Impact of Copyright Law and Open Policies in relation to digitisation practices in the GLAM Sector

ReCreating Europe (Rethinking digital copyright law for a culturally diverse, accessible, creative Europe) is an EU-funded H2020 RIA project (Grant Agreement No. 870626) that aims at bringing researchers, experts, policymakers and stakeholders together to clarify what is needed for a copyright regulatory framework that supports sustainable digitisation, culturally diverse production, inclusive access and consumption of digital resources.

By conducting research and empirical research, reCreating Europe provides a comparative cross-national mapping of (i) the governance and implementation of processes for IPR within Galleries, Libraries, Museums and Archives (GLAM); (ii) the effective implementation of copyright law by GLAM, considering sector-specific practices, with regard to digitisation-related issues and Open Access to Knowledge.

The project also aims to understand the effect and uses of the digitization of art, architecture and cultural heritage in place-making, and the effect of this on the functioning of the DSM. Work is undertaken with stakeholders to improve their copyright awareness and help them to deal with issues arising from digitisation, by drafting specific guidelines. By doing so, it enables a higher degree of harmonization of current EU copyright law and policies by means of a bottom-up approach, where stakeholders play a leading role.

In support of realising these aims, reCreating Europe launched a survey from September 2020 until January 2021, focused on mapping and determining whether Galleries Libraries Archives Museums (GLAMs) are aware of the implications that copyright law and open policies have on the digitisation practices undertaken by GLAM stakeholders, also determining to what extent the law functions as a barrier to access, use and reuse of digital content and suggesting the possible countermeasures.

The survey was open to public and it was widely circulated in Europe. The results of the survey will be analysed and used to help recommending best practices and policies that enable digitisation to be carried out effectively within the prescriptions of a rebalances copyright law.

This poster will illustrate the preliminary results of the survey and demonstrate the impact of Copyright Law and Open Policies in relation to digitisation practices in the GLAM Sector.