Digitization of collections in cultural institutions – legal aspects you should know

1. Digitization and copyright – what to look out for?

The primary legal challenge in digitizing collections is copyright protection. In Poland and the European Union, works are protected by the Law on Copyright and Related Rights, and this protection lasts – in principle – 70 years after the death of the creator. • This means that cultural institutions must carefully verify the legal status of each work before digitizing it and making it available online.
The most common problems are:
• Unclear legal status of the work – e.g., no information about the author or his date of death.
• Rights to the work belong to several entities – e.g., in the case of co-authored works or combined works (e.g., illustrations in books).
• Reproduction copyrights – even if the original work is in the public domain, modern photographs of it may be subject to copyright protection (e.g., photographs of works of art taken by photographers, particularly for three-dimensional objects)

2. Works in the public domain – when can you digitize without restrictions?

Cultural institutions can freely digitize and make available works that:
✔ Have never been subject to copyright protection – this includes, for example, official documents, legal records, administrative decisions, and certain forms of folk art.
✔ Are in the public domain – that is, works whose author died at least 70 years ago (calculated from January 1 of the year following the death of the creator, bearing in mind that in some jurisdictions this period may be longer).
✔ They were originally made available under Creative Commons licenses – such as some contemporary scientific publications or photographs made available by authors under open terms.
Legal restrictions on making digitized collections available
Cultural institutions must remember that:
✔ Even if a work is in the public domain, this does not automatically mean the right to use it commercially – for example, reproductions of works may be subject to additional regulations, such as a separate regulation in Poland for Frederic Chopin or a separate regulation in Italy for Leonardo da Vinci.
✔ Some works, although in the public domain, may be subject to protection under other laws – for example, the right to the image of people depicted in photographs.

3. Dissemination of digital collections – what do you need to know?

Once the collections have been digitized, the next step is to make them available. This can be done in various ways, such as through:
• Digital archives and libraries (e.g. POLONA, Europeana)
• Online museums (e.g., Google Arts & Culture)
• Open access sites (e.g. Wikimedia Commons)

Digitization versus dissemination – a key difference
It is worth noting that the digitization process itself does not always require a license, especially if it is justified by the need to preserve the collection in good condition, protect it from degradation or provide access to the works for conservation or research purposes. In such legitimate cases, cultural institutions can sometimes create digital copies even of copyrighted works, provided there is no public dissemination.
However, the distribution of digital versions of works to an unlimited public generally requires a license or permission from the copyright owner. This applies especially to:
✔ Works that are still protected by copyright.
✔ Reproductions of works made by photographers or others, with respect to which digital images copyright may take last.
✔ Works in which the copyright has expired, but there are other restrictions, for example, the right to an image.
In practice, this means that a cultural institution can digitize its collections for internal or conservation purposes, but if it wants to make them available to the general public, it must take care of appropriate licensing.
4. What licenses should be used when making collections available?

Cultural institutions themselves can determine the rules for using the digitized collections made available. Popular licensing models are:
✔ CC0 (Creative Commons Zero) – full release into the public domain, users can use the resource without any restrictions.
✔ CC BY (Creative Commons Attribution) – requires citation of the source, but allows free use of the work.
✔ CC BY-NC (Creative Commons Attribution-No Commercial Use) – allows non-commercial use, but prohibits sales or other commercial use.
Institutions that want to promote their collections often choose open licenses to allow the widest possible use by educators, researchers and individual audiences.

Digitizing collections in cultural institutions brings great benefits, but it also requires knowledge of legal regulations. The most important issues are:
✔ Copyright verification – before digitizing, check whether the work is still protected.
✔ Use of public domain resources – works whose protection has expired can be freely digitized and shared.
✔ Appropriate licensing – the institution should determine on what terms others can use its collections.
A thoughtful approach to digitization allows cultural institutions not only to protect national heritage, but also to make it available to new generations in modern digital form.