About Legal

The Wikimedia Foundation legal team oversees the global legal portfolio for Wikipedia and its associated projects. Our goal is to support the Foundation and the communities of contributors – consistent with our legal ethics – in their mission to share free information worldwide. We aggressively and globally steward the values of our mission and our community of writers, editors, photographers, and other contributors by building and overseeing governance where appropriate; by protecting and defending those key values when challenged; and by facilitating initiatives designed to support and grow our communities and their various projects, including Wikipedia and its sister Wikimedia projects.

Part of our budget and work focuses on core legal services for the Foundation. These services include, for example, contracts negotiation and review, employment and immigration law support, Board support, fundraising compliance, training, general internal legal advice, and product and tech support. We address these core services in this section on Legal Non-Programmatic Work.

A large part of our budget and work is devoted to programmatic services where we work globally to support the Wikimedia communities to achieve their mission on different fronts. See Department Programs Legal section for more information.

Back to top

Non-Program 1: Training

Team: Legal, Teams Receiving Training

Time frame: 12 months

Summary

Provide training on legal and policy topics to Foundation teams as needed. This program supports fundamental WMF operations ranging from contracts processing to education in copyright and data protection.

Goal

Provide skills for WMF employees and contractors to effectively navigate legal and policy issues that affect their work and empower them to work effectively with the Wikimedia communities

Outcome and objective

Outcome 1: WMF employees and contractors have the legal knowledge they need to effectively do their jobs
- Objective 1: Monitor trainings and ensure that organization needs are being met

Back to top

Non-Program 2: Board support

Team: Legal, Executive Director, Board

Time frame: 12 months

Summary

The General Counsel serves as the Secretary of the Board of Trustees and together with other members of the legal team, supports the Board in the fulfillment of its duties.

Back to top

Non-Program 3: Copyright clearance

Team: Legal, Teams Supported

Time frame: 12 months

Summary

Review materials used for Wikimedia Foundation promotional efforts such as videos, presentations, and donor pamphlets to ensure compliance with copyright law and consistency with movement values.

Goal

Provide timely, accurate advice on desired materials to ensure that Foundation-produced media is legally compliant and in line with movement values

Outcome and objective

Outcome 1: Legally compliant media produced
- Objective 1: Provide timely, clear, and helpful advice on the copyrighted works used in Foundation media

Back to top

Non-Program 4: General Legal Advice & Support

Team: Legal, Teams Supported

Time frame: 12 months

Summary

The legal team provides general legal advice and support to all departments throughout the year to ensure legal compliance, best practices, and risk mitigation

Goal

Provide timely, innovative, and effective legal advice and support to all departments as needed on all subject areas, including, but not limited to licensing, product counseling, grantmaking, patents, governance, and contracts

Outcome and objective

Outcome 1: Organizational legal compliance, best practices, and risk mitigation achieved
- Objective 1: Provide timely, innovative, and effective legal advice and support to all departments as needed