Copyright Community Work Plan 2020

Throughout 2020, the copyright community will support cultural heritage professionals navigate copyright in their collections, advocate for adequate institutional support around copyright, and contribute to adequate legal frameworks in their countries. It will do so by gathering and sharing information.

In a survey conducted at the end of 2019, participants identified “the lack of copyright knowledge among cultural heritage professionals and an absence of training opportunities” as one of their biggest challenges, followed by the “difficulty of identifying the copyright status of collection items”. Other issues raised by respondents were a lack of understanding on the particularities of the Copyright in the Digital Single Market, copyright when applied across-borders, the lack of institutional support in copyright work and a lack of coordination by libraries, archives and museums at national levels.

As a result, the Copyright Community Steering group has identified three main areas where support for the profession would be welcome: 

1. When dealing with copyright in practice, for instance by clearing rights or doing the orphan works diligent search

2. When looking to adopt good practices around copyright within an institution, for instance by asking for adequate copyright training for staff or including copyright in internal workflows

3. And when getting involved in legislative and policy changes in their country, for instance throughout the transposition of the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive

Throughout this year, the Copyright Community Steering Group, with the help of the Copyright Community, will mainly focus on gathering relevant information around these areas and disseminating it. By doing so, the copyright community will also contribute to Europeana Foundation’s objectives around copyright.

Find out more by downloading the work plan below, and go to the Europeana Copyright Community page to join the community.