European Public Domain Day 2026

09:30-09:40 // Opening Words: Bart Magnus & Camille Françoise

09:40-10:10 // Keynote: Bartolomeo Meletti, CREATe (30 minutes)

10:10-10:40 // International Updates(Panorama Room)

10:10-10:20 // The Open Heritage Statement – A Global Call for Equitable Access to Heritage in the Public Domain, by Brigitte Vézina, Creative Commons (10 minutes)

10:20-10:30 // Article 14 in the Copyright Directive review by Ariadna Matas, Europeana Foundation (10 minutes)

10:30-10:40 // Launching Internet Archive Europe! by Beatrice Murch, Internet Archive Europe (10 minutes)

COFFEE BREAK // 10:40-11:00

11-13h // European Track (Panorama Room)

11:00-11:15 // The Digital Omnibus: A threat to open projects  – Leander Nielbock, COMMUNIA (15 minutes) The Commission’s Digital Omnibus proposal aims to streamline EU data rules. However, in doing so, it introduces substantive changes to existing rules with far-reaching consequences for open access to public sector information. This presentation will highlight the proposed changes and how to fix them.

11:15-11:30 // CommonsDB update: advancing the registry for Public Domain and openly licensed works – Paul Keller, OpenFuture Foundation (15 minutes) Open Future will present the latest developments in CommonsDB, an initiative building a registry of Public Domain and openly licensed works. The presentation will share insights from recent testing and development, and assess potential use cases for the registry.

11:30-12:30 // The Public Domain: An Academic Perspective with Kristofer Erickson (pre-recorded), Martin Kretschmer, Aline Iramina, Bartolomeo Meletti (chair) (CREATe, University of Glasgow); Séverine Dusollier (Sciences Po) 60 minutes This academic panel is organised by CREATe, the UK Centre for Regulation of the Creative Economy at the University of Glasgow. The panellists will present and discuss empirical and theoretical research on the public domain, with a view to informing evidence-based policy and practice.

12:30-13:00 // Q&A

LUNCH BREAK // 12:30-13:00

14:00-15:10 // Presentations

14:00-14:20 // Tapestries is a FREE, Open Source tool enabling anyone (really, anyone) to assemble non-linear multimodal presentations comprised of web pages, PDFs, graphics, audio and video files, and even code running in emulators. Think of Tapestries as a mechanism for exposing the rich store of digital objects stored at WikiMedia Commons, the Internet Archive and Europeana. – Bob Stein (20 minutes)

14:20-14:40 // The Graveyard Shift: Public Engagement, Copyright, Death Dates and Data – Annabelle Shaw & Louise McAward-White (British Film Institute) (20 minutes)

14:40-14:50 // Pattern-a-thons: a crowdsourcing event to create and share fashion designs – Dieter Suls and Stijn Van den Bulck (ModeMuseum Antwerpen) (10 minutes)

COFFEE BREAK  // 15:10-15:30

15:30-15:40 // Remixing heritage to imagine future sea-level rise scenario (In the context of a Cultural Game Jam – Carlo Gaetano (University of Amsterdam) & Wyzte Koppelman (Netherlands Institute for Sound & Vision)(10 minutes)

15:40-16:00 // Happy accidents with Public Domain videos – Björn Wijers (20 minutes)

16:00-16:20 // Wiki Loves Public Domain – Geert Van Pamel & Maarten Zeinstra (20 minutes)

16:20-16:40 // Q&A

Workshops (Bring your laptops!)

14:00-15:00 A Closer Look at CommonsDB with Paul Keller (20 persons – 60 minutes) Take an inside look at CommonsDB — a prototype registry built to enhance discoverability and legal clarity for Public Domain and openly licensed content. See it in action, share your feedback, and explore how CommonsDB can support your work and the wider digital commons. 15:30-16:40 // Workshop on the Tapestry (IAE) by Bob Stein (25 persons – 70 minutes) Bring your computer, and we’ll run through the mechanics of weaving tapestries. It’s easier and a ton more fun than you might imagine.

16:40-16:50 Closing Words by Bart Magnus & Camille Françoise 

16:50-18:00 Drinks