The copyrights framework for Europeana comprises several components: the Europeana Public Domain Charter, several Public Domain Calculators, a User Generated Content Policy and the Europeana Data Exchange Agreement. Within the context of EuropeanaConnect, studies were also conducted into mechanisms for clearing copyrights. During the development of the framework, Kennisland allowed itself to be guided by the perspective of Europeana.eu users. The aim of Kennisland was to create a platform with minimal restrictions for users of digitised cultural heritage and which fosters creative re-use, innovation and economic development in Europe.

Europeana and the Public Domain

In January 2010, Kennisland drew up the Europeana Public Domain Charter together with the Institution for Information Law (IviR). In this Charter, Europeana positions itself as a monitor of the (digital) public domain. It also stipulates that works appearing in the public domain in analogue form must also be copyright-free in digital form. Heritage institutions that contribute to Europeana may therefore not claim any (copy)rights on works they have digitised.

In addition to the Public Domain Charter, Kennisland and IViR have developed Public Domain Calculators for 30 European countries and placed them online. These calculators allow users to determine via several questions whether a work is copyright protected or falls within the public domain. Kennisland developed the software platform for the calculators using legal research from IViR. Upon completion of the EuropeanaConnect project, these calculators will be developed further by examining, for example, whether it is possible to implement automatic calculations on a large scale.

Knowledgeland develops licence framework for Europeana

Within the context of EuropeanaConnect, a license framework for Europeana has been developed together with the other partners. This licence framework includes a data model for communicating copyright information about digital objects made accessible by Europeana and a User Generated Content Policy that also controls under which conditions User Generated Content may be re-used by Europeana.

The licence framework revolves around the so-called Data Exchange Agreement. This document controls the relationship between Europeana and the institutions that make their collections accessible via Europeana. The document also stipulates that all metadata provided by these institutions may be published by Europeana subject to the conditions of the CC0 waiver. Europeana has therefore become one of the most important open data providers in the domain of cultural heritage. Europeana’s transition to open data would have not been possible without the help of Kennisland and the other EuropeanaConnect partners. That is why we are proud of this contribution, which forms the foundation for greater accessibility and innovation within the European heritage sector.