1 What do we understand by Open Content? Content that can be used freely. Open Content is content that is open and freely accessible – by default, not only after the author gives individual permission. This is not a matter of course. Copyright law assumes that content may only be distributed and used when the ow- ner of these rights explicitly allows it. However, to use this ground rule in the digital age is becoming more and more questionable. Human culture has always been shaped by the drive to enhance the existing. Everyone builds on that which others have created. Digital content can be reproduced and used as ea- sily as never before. Therefore, that which is tech- nically possible should be rendered possible by law. The ideal of free knowledge, that everything should always be accessible to everybody, needs a legal basis which smoothly applies to the context of the Internet. Scientists in particular have high- lighted the large potential of the Internet and the free exchange of knowledge. In 2003, German scientific organizations demanded free access to scientific works in the Declaration of Berlin: “Our mission of disseminating knowledge is only half complete if the information is not made wi- dely and readily available to society. New pos-
Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. That‘s our commitment. Wikimedia Foundation
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