• Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage
• Other research products close
• English close
• Digital Peer Publishing NRW close

Article 8 of the EU Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive 2019 addresses the issue of out-of-commerce works, enabling cultural heritage institutions (“CHIs”) to provide public access to these copyright works in certain circumstances. This article addresses the problem of out-of-commerce works within the context of film archives, through data gathered through ethnographic and interview research. It will be discussed how copyright shapes and orchestrates wider archival practice. A copyright regime of archival practices is formulated here that proposes a deeper analysis of the likelihood of successful incorporation of out-of-commerce works into existing archival practices. This copyright regime is conceptualised as a discursive system that brings together the different elements of archiving practices: meanings, materials, and competences. Three sub-regimes are proposed: the Oppressive regime; the Pragmatic Compliance regime; and the Active Agency regime. The value in understanding the existing copyright regime of archival practices is in formulating a theoretical framework for exploring and understanding the diverse copyright practices present and performed in the film archives, as this informs the incorporation of future legal reforms. This article then builds on the formulated theoretical framework, considering the practical likelihood of film archives being able to incorporate Art. 8 into their working practices, drawing on the empirical data gathered. This article concludes that issues of funding, copyright specialism, and fears of reputational harm may weaken the likelihood of successful incorporation into existing practices. Also, the inability to exploit the works commercially is likely to hinder the appeal to film archives, who need to generate revenue to continue their day-to-day work.

The concept of Imprecise Joints is an approach to conceptualise the mixed construction-scape of semi-urbanised and semi-industrialised cities into perceivable patterns. In this essay, the author presents her hometown Wangcang, a city at the northern edge of Sichuan Province in China, as a specimen of such an urban landscape. Here, the rapid urbanisation process of the recent thirty or forty years has glued originally scattered parts together, creating an entity with loose cohesion and little continu- ity, allowing imprecise joints to develop anywhere between the different structures. Imprecise Joints are not only present in Wangcang. In fact, they appear as a universal phenomenon in semi-urbanised and semi-industrialised cities all over the world. Like strata of history they develop over a long period of constructional interactions yet remaining nameless and unappreciated. As they are often considered temporary, they tend to be overlooked, ig- nored or neglected. The essay argues that these Imprecise Joints, considering their inherent identity and the conditions and questions behind them, should not be treated as ephemeral subjects of temporary in-between phases of devel- opment. They should rather be recognised and interpreted as reference points for a contemporary architectural practice which aims at resonating with sustainable local cultural identity and everyday life.

3D technology is increasingly used in the digitisation of cultural heritage and while parties engaging in such projects need copyright as an incentive, the copyright status of such 3D models are unclear. It is usually assumed they would not be protected, as the scans of existing objects are less likely to be original compared to the 3D models created from scratch. However, it is often overlooked that these projects vary greatly in terms of the chosen method (whether it is laser scanning or photogrammetry), the project’s purpose (if it is for identical copying or if there is any restoration or creative contribution involved) and the collaboration of different people (ranging from employees to volunteers). This article will discuss the copyright implications of the chosen method, purposes and the level of collaboration, in order to show that each of these factors impact the category, originality and the authorship of the resulting work. It will be argued that it is possible, and in some instances very likely, for 3D projects to lead to protectable outcomes under the EU copyright law.

This article examines the conditions under which a system of extended collective licensing (ECL) for the use of works contained in the collections of cultural heritage institutions (CHIs) participating in Europeana could function within a cross-border basis. ECL is understood as a form of collective rights management whereby the application of freely negotiated copyright licensing agreements between a user and a collective management organisation (“CMO”), is extended by law to non-members of the organisation. ECL regimes have already been put in place in a few Member States and so far, all have the ability to apply only on a national basis. This article proposes a mechanism that would allow works licensed under an ECL system in one territory of the European Union to be made available in all the territories of the Union. The proposal rests on the statutory recognition of the “country of origin” principle, as necessary and sufficient territory for the negotiation and application of an ECL solution for the rights clearance of works contained in the collection of a cultural heritage institution, including orphan works.

The long-term preservation of complex works such as video games comes with many challenges. Emulation, currently the most adequate preservation strategy for video games, requires several acts that are technically possible, but closely governed and restricted by copyright law and technical protection measures. Without prior authorisation from the rightsholder(s), it is therefore difficult to legally emulate these works. However, games often have several rightsholders that are in some cases near impossible to identify or locate – particularly with regard to older games. This paper therefore focuses on these so-called orphan video games and examines whether (and to what extent) they are covered by the directive on certain permitted uses of orphan works 2012/28/EU (Orphan Works Directive). As complex works with software and audiovisual components, it is difficult to classify video games in their entirety. The Orphan Works Directive, however, only covers certain categories of works. This paper therefore analyses 1) whether video games in their entirety can be considered types of works that fall under the directive, i.e. audiovisual or cinematographic works, and 2) whether the provisions of the orphan work exception are suitable for the specifics of these complex, “multimedia” works.