Am 25. Januar 2010 wurde das Public Domain Manifesto von einer Arbeitsgruppe der COMMUNIA (European Thematic Network on the digital public domain) veröffentlicht. Das Manifest unterstreicht die große Bedeutung die dem Konzept der Public Domain (zu Deutsch Gemeinfreiheit) in der digitalen Gesellschaft zukommt. Das Manifest wird derzeit in mehrere Sprachen übersetzt und kann hier mit gezeichnet werden. Auf der Seite steht als Einleitung:
The public domain, as we understand it, is the wealth of information that is free from the barriers to access or reuse usually associated with copyright protection, either because it is free from any copyright protection or because the right holders have decided to remove these barriers. It is the raw material from which new knowledge is derived and new cultural works are created.
After decades of measures that have drastically reduced the public domain, typically by extending the terms of protection, it is time to strongly reaffirm how much our societies and economies rely on a vibrant and ever expanding public domain. The role of the public domain, in fact, already crucial in the past, it is even more important today, as the Internet and digital technologies enable us to access, use and re-distribute culture with an ease and a power unforeseeable even just a generation ago. The Public Domain Manifesto aims at reminding citizens and policy-makers of a common wealth that, since it belongs to all, it is often defended by no-one. In a time where we for the first time in history have the tools to enable direct access to most of our shared culture and knowledge it is important that policy makers and citizens strengthen the legal concept that enables free and unrestricted access and reuse.
The Public Domain Manifesto has been produced within the context of COMMUNIA, the European Thematic Network on the digital public domain.
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