Curiouser and curiouser: copyright and the public domain at the V&A

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.

The choices museums make about copyright as they digitise their collections have profound implications for public access.

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Schrödinger’s copyright

Author’s remix of The Battle of the Pictures, 1745. William Hogarth (1697-1764), Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0

Why are there so few open access museums in the UK?

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After THJ v Sheridan

How will the ruling in THJ v Sheridan on copyright and the threshold of originality in UK law affect cultural institutions?

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28 Vermeers

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…

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Four years of the Open GLAM Survey

Fresh insight, important updates and new visualisations into the global picture of open access to cultural heritage

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Europeana and the Open GLAM Survey

''Miss Mission'' series by Robert Yarnall Richie, August 1944. DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University, no known copyright restrictions.

Why aggregators matter and how a fresh look at Europeana changed the picture of open access to cultural heritage in Europe

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What’s the latest picture of Open GLAM?

As 2021 draws to a close, how many cultural institutions have adopted open access policies, and how have they done this? Here’s the latest picture.

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Emerson’s Nature and the commons

Emerson’s understanding of landscape and the public commons, and how they relate to museums and open access in the digital realm.

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Open Access and Art History in the 21st Century: The Case for Open GLAM

Flemish, The Prodigal Son Among the Courtisanes, ca. 1530

A key principle of Open GLAM is that works in the public domain should remain in the public domain once digitised. However, many museums assert copyright in digital reproductions of public domain artworks. How legally legitimate is this?

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After open access

What happens to a museum after it has embraced open access policies?

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The case for open access

Staying visible and relevant online is a pressing challenge for cultural heritage institutions

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