This infographic aimed at practitioners working in the museum sector offers a step-by-step guide helping them to understand important principles of copyright, by presenting a case study on digitising a work and making it available online. It helps turning legal awareness into everyday practice, and contains links to other useful material on this topic.
In six steps, the reader is guided along several elements to be aware of when engaging with material protected by copyright in the museum sector:
- Step 1 - Identify the work: what kind of work are you digitising and who created it?
- Step 2 - Identify copyright status of the work: is the work still protected under copyright or is it in the public domain?
- Step 3 - Define your intended use and required rights: why and how will you use the work?
- Step 4 - Check if exceptions apply: can you use the work without permission under a copyright exception?
- Step 5 - Contact the rightholder(s) to obtain permission: once you have identified your intended use, how can you obtain the necessary permission?
- Step 6 - Label the work and share: inform users about they can and cannot do with the work and make your digitised content available in a clear, lawful and user-friendly way.
As the infographic is a general guide based on the EU legal framework, readers should keep in mind that important details are set at national level and may vary. Always consult your own country’s legislation or a qualified expert before publishing or reusing digitised third-party content.
Read more about the EU copyright law.
This infographic can be downloaded in all EU languages.