Intellectual property rights
Intellectual property rights policies can present a challenge to preservation efforts of organizations. They have very little influence over the laws but must abide by the laws regardless of the possible impact to the digital preservation process.
However, these issues can be addressed in part by working directly with the creator. The policies of the organization should reflect this cooperative approach in addressing digital preservation.
Canada has exceptions to the Copyright Act that apply specifically to libraries, archives and museums. Additionally, if an archive is located in an educational institution, then it can avail itself of the additional educational exceptions available in the Act.
In the United States however, regulations like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and other similar measures being enacted by governments, valuable digital cultural heritage stands in jeopardy of being lost because the institutions best suited to their preservation are unable to complete their tasks.
Consult Checklists for creating a preservation policy under “Intellectual property rights.”
Activity 3: intellectual property rights assessment
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This resource was published by the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN). For comments or questions regarding this content, please contact CHIN directly. To find other online resources for museum professionals, visit the CHIN homepage or the Museology and conservation topic page on Canada.ca.
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