021, we reviewed these recommendations and launched this website. On this site, we analyze each of our original recommendations to understand not only if they have been fully or partially implemented or remain unfulfilled, but also to help us identify which ones are still relevant after a decade.
Internet is for the People
The Internet is meant to be for people, a powerful tool that allows access to knowledge, culture, creative expression, and communication. On January 18, 2019, ahead of the last trilogue on the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive, COMMUNIA launched this mini-website to provide an overall assessment of the rules under discussion. We later revised the assessment based on the final compromise version that resulted from the trilogue process, which ended on February 13, 2019. On this site, we take apart the main provisions of the new Copyright Directive to see how nine different issues either empower or harm users and creators in the digital age.
Copyright for Education
Copyright for Education was launched ahead of the final vote in the European Parliament on the new Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive. The public discussions of the new Directive were largely centered on a small number of problematic clauses (press publishers’ right, upload filters), and there was barely any chance to discuss the proposed copyright exceptions, namely the proposed exception for educational purposes. With this website, COMMUNIA aims to draw attention to the flaws in the provision and calls for the improvement of this exception to fit the needs of modern education.
Right Copyright
Right Copyright was launched at the beginning of the legislative process that led to the adoption of the new Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive. Its aim was to encourage the education community across the European Union to sign the petition initiated by COMMUNIA to make “copyright right for education.” The petition received over 5,000 signatures. On this website, educators and students could also share stories with us of how copyright creates obstacles to their educational activities.
