Europeana: First World War 1914-1918 Digitisation Project – Rights Experience
Benjamin White, Head of Intellectual Property
British Library
The Project
• Books
• Letters
• Trench Journals
• Posters
• Manuscripts
• Photographs etc etc
Copyright Duration
Life plus 70 years for all this collection – oldest work from the BL still in copyright is from 1870s.
Copyright Conundrum
Reputation
Law and Penalties for Infringement
Stakeholder relationships
What?
• Literary
• Dramatic
• Musical
• Artistic Works
What?
• English (UK, US, Canada, Australia etc)
• French (France, Belgium, UK)
• German (Germany, Austria, Australia)
• Serbo-Croat, Polish, Russian, Bulgarian
Best Way to Approach?
Has to be “chunked down” as have to have a starting point. Could be:
• By collection• By country• By type of work• By method of rights clearance
• Out of Copyright
• Governmental Copyrights
• Highly likely to be out of copyright
Starting Points for Digitisation
Depends on the circumstances but
•Does require a search
•Where a search is not possible engagement with that community important
•Advertising
•Letter writing – responses can be sporadic and varied.
What is a diligent search?
Costs of Digitisation of 1 Book of 200 pages …
Costs are €60 to digitise and preserve for a period of time.
Manual diligent search based on the BL / ARROW study of 4 hours per book is €112
• Collecting Society (Author, Publisher and Visual Works)
• ARROW
• Individual approaches to Publisher / Author / Agent
• Trade Associations
• Trade Directories
Methods and Sources of Information - Books
• Collecting Society (Publisher and Visual Works)
• Individual approaches to Publisher / Artist / Agent / Picture Library
• Trade Association
Methods and Sources of Information – Artistic works
• Communities
• Individual approaches
• Linked societies, institutions etc
• Advertising
Methods and Sources of Information – Other Material
• Is it an infringement?
• Is the rightsholder going to find out?
• If they do find out, are they likely to do anything about it?
• What is the likely financial or reputational damage?
Risk Assessment
• Notice and Takedown Policy on your website
• Keep a record of your diligent search
Other Things
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