Orphan
written
works
are
a
reality
that
was
never
questioned
until
recently.
The
lack
of
a
known
author
to
written
works
never
constituted
a
problem
for
libraries
or
other
archival
institutions,
which
offered
their
services
to
the
public
by
granting
access
to
works
regardless
of
their
nature.
The
development
of
technology
has
dramatically
changed
the
way
information
is
accessed
and
utilized,
causing,
among
others,
the
emergence
of
a
demanding
audience
that
wishes
for
the
digital
equivalent
of
books
and
written
works.
In
view
of
these
current
challenges,
conventional
copyright
protection
has
been
unable
to
rise
to
the
occasion
and
fulfil
such
demands.
The
present
master
thesis
examines
the
difficulties
that
have
arisen
from
previous
legislation
as
well
as
the
development
of
new
legislative
texts
that
have
come
forward
as
a
means
to
facilitating
the
use
of
written
orphan
works.
Existing
legislative
models
and
their
implementation,
as
well
as
tools
that
are
currently
being
used
towards
the
direction
of
utilization
of
written
orphan
works
are
thoroughly
analyzed
and
critiqued
with
regards
to
their
advantages
and
disadvantages.
Furthermore,
drawing
from
these
real
life
models
and
tools,
this
thesis
attempts
to
provide
a
uniform
solution
for
the
digitization
of
such
intellectual
works.
Chapter
I
of
this
thesis
constitutes
an
introduction
to
Copyright
Protection
and
Law.
Chapter
II
introduces
and
analyzes
the
Orphan
Works
Issue.
Chapters
III
to
VI
discuss
the
existing
legislative
models,
current
approaches
and
tools
to
the
Orphan
Works
problem.
Models
such
as
the
Directive
2012/28/EU
and
the
Memorandum
of
Understanding
on
Out-‐of-‐Commerce
Works
as
well
as
tools
such
as
the
OHIM
Orphan
Works
Database,
Europeana,
ARROW
and
Google
Books
are
described
and
discussed.
Finally,
Chapter
VII,
building
upon
drawn
conclusions,
suggests
a
solution
that
aims
to
enable
a
more
practical
and
harmonized
environment
to
the
digitization,
use
and
exploitation
of
written
orphan
works.
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