After the recent revision of the Directive on the re-use of public sector information (Directive 2003/98/EC, the 'PSI Directive') Directive 2013/37/EU (entered into force on 17 July 2013), the issue of digitisation of public cultural heritage and its re-use is entered as a new obligation in the perspective of providing new resources to the private sector. On the other hand, private sector cultural institutions often opt for the digitisation of part of their collections. At the same time, international legal instruments call for digitisation for preservation, safeguarding and information reasons.
In the digitisation process, copyright protection is relevant, as it prevents any interference with the protected works. IP rights clearance and identification of the right holders are essential for the completion of the work. Besides, current national and EU law facilitates digitisation on the basis of the existing limitations and exceptions (orphan works, out of commerce works, etc).
Furthermore copyright also dictates the ways of exploitation of the digitised works. Accordingly, a legal debate about the existence of copyrights on the digitised work has arisen. While jurisprudence has not decided yet, contractual licensing, either by tailor-made or by standard form licences, could offer a viable solution and setting the boundaries for further dissemination of the digitised works.
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