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No. Some national aggregators have solutions if you are unable to host content yourself. 

How about rights and licenses?

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What rights statement or licence should I assign to a 3D model?

The copyright section in the Europeana Knowledge Base and our copyright pages on Europeana Pro are a good starting point. They give information on copyright, the list of available rights statements, and how to choose one that is correct.

To support our goal of providing accurate rights information on Europeana.eu, we would like to give some more information that may help you decide the most appropriate rights statement for your 3D material that reflects the existence or lack of existence of copyright and your institutional policy. 

The first crucial element to consider when choosing a rights statement is whether copyright exists (in the underlying object that is represented and/or in the digital version) or if on the contrary no copyright exists and the material is in the public domain. To clarify this, refer to the question that follows (‘Is there (new) copyright in the 3D model?’). Depending on whether copyright exists or not, you can choose from various rights statements and provide specific indications.

If copyright exists (in the underlying object, the model or both), you should use either a Creative Commons Licence, or a Rights Statement with the ‘in copyright’ indication. These options should not be used if no copyright exists. The choice between these various options should be made by whoever holds the copyright, on the basis of a willingness to authorise more or less reuse.

If no copyright exists in the underlying object, one of the ‘public domain options’ should be used. That is: the Creative Commons Public Domain Mark, or the Rights Statement with the ‘no copyright’ indication, such as ‘No Copyright - Other Known Legal Restriction’ or ‘No Copyright - non commercial re-use only’ 

Last, the Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication (CC0) should be used for 3D material in which copyright exists and for which the rightsholder has agreed to waive the rights. 

Please check this page for the full list of options, and this page for tips on which one to choose.

It is also possible that the original object and its 3D model can have different rights conditions. Because in practice, a user cannot use one without the other, we recommend sharing a single set of reuse conditions, that is, a licence, tool or rights statement that reflects both conditions at once. To do that, you should choose the most restrictive option (e.g. if the digitisation is out of copyright, but the object that is digitised is still in copyright, choose a rights statement that reflects the ‘in copyright’ status). You can read more about this here. If necessary, you can add clarifying information in the additional metadata.

In case of doubt, please contact us directly to help you through the process of selecting the most appropriate rights statement for your content.

Is there (new) copyright in the 3D model?

Copyright only exists if the expression is the author's own intellectual creation.  A case-by-case assessment is necessary to identify whether copyright arises in the model, and it requires information on the process and whether creative choices were made. 

There is potential for copyright to arise if creative choices have been made in 3D shapes, textures, lighting, sounds, or other. However, if a model is a faithful representation of an object, and the decisions made are mostly technical, one can assume that new copyright will not arise in the model. Even where significant time and effort have been made into creating the model, it is possible that no protection arises. 

As a result, if the model is a representation of an object that is in the public domain in the physical world, one should assume that the model will be in the public domain as well.

In certain countries, certain rights are also recognised in ‘photographs’ (and assimilated types of reproductions) that are not ‘the author’s own intellectual creation’. This type of protection, though, can no longer be claimed for reproductions of public domain works.

How can I support and facilitate reuse of my 3D material?

Correct rights information, and the access to the content, are two important elements to support and facilitate reuse of the 3D material. 

First about the rights statement: users should base their decision on how to use the 3D material on the rights statements chosen by you. 

Other than choosing the rights statement accurately, consider the options it offers to those who will want to use it. Prioritise using CC0, PDM, or any of the rights statements or licences that permit reuse (as long as they are accurate). You can read more about this on this page.

Second, about access to the actual digital content. Users may reuse 3D models in various ways.  The simplest form of reuse involves viewing a model online or the ability to embed a model in a web-page.  Other forms of reuse require the ability to download the model (or the 3D dataset).  For 3D printing users need to be able to download the file (STL) and send it to their printer.  Users who wish to incorporate a 3D model into a new digital project (for example, someone who is creating a digital reconstruction of a Mediaeval house might wish to incorporate models of a table and chairs correct to the period) need to be able to download the 3D files. This potentially includes shape files, textures, metadata and paradata).

Where can I get (technical) support?

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