Rights management
From Our Toolkit
When we talk about rights management in relation of collections we mean the range of rights which enable you to reproduce or share that material without infringing the copyright, intellectual property rights or data protection of a third party.
It is best practice to discuss the rights to each item when it is donated so it is recorded as part of the acquisition procedure but historically this has not happened with many collections so clarifying the rights management of items is often a retrospective activity.
Museum approach
If you wish to use artefacts or documents from your collection you need to be clear on who holds the rights to each item. The process for Rights management is outlined in the Spectrum guidelines and it details the importance of rights management for different uses of collection material.
Archive approach
The National Archives provide a range of data protection resources for those working with archives including a Data Protection Toolkit.
Orphan works
Orphan works are those whose rights holder cannot be identified or tracked down to give permission for its use. Advice on working with orphan works can be found:
- Naomi Korn – Museums, Orphan Works and Risk Management
- The National Archives – Orphan Works Guidance for archive services on reasonable searches to identify rights holders
Creative Commons
You may choose to licence your images with a Creative Commons licence. Flickr have produced a guide to the different types of Creative Commons licences available.
Resources for museums and archives
Naomi Korn Associates have a raft of free resources on copyright, intellectual property rights and permissions for museums and archives.