Thanks Greg for the responses. As for the ED team, that answers part of my question. That Sue was appointed as special advisor, was indeed public knowledge - but for what duration was that? And was that a full time position (or anything near full time), given that her compensation was as high as that of the ED herself? People suggested that this included compensation for earlier years - was that the case? That would explain again a bit more.
Also part of the question was why the raise was so steep - was this simply matching the reality of the current job market, or was there something else behind it (i.e. a bonus mechanism etc). It would be great if you could clarify! Thanks! Lodewijk 2016-05-25 12:45 GMT+02:00 John Mark Vandenberg <jay...@gmail.com>: > On Wed, May 25, 2016 at 6:31 AM, Gregory Varnum <gvar...@wikimedia.org> > wrote: > > Greetings, > > > > Thank you to everyone for your questions and thoughts regarding the > Wikimedia Foundation's Form 990. > > > > Regarding Lodewijk's first question about the legal services (totalling > US$1.7M) which were conducted by Jones Day (page 61 - Part VII): As our > global reach has grown over time, we felt it was important to strengthen > the trademark portfolio and solidify the protection of Wikimedia’s marks > globally. In December 2013, we began working with Jones Day on our global > trademark filings, registrations, and oppositions. During the 2014-2015 > fiscal year we filed 1,500+ new trademark applications for 35 different > trademarks in 100+ countries. A significant portion of the legal services > expenses in 2014-2015 went toward the mandatory government trademark > application filing fees. > > > > These new trademark applications contained expanded coverage and revised > descriptions to ensure better protection of Wikimedia's marks and projects, > including countries where readership was growing through targeted programs > or distribution (such as Wikipedia Zero and mobile readership). Going > forward, we anticipate (and are beginning to realize) a decrease in > trademark expenses year over year, now that we have this initial foundation > is in place. This investment immediately benefits Wikimedia and its > communities by ensuring that our trademark portfolio reflects the maturity > and breadth of the Wikimedia movement, and protects us against certain > forms of infringement or misuse. > > Hi Gregory, > Just to confirm, the stated US$1.7M stated on page p.61 includes > filing and other fees paid by Jones Day to relevant government bodies > around the world? > If so, any chance you can separate it into such fees paid *through* > Jones Day, vs the consultation fees of Jones Day. > You say it was a 'significant portion', but that is very vague > terminology, meaning very different things to different people; it > would be nice to have a ball park figure. > > Also there was a USD ~5.2 M investment in Europe listed on p. 35 as > not being program services. I didn't see any reference to it in the > FAQ; apologies if I missed it (It would be lovely if the source > document was posted on meta for easier navigation, etc.). Could we > have a little more info about this line item? > > -- > John Vandenberg > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
