Museums and the Digital Enclosure of the Public Domain
‘Unbounded freedom ruled the wandering scene| Douglas McCarthy
‘Unbounded freedom ruled the wandering scene| Douglas McCarthy
An analysis of the inconsistencies in UK museums’ copyright claims over digital reproductions of public domain works Introduction In our online, globally connected era, cultural institutions are vital custodians of history and culture, preserving and making accessible millions of digitised artworks, manuscripts, and objects. Yet in the United Kingdom, a complex and inconsistent approach to… Continue reading Anarchy in the UK| Douglas McCarthy
Furnishing fabric ‘Alice in Wonderland’ (detail) of roller-printed cotton chintz, designed by C. F. A. Voysey for Morton Sundour Fabric Ltd., Great Britain, ca. 1920. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.The choices that museums make about copyright and licensing as they digitise their collections have profound implications for public access. In an era where digital technologies are opening up heritage like never before, are some of our cultural institutions becoming gatekeepers? | Douglas McCarthy
René-Charles Dassy and His Brother Jean-Baptiste-Claude-Amédé Dassy, 1850, by Hippolyte Jean Flandrin (French, 1809–1864)| Douglas McCarthy
Author’s remix of The Battle of the Pictures, 1745. William Hogarth (1697-1764), Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0Is it possible for the same digitised public domain work by the same artist to be considered both in and out of copyright by different museums within the same legal jurisdiction? The answer is yes.| Douglas McCarthy
Author’s remix of detail of Four judges in heavy wigs, 1758. Etching by William Hogarth. Source: Wellcome Collection, Public Domain Mark.Late last November at the Court of Appeal in London, Lord Justice Arnold made a significant ruling on copyright and the threshold of originality in UK law, in the case THJ v Sheridan1. Although the case concerned the copyright protection of graphical user interfaces (GUIs), its impact is likely to be felt in other categories. This post examines the implica...| Douglas McCarthy
Now in its sixth year of existence, the Open GLAM survey has just undergone a significant overhaul. Here’s what has changed. Since Dr Andrea Wallace and I began the Open GLAM survey in 2018, it has tracked galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAMs) making open access content available for re-use. It’s become the go-to reference… Continue reading What’s new in the Open GLAM survey The post What’s new in the Open GLAM survey appeared first on Douglas McCarthy.| Douglas McCarthy
What does the Rijksmuseum’s landmark Vermeer exhibition tell us about museums, copyright and digital collections today? Vermeer is a major exhibition of the artist’s work at the Rijksmuseum that brings Vermeers from around the world to Amsterdam. A total of twenty eight works, from fourteen institutions, feature in the exhibition. These are helpfully itemised on… Continue reading 28 Vermeers The post 28 Vermeers appeared first on Douglas McCarthy.| Douglas McCarthy
Fresh insight, important updates and new visualisations into the global picture of open access to cultural heritage| Douglas McCarthy
Are NFTs compatible with the mission of cultural heritage institutions? The post Museums and NFTs – a conflict of interest? appeared first on Douglas McCarthy.| Douglas McCarthy
