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Please note that this page does not constitute legal advice, and should not be relied upon as such. It is meant as a guide to help data providers make decisions regarding rights statement selection. |
Selecting a rights statement is not just about passing our technical validation. It is fundamental to the philosophy and mission of Europeana , which is to ensure that all digital objects are published with a rights statement that accurately reflects the copyright status (in or out of copyright) of the digital object, permissions on reuse granted by the copyright owner, and potential restrictions on reuse that may exist in some cases (for example, contractual agreement or legal restrictions).Europeana data providers may choose between Creative Commons licenses, a subset of rights statements provided by RightsStatements.org, and Creative Commons Public Domain Tools, as listed on Europeana Pro. When selecting a rights statement we advise you to take into account the following aspects, which reflect both legal obligations and Europeana’s policy recommendations:
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The copyright status of the work
When establishing whether a work is protected by copyright or not, a data provider should first check if the object qualifies for copyright protection.
Duration of copyright protection is also important when determining the copyright status. Copyright will expire after a certain amount of time has passed. When this happens a work enters the Public Domain and becomes available for use without having to obtain the copyright owner’s permission. In the EU Member States, copyright usually expires 70 years after the death of the creator for written, artistic, musical, and film work. For works whose copyright has expired or were never subject to copyright, we recommend using the Public Domain Mark, but we will also accept the Public Domain Dedication (CC0).
The identification of the copyright status will allow you to rule out the use of certain rights statements. See the table below:
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In Copyright
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In the Public Domain
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Other
You hold the rights or have permission from the rights owner:
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You do not hold the rights nor have permission for additional uses from the rights owner:
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No legal or contractual restrictions on reuse:
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Legal or contractual restrictions on reuse:
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Copyright status has not been evaluated:
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The above table demonstrates the connection between the copyright status of the work and the rights statement that accurately describes the statusMore information about identifying whether a work is subject to copyright or not is available on Europeana Pro.
For guidelines on which URI for specific rights statement statements you should use when providing EDM, consult this page.
More information about identifying whether a work is subject to copyright or not is available here.
Right owner’s permission, exceptions and limitations
The rights owner (i.e. the author or a third party if the rights have been transferred) has the right to exclude others from using the work without obtaining permission. Because cultural heritage institutions often do not own the copyright, they should consult with the rights owner before using or allowing specific uses of the work.
To be able to use the work in copyright without infringing someone's copyright, a data provider should secure permission from the rights owner unless the type of intended use is covered by a copyright exception or they own the copyright. Sometimes the permission can be obtained directly from the rights owner, or it can also be granted in the form of a license from a collective management organisation (CMO). CMOs are institutions that work on behalf of rights owners and can conclude licenses with users on behalf of rights owners.
When copyright owner(s) cannot be identified or located, institutions can rely on the Orphan Works Directive’s provisions as implemented in your member state, or the Out of Commerce Works provisions from the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive.
More information about clearing rights is availablehereMore information about identifying whether a work is subject to copyright or not is available on Europeana Pro.
No rights on digitisation: the Europeana Public Domain Charter
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It is likely that, before we publish your data, we will query the submission of any objects that appear to be in the Public Domain but which are not labeled as such. We will work with you to determine the correct rights statement and statement and subsequently publish the data.We pay particular attention to metadata elements like <dc:date>, <dcterms:created> and <dc:creator> to verify the existence of copyright.
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If there are legal or contractual obligations that limit the reuse of digitised objects, institutions can select between rights statements provided by Rightsstatement.org that were created for the unique situations cultural heritage institutions face. When using some of these rights statements, data providers should supply additional information, as outlined in the additional requirements.
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We also analyse the data post-publication to ensure and verify a consistent level of accuracy of rights statements across the database. There There may be situations post-publication when it becomes clear that the chosen rights statements do not meet the acceptance criteria. We will discuss these issues with you when they occur.