ya.nadya's blog

Michel and Juliette presented this workshop, which had 16 participants. It focused on the governance of open collaborative projects as often practiced in the IT industry. Our discussion was centered on practical and legal issues surrounding such projects.

We started with a short theoretical explanation of these issues followed by discussions with attendees. Two use cases namely; Wikipedia and a book by a professor and his doctorate student were presented. The book was also co-authored by several experts from 45 countries. However these co-authors did not have the right to claim this work. Even though this was unacceptable to lawyers as Michel Noted, it actually did work.

These issues arise as a result of the fact that most often people who work on these projects are often located in different countries. They use collaborative networks to share the result of their input. They usually communicate and work informally (without going into contractual agreements). At a later stage when
the project is successful or requires more funding from investors, the question of legal ownership national governing laws arise.

Without theses agreements at the early stage, it is difficult to know which country’s laws apply to the project; thus leaving room for vague interpretations.

During the workshop, we realized that even though they are laws and agreements meant to protect and govern collaborative projects, it’s really difficult to define binding agreements with absolute certainty.

Thank you guys for this wonderful insight.