This week sports lead the popularity. Despite a Google doodle influenced first place of Eva Ekeblad, much of the rest of the list is dominated by sports figures and events. Tennis led the sports, as Wimbledon recently concluded. Roger Federer (#7) advanced to the final match in the men's competition. Hopes were high in the Women's for Johanna Konta (#4) as she advanced into the semifinals. However, Konta lost to Venus Williams (#13), who advanced to the finals against Garbiñe Muguruza (#10). Baseball took one spot, with the immensely successful Aaron Judge (#6) winning the Home Run Derby. The other major placer in sports was wrestling. The upcoming "money fight" (#11) between Floyd Mayweather Jr. (#5) and Conor McGregor (#3) drew attention, as well as the recently closed WWE Great Balls of Fire (#16).

In the film industry, Spider-Man: Homecoming (#2), and its star, Tom Holland (actor) (#15) ranked alongside interest in War for the Planet of the Apes (#8) and the franchise (#17). In television, the seventh season (#9) of the wildly popular Game of Thrones (#20) and the death of actor Nelsan Ellis (#12) drew interest.

And what would this report be like if it didn't have at least one Reddit driven entry (#18).

For the week of July 9 to 15, 2017, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the WP:5000 report were:

On July 18 the New York Post reported on an "utterly incompetent" lawyer who was accused of using Wikipedia to defend her client, TaiChin Preyor. Preyor was arrested for the fatal stabbing of Jami Tackett during a drug-related robbery in 2004. Preyor's new lawyers claimed that "It appears she relied on Wikipedia, of all things, to learn the complex in and outs of Texas capital punishment." The lawyer had, among other things, the Wikipedia article titled "Capital punishment in Texas" printed out and labeled "research". Preyor was executed on July 27.

On July 26, Estonian Public Broadcasting reported that the Supreme Court of Estonia decided that checking the Wikipedia article Mil Mi-28 is an inadequate method for determining whether to levy a tariff for civilian versus combat helicopter parts. The story began in 2015, when parts for Russian helicopters arrived at Muuga Harbor in Estonia from Dubai. The company shipping them claimed that they were parts for civilian helicopters; however, it was eventually discovered that they were intended for combat helicopters. In response to the sale, Europe's Tax and Customs board fined the company 1,600 euros, citing a Wikipedia page. The company promptly sued, and the Supreme Court eventually found that Wikipedia was not a sufficiently credible source to justify an order of punishment.

These are just the most recent developments in a long history of lawyers and courts using Wikipedia as a source. The Signpost covered the beginning of this trend in a UK court case in 2006, and further cases in 2007. The latter was prompted by a New York Times article that year by Noam Cohen, a frequent contributor to its Wikipedia-related stories. At the time, Cohen reported that more than 100 American court cases had cited Wikipedia, including 13 from the federal appeals courts (as distinct from American state appeals courts, within each of the states). Why did the judiciary choose to cite Wikipedia? Cohen quoted Stephen Gillers of the New York University Law School as saying that the most critical factor is public acceptance, including acceptance by the litigants: "A judge should not use Wikipedia when the public is not prepared to accept it as authority." In March of 2017, Eugene Volokh wrote an opinion piece concerning the Texas Supreme Court using Wikipedia to define what 'Welfare queen' meant. Perhaps by Gillers' criteria this indicates public/Wikipedia alignment on the understanding of this term. Every circuit court in the United States has used Wikipedia as a source for general knowledge and/or slang terms.

The proliferation of Wikipedia as a source has drawn criticism from some, such as Cass Sunstein and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. However, others such as Judge Richard Posner maintain that "Wikipedia is a terrific resource … because it [is] so convenient, it often has been updated recently and is very accurate." However, Judge Posner also noted that it "wouldn’t be right to use it in a critical issue". Other scholars agree that Wikipedia is most appropriate for "soft facts", when courts want to provide context to help make their opinions more readable. Many agree that "Selectively using Wikipedia for … minor points in an opinion is an economical use of judges' and law clerks' time."

While it remains difficult to identify lawyers who admit to using Wikipedia, paradoxically, it has become common for lawyers to claim that their lesser esteemed colleagues and rivals get all their information from Wikipedia.

The Governor of Jakarta, Anies Baswedan envisions "collaborating with citizens to tackle social issues" the Nikkei Asian Review reported on July 27. He has compared his approach with that of Wikipedia, saying "[The] movement approach is Wikipedia. They provided the platform and allowed everyone to participate, fill in the entry, provided the information – and it has created a very rich information [source], Today, we are entering a 21st century in which the citizens of a city, with its connectivity, are able to interact among themselves. And between those people and the government, those interactions can translate into cooperation for the betterment of a community, of a society, of a nation."

