10th April 2011, 05:27 PM
If the organisation held the copyright, no longer exists, and has no successor in title, then it is extremely unlikely that anyone will come forward to complain. At the moment the legal position for such orphaned works is that without permission you can be sued by the rights holder if they do emerge, although a new system has been floated (it was dropped at a late stage in the passing of the Digital Economy Act). In practice the risk is low, since archaeological publications don't make anybody any money. The courts in any case consider a world of difference between the lazy copying of material with no care about rights, and the attempt to locate a rights holder which proves fruitless. Therefore if you want to protect yourself you should document the searches you have made to attempt to locate the rights holder (due diligence searches). There is some guidance on this produced by the Europoean Digital Libraries http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/...elines.pdf
The most important things in dealing with copyright are: acknowledge rights holders, and contact them if possible.
I have noticed that organisations that are most protective about the copyright of their material are often those most cavalier about the copyright of others.
The most important things in dealing with copyright are: acknowledge rights holders, and contact them if possible.
I have noticed that organisations that are most protective about the copyright of their material are often those most cavalier about the copyright of others.