COMMUNIA, the European Thematic Network on the Public Domain in the Digital Age, held its kick-off meeting in Turin, Italy on September 28, 2007. The network consists of over 35 members from 21 countries who are dedicated to developing

“the single European point of reference for high-level policy discussion and strategic action on all issues related to the public domain in the digital environment, as well as related topics such as alternative forms of licensing for creative material (including, but not limited to, the Creative Commons licenses), open access to scientific publications and research results, management of works whose authors are unknown (i.e. orphan works).”

The COMMUNIA project, funded by the European Commission and coordinated by Politecnico di Torino, will enrich the next 3 years with a productive schedule of thematic workshops and conferences, with the goal of maintaining a strong link between participants dedicated to analytical and practical results, including “the production of a book; an academic journal; a “best practices” guide for European research and reference centres on the topics covered by COMMUNIA; and a final strategic report containing policy guidelines that will help all the stakeholders – public and private, from the local to the European level – tacking the issues that the existence of a digital public domain have raised and will undoubtedly continue to raise.”

The kick-off meeting owes its success to the superb organization efforts of Italian CC Project Lead and COMMUNIA Network Coordinator Prof. Juan Carlos De Martin, Project Manager Andrea Glorioso, Ms. Maria Teresa Medina Quintana, Prof. Angelo Raffaele Meo, and Prof. Marco Ricolfi. Also part of the COMMUNIA Project team is Mr. Bernardo Parrella as online PR manager.