• Supreme Court Justice praises Wikipedia: Anthony Kennedy, an associate justice on the United States Supreme Court, speaking at the Salzburg Academy of Media and Global Change praised the 'tremendous potential of Wikipedia'. (reported in the Washington Examiner) (July 27, 2017)
• The Most Worthy Rectangle: For two years, an incredible list of different, completely false slang terms for Australian currency existed. Junkee Media as well as much of Twitter were ecstatic over the now-removed names. (reported in Junkee Media) (July 21, 2017)
• Wikipedia pageviews as a measure of celebrity popularity Since the 1930s Billboard has published "Billboard charts", a ranking of the popularity of music. A recent article notes that the newer Billboard Social 50 is using new media metrics to identify which artists are most popular. Along with Instagram reactions and Twitter mentioned, this report determines the relevance of celebrities by their Wikipedia pageviews. (reported in Billboard), (July 28, 2017)
• Wikipedia editathon reports: All good news editors take every opportunity to report local Wikipedia WP:Meetups. Rekord East reports with SABC's additional view that the Swedish Embassy in Pretoria hosted a HerStory editathon for women's issues (July 21). Genomeweb reports on a computational biology Wikipedia editing event in Prague (July 30). Feminism in India blogs their editathon for Indian women in politics (August 1).

The Architecture Committee (ArchCom) has adopted a new charter and renamed itself the Wikimedia Technical Committee (TechCom). The new charter defines the committee's scope, purpose, operation.

TechCom is the guardian of the integrity, consistency, stability, and performance of the software supporting the Wikimedia projects. It acts as the senior advisor and the convergence point of all decisions related to technical work that is strategic, cross-cutting, and/or hard to undo.
— Mission statement

The commitee's authority over technical development at the WMF is also specified – it acts as an extension of the Chief Technical Officer.

Wikimania 2017, the international Wikimedia conference, will be August 9–13 in Montreal. The event invites Wikimedia contributors from around the world to convene and discuss anything related to Wikimedia projects. The conference website includes the programme of scheduled talks, keynote speakers, and various preconference activities.

Following Wikimedia community tradition, various people have complained and been confused on the Wikimania-l mailing list. The two most popular conversations in July were the 23 post review of AC power plugs and sockets in Canada and the 53 posts about visa rejections.

Wikimedia France has continued to suffer prolonged problems (see previous Signpost coverage).

On 1 July the organization confirmed a new board of trustees. On 23 July, the board secretary announced to the greater Wikimedia community that one of the eight board members, Louise Merzeau, had died and the treasurer had resigned and already been replaced. This is the fifth board resignation in less than five months. The announcement noted that the chair, vice chair, and secretary are unchanged by these developments.

A WMF site visit was held on July 25–26, 2017. A special general assembly by request of 25% of members has been scheduled for September 9, when the community will elect members to six open seats. In October, the regularly scheduled general assembly will proceed to elect six currently held seats.

The international Wikimedia community saw and discussed one highly visible cause or symptom of conflict in May 2017 when the Funds Dissemination Committee gave WMFR only fifty percent of their requested grant. The Signpost reminds readers that no part of Wikipedia is competitive, that all Wikimedia chapters should support each other, that Wikimedia chapters and their communities must find peace and alignment, and that a problem for any individual among us makes the international news much more commonly than drama in other special interest online communities. French readers can find French language controversy in the Wikimediafr mailing list.

On 6 July the Swedish Patent and Market Court ordered Wikimedia Sverige, the Wikimedia chapter in Sweden, to pay a fine and lawyers' fees following a previous ruling by the Supreme Court of Sweden that their database of links to Wikimedia Commons photographs violated copyright law. The details of the case will sound strange to Wikimedia contributors as the court identified separate copyright laws for paper versus digital media publishing.

The Signpost and the Wikimedia Foundation's blog reported the original April 2016 loss at the Supreme Court. The Visual Copyright Society in Sweden, known natively as the Bildkonst Upphovsrätt i Sverige or BUS, initiated a lawsuit against Wikimedia Sverige in 2014 over the publication of offentligkonst.se, a website which displayed Wikimedia Commons images through a map. Wikimedia Sverige argued that Sweden's freedom of panorama laws allowed the publication of photos of permanently installed public artworks, such as monuments in public parks. Interpreting the result is challenging, but the court seems to have said that the freedom of panorama rules permit photographers to create images of art, publish them online, publish them in books, and sell copies of their photos commercially, all without permission from the artist who created the work featured in the photo. The part that is not allowed is compiling a database which makes it very easy for anyone to find and republish the images for any purpose, including commercial purposes. Whatever the legal interpretation, Wikimedia Sverige lost, and the Wikimedia Foundation disagreed with the court's ruling.

Following that ruling, the Swedish Patent and Market Court awarded money to BUS in July 2017 as reported by Wikimedia Sverige in the mailing list and on the Wikimedia Foundation's blog. While the Supreme Court mentioned the database explicitly in the final ruling, the Patent and Market Court ruling did not. Instead, that court says that media shared online cannot be considered "avbildning", a Swedish term which means "a reproduction". Since avbildning is allowed under the freedom of panorama exception it means that online publishing is likely no longer covered by freedom of panorama. Wikimedia Sverige must and will pay 750,000 SEK (US$90,000)) to BUS for legal expenses and a fine. Wikimedia Sverige is asking for donations from the Wikimedia community and supporters, even if the donation is only a small symbolic amount to demonstrate support. They take money in Swedish Krona and 10 krona, a fine donation which creates a record of civic interest in Wikimedia Sverige's position, is US$1. Anyone outside the European Union may have difficulty making a donation, although some payment types in the US and elsewhere may work.

