Copyright is a huge topic. Copyright is an issue that crops up almost every day at the heritage library. Whether its visitors wanting to copy a photograph that is in copyright, or whether it’s filling in the copyright declaration form for an image or map. As it’s such a large and tricky topic, I was really pleased when the ARA announced that the Copyright Core Training session was coming to Manchester!
The first speaker of the day was Dr Ellie Pridgeon, former Deputy Archivist at the Science Museum. Ellie gave a very interesting talk about how copyright issues affect different archival collections within the Science museum. It was useful to have real life examples. The Hooper & Co archive which the museum holds is extremely popular with car enthusiasts who are researching restoration work on their own cars. Most enquiries relate to this collection. However, the museum does not know who owns the copyright. The materials inside vary in format and date which complicates matters. The Hooper coach company had been through a range of merges – we learnt that in this scenario, if intellectual property is not transferred in writing, then the copyright remains with the original company. Because of the nature of the archive, there may also be copyright on design and industrial processes.
What can the museum do in this case? After seeking legal advice, the interim action they are taking includes applying the regular copyright procedure for archive uses with a non-commercial purpose. For commercial use and for publication, it is necessary to make clear that the ownership of the Hooper archive is unknown, and that licensee will fully indemnify the museum for any loss. The museum has made efforts to trace who owns the copyright. It was recommended to them that they make enquiries to related companies, advertise that they are seeking the rights holders, and if no response is received then to contact the Crown.
After lunch, we heard from Tim Padfield. Tim is an expert on copyright and has written books on the subject. Legislation on copyright is due to change in the next year, so it was useful to learn about what the laws are now, and how they are likely to change in the future. We learnt that there are two kinds of copyright, literary and artistic. There is no quality requirement on these. Copyright is a property right, we can own it, but it is intangible so we can’t physically hold it. Copyright is just one right under Intellectual Property, other rights include patents, trademarks, designs and confidence. A single item may include more than one kind of copyright, which can definitely add to the confusion!
The duration of copyright is very much dependent on the life of the author, as the standard term of duration is 70 years after the author has died. The author is the creator, but there can be some confusion. In the case of photography, the author is not necessarily the person who presses the shutter release, but the person who arranged what is within the frame of the photo. For writing, it is not the scribe or secretary who creates the text, but the person who had dictated it to them. In terms of ownership, the first owner is usually the author, unless they have been commissioned by a company, or are working for an organisation.
We also learnt much more about use of copyright, permissions and exceptions, substantial or insubstantial part, orphan works etc, but I won’t go into any more detail as I think this blog as been quite wordy and perhaps dry already! It was definitely a very worthwhile session to attend, and I would recommend it to anyone who works with copyright issues but would like a bit more clarification about the issues involved.
Behind the bookcase 