Annual Report 2025/Story: Advocacy work on copyright, AI, open research, and open educational resources
In this story, we focus on how Wikimedia Sverige took important steps forward in 2025 in our fight for modern copyright, open research, and responsible AI development.
In 2025, Wikimedia Sverige played a central role in the work to strengthen access to free and open knowledge in Sweden and Europe. Although the government's anticipated bill on copyright limitations has been delayed, the year was nevertheless marked by strategic collaborations, political dialog, and important breakthroughs on issues relating to copyright, AI, and open science.
At the beginning of the year, we established a new national copyright network, in which libraries, user organizations, research institutions, and cultural heritage actors collaborate to promote a fairer and more user-friendly copyright system. Since then, the network has grown into an active platform for knowledge exchange and advocacy, including a well-received August meeting attended by the intellectual property unit at the Department of Justice.
Another milestone was the publication of the report Open Science & Copyright, produced together with legal expert Daniel Westman and the Swedish Library Association. The report brings together legal and policy proposals to strengthen open access to scientific results, and has already attracted considerable interest from both policymakers and the research community.
Wikimedia Sverige has also worked to highlight the problems underlying the fact that out-of-commerce works still cannot be made accessible, even though legislation intended to enable digitization is already in place. We have raised the issue at both national and EU level, and although no solutions have yet been proposed, several actors have become aware of the problem.
At the same time, Wikimedia Sverige has positioned itself as an important voice in the ongoing debate on AI. During the summer, we brought together leading experts from across the Wikimedia movement in Nairobi for a workshop on AI and copyright. The discussions there have laid the foundation for a new European AI network within Wikimedia, focused on ensuring a development that benefits open science and access to knowledge.
By building alliances, participating in international contexts, and delivering well-grounded analyses, Wikimedia Sverige has continued to demonstrate how a small organization can play a decisive role in shaping the future of open knowledge.
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