Wikimedia Sverige executive director John Andersson said of the case that "Copyright is complex and largely incomprehensible. ... This ruling asserts that there is a difference in terms of user rights between digital and print media as photos of these works of art can for example be printed as postcards and used for commercial purposes. Digital non-profit projects like the websites Offentligkonst.se and Wikipedia, however, must pay for using the very same photos. In a society looking to fully enter a digital era, it is unreasonable to undermine the use of digital media in this way. The legislation clearly must be revised."

Available documentation of this case is all in Swedish language and includes the timeline, Wikimedia Sverige's press release, and the court ruling.

• Milestones: The following Wikipedia projects reached milestones this week: 50,000: Asturian (23 July 2017) 5,000: Acehnese (17 July 2017) 2,000: Abkhazian (11 July 2017)
• New Wikimedia organizations The Affiliations Committee recognized Wikimedians of Cameroon User Group, Odia Wikimedians User Group, and Hindi Wikimedians User Group as Wikimedia user groups.
• New administrator: The Signpost welcomes the English Wikipedia's newest administrator, Cullen328

Some editors have identified themselves as Wikipedians with a sense of humor (WWASOH). This is a underused category that some of us put on our user pages to demonstrate chest-bursting pride as editors who can't suppress a smile (ETCSS). So how do you tell a WWASOH/ETCSS edit apart from than the rest? One of the best examples is the user page of Rubbish computer, a very sophisticated and experienced editor who lets Barbara vandalize his user page. The only annoying, not-funny section of this user's page is the length of the column of user boxes. Can someone PLEASE write a script for a video game in which you can blast userboxes off a user page? Even the name of this user is funny. Wikipedians may have familiarised themselves with EEng's talk page (weighing in at 951,791 bytes), the only one in the project that is so large that it can actually be seen from space, alongside his assorted museums of New-Editor Retention Tactics, Thoughts While Watching CNN and second-rate erotic fiction.

If you visit the category page you might be caught off guard. Unfortunately for WWASOHs/ETCSSs, we lost 10% of our members when a naughty editor was blocked and banished to sockpuppet hell.

A bold (brazen, really) proposal – we, the WWASOHs/ETCSSs declare, only allow other editors who participate in a screening process to use this category on their user page. The application process is pretty simple. Just go to the category talk page and leave a message that demonstrates that you have a sense of humor. For those users who have funny user names, your message will be pretty short. For those of you who wish they had a sense of humor and at least want to try to acquire one from others, you should probably list those articles and talk pages that make you smile. Here are a few suggestions:

• Snail slime – C'est délicieux à l'ail
• Calculator spelling – nostalgia for those born in the 60s, just stupid for the rest of you
• International Talk Like a Pirate Day – you WANT to do this and Wikimedia has an incubator in the works for the pirate language "Ar-wikeepeedyaaa". If an editor fails to comply, you can raise an issue at Wikipedia:Requests for Arrrrrbitration.
• "Women are wonderful" effect – 5% of editors already know this
• Feral girls – not part of the 5%
• Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells – this is what happens when you don't have a sense of humor. You don't want to end up here.
• The sound of fingernails on a chalkboard – the theory is that this sound is a reproduction of the alarm call of macaque monkeys
• The sound of fingernails on a whiteboard – has yet to be written but its sources are the same as this article and there should just be a redirect
• New car smell – the smell can make one queasy but it does have nine references
• Punched card – back up plan for Electromagnetic pulse cyberweapons, old geeks used to use these—again nostalgic for some of you and stupid for the rest
• Uncombable hair syndrome – no comb can cure
• Dr. Young's Ideal Rectal Dilators – praised by the creator as a "cure for insanity"; today we have simpler methods, such as closing the browser window
• List of animals with fraudulent diplomas – your pet is smarter than you are
• The talk page of Squirrel-sponsored cyberterrorism – for weeks, we couldn't come up with a less sensational article title.
• Chuffer Dandridge – established Shakespearian actor-manager, and buddies with such luminaries as Sir Kingston Bagpuize and Bradford Bypass, has been waiting for Dickie "Touch" Tingles to return that white fiver since 1952.
• Turtles all the way down – therefore, if you see one crossing the road then you better stop – let it cross to prevent the apocalypse
• Year 10,000 problem – this day coincides with the turtle apocalypse
• Uncontacted peoples – how would you know unless you ask? And then BINGO! you've contacted them by asking a question._[duh]
• Ketchup as a vegetable – except we all know that tomatoes are fruit
• "No one is ever present" – please don't nominate this for deletion
• Barbara's latest edit to Head transplant – also not to be confused with Brain transplant – not every head comes with a brain

If WWASOHs and ETCSSs would work collaboratively^{[dubious – discuss]} we could get at least one of the above articles to a FA. Go ahead, read Wikipedia for the fun of it. You just might be a WWASOH/ETCSS.