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Copyright and digital cultural heritage

Copyright raises relevant questions for those who work with or otherwise use digital cultural heritage: how do you legally share collections online and support their reuse? How can you deal with legal risk? How are legal and policy changes shaping this area? 

The Europeana Initiative offers free, up-to-date and expert guidance, resources, standards, webinars and an active community for all professionals who work with copyright in the cultural heritage sector. Explore these below.  

Training

Learn and test your knowledge on copyright and the use of rights statements.

Tools and knowledge

Access resources and documentation on topics which support cultural heritage professionals to build understanding of copyright in relation to digital cultural heritage.

FAQs on Out of Commerce works
Title:
Helsingin rautatieasema, perspektiivipiirustus keskushallista
Creator:
Saarinen, Eliel
Date:
1913
Institution:
Museum of Finnish Architecture
Country:
Finland

FAQs on Out of Commerce works

Discover information about out of commerce works. 

Recommendations on copyright and its role in the digital transformation of the cultural heritage sector
Title:
Exterieur van de bibliotheek van de Humboldtuniversiteit te Berlijn
Date:
c.1890 - c.1910
Institution:
Rijksmuseum
Country:
Netherlands

Recommendations on copyright and its role in the digital transformation of the cultural heritage sector

During the German Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Europeana held a conference to explore the copyright challenges the cultural heritage sector faces as it embraces its digital transformation. Read the report.

Standards for rights information

We support the use of Creative Commons Licences and Tools, and through the Rights Statements Consortium, we offer additional tools to standardise the way you communicate rights information about online collections.

Open access

We advocate for open access through our policies and frameworks, and encourage you to open your collections up for reuse. Learn about the benefits of removing barriers to reuse and explore the experiences of other institutions.

Copyright Directive

Gain an understanding of recent and upcoming legal and policy changes in the European Union and your country.

Network and communities

Join our vibrant Copyright Communityto engage, collaborate and transfer knowledge with peers and experts working on copyright and digital cultural heritage.

Events

Register for upcoming events which support cultural heritage professionals to gain new skills and knowledge.

Expressing reuse conditions in digital cultural heritage
Title:
Databank in computers in de stadsbibliotheek
Creator:
Janssens, Felix
Date:
1990
Institution:
City Archives' s-Hertogenbosch
Country:
Netherlands
24 October 2024
10:00 — 12:00 Online

Expressing reuse conditions in digital cultural heritage

This training course - run as part of Europeana Academy - will run in October 2024. It outlines the rights statements available which can support a cultural heritage institution to communciate reuse conditions.

Webinars

Learn from various useful and successful approaches to clearing rights and to managing copyright in a cultural heritage institution.

News

Keep up to date with policy and practice around copyright and digital cultural heritage.

New memorandum supports the dissemination of audiovisual works in the Netherlands
Title:
Locale TV in actie
Creator:
Loeffen, Ger
Date:
Regionaal Archief Nijmegen
Institution:
The Netherlands
Country:
1985-04-03

New memorandum supports the dissemination of audiovisual works in the Netherlands

Created: 4 December 2023

After the successful negotiation that led to a memorandum of understanding to make musical works available under the out-of-commerce system, stakeholders in the Netherlands have now signed a memorandum of understanding on audiovisual works. Discover insights into this important memorandum of understanding.

Discover insights from the copyright office hours on rights on user-generated content
Title:
Übungen an der Sprossenwand
Creator:
Hamann, Heinrich
Date:
1909
Institution:
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg
Country:
Germany

Discover insights from the copyright office hours on rights on user-generated content

Created: 22 November 2023

On 19 September, members of the Copyright Community joined an informal chat around the rights and permission that need to be managed when individuals contribute to cultural heritage data. In today’s post, we tell you about some of the thoughts and ideas that were shared during the session.

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