This report covers COMMUNIA’s activities between January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024. This corresponds to the second reporting period for our structural grant from Arcadia, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin, which started in July 2022. During the reporting period, we benefited from a consolidated organisational structure and an established strategy. This allowed us to substantiate our policy positions and develop our presence in the European policy space.
2024 was a year of transition with the European Parliament elections in June marking the beginning of a new mandate. For this reason, our strategy for this year was twofold. We used the first half of the year to draft policy papers and carry out research related to our proposal for a Digital Knowledge Act, a legislative intervention to strengthen knowledge institutions, such as universities, archives and libraries, in the digital environment. The second half of the year was dedicated to more public-facing activities to communicate our ideas to newly elected MEPs and other relevant policymakers.
The following achievements from this reporting period stand out:
- We drafted and published six policy papers elaborating our positions on a range of issues in relation to the Digital Knowledge Act. In that process, we collaborated closely with our members and other allies to develop and draft legislative proposals that reflect a consensus among members of the movement.
- We commissioned and released two academic studies that informed our advocacy, one on how cultural heritage laws limit the use of Public Domain works and another one proposing an obligation to license digital materials under fair conditions.
- We developed and released a publication targeted at policymakers that presents our demands for a Digital Knowledge Act in an accessible way. The publication is available in print and digital formats.
- We hosted two well-attended in-person events in Brussels that brought together academics, representatives of civil society and EU policymakers to raise awareness for our demands.
- We contributed to the discussions around AI and copyright, participating in multiple external events and joining the General-Purpose AI Code of Practice Plenary hosted by the European AI Office to detail the provisions of the AI Act.
- We expanded our communication toolkit as we launched and grew our monthly newsletter and revamped our event newsletter.
This is a revised version of our report submitted to Arcadia, published here for transparency.
