How ready are you to advocate for copyright reform?

The Knowledge Rights 21 Programme aims to build sustainable advocacy capacity for copyright policy and law reform. This is essential if we are to ensure that the experiences and voices of librarians, researchers, educators, readers and beyond are taken into account.

Yet advocacy is not just one single skill, but rather a combination of skills. It is an activity that lends itself to working in a group or network in order to maximise impact. The copyright and open access advocacy capacities grid presented here is based on this idea.

How to use it?

The first step is self-assessment. Look through the grid and reflect on where you, your institution, or association stand on each of the capacities mentioned, from starter to advanced.

The second is to identify areas for improvement. Where are you – or the association or institution you are assessing – comparatively less strong, and what might this suggest for your ability to achieve your advocacy goals?

Finally, the third goal is to stimulate thinking about how you can change a situation. Do you need to mobilise new people with specific skills and talent? Do you need to seek outside help?

We hope this tool offers a basis for thinking practically about how to strengthen capacity for library copyright and open access advocacy in Europe.

Download the advocacy capacities grid.