Freedom of Panorama in Europe in 2015/Learn more/ca

A new copyright legislation is currently under consideration in the European Parliament.

Background

Current scope of freedom of panorama in Europe.     OK, including works of art     OK for buildings only     OK for non-commercial use only     Not OK     UnknownThe committee text would turn the map red or yellow for all EU countries.

This legislation expected the Freedom of Panorama to be universal and pan-European. Despite all efforts to promote this issue, and recommendations from the other subcommittees, on 16 June 2015 the members of the Legal Affairs Committee voted for amendment 421, which would restrict this Freedom of Panorama to non-commercial use only.

Since both commercial and non-commercial use are not clearly defined on the internet and the Wikimedia movement encourages freedom for contributors, all the content is licensed under a licence allowing commercial use.

This would abolish the existing Freedom of Panorama laws in a majority of EU member-states, making all the green countries go red or yellow in this map.

Consequences

Having the Freedom of Panorama in Europe restricted for non-commercial use only would go against the freedom promoted by Wikimedia. Many of the pictures on Wikimedia Commons will be found violating the copyright law. They would have been deleted.

We are talking about something around 10 000 – 1 000 000 images. It is very hard even to estimate how much content would be deleted from Wikimedia Commons.

Time to act!

The time to act is now! Contact your MEPs — by an e-mail, by a phone, visit them in Brussels, Strasbourg or their constituency if necessary. UK residents may use WriteToThem to enter their postcode, look up their MEPs and contact one or all of them for free.

• Be polite, even if you disagree with this MEP's politics.
• Explain why Freedom of Panorama has to be preserved in Europe for any usage.
• Explain that the amendment 421 by Jean-Marie Cavada has to be removed from the final report.
• For MEPs that are members of a party with several colleagues from your country then ask your local MEPs to communicate your concern to the MEP responsible for coordinating their party position — this is more effective than contacting them directly.
• Remember that the more you can talk about your personal experience and why this matters to you — to make your letter different from anybody else’s — the more impact your message will have.
• Once each MEP replies, follow up on their response — either thank them for being receptive or (politely) explain that you’re unhappy with their response.

And spread the word. Contact professional bodies, trades unions, local history groups, architects, artists, writers, publishers, photographers, journalists, academics. Anyone you can think of who has a voice, please encourage them to speak out — and before 9 July 2015.

See also

• Frequently asked questions