In an analogue world, access to and re-use of archive materials – often protected by copyright – are a straightforward affair. However, with a digital space in which files, documents and metadata are continuously cut and pasted, copied, used and reused, it seems a nigh-impossible task to copyright and secure them. The digitisation of society has a major impact on the distribution and (re)use of data, knowledge or information.
While copyrights don’t strictly speaking belong to the meta-archive or legacy, they have a considerable influence on what can and may be done. Naturally, for the works of art themselves, copyright is of crucial importance because it determines what third parties are permitted to do with these works. For art collections and archive funds, the rights must have been clarified or be clarified in future to safeguard (indemnify) them.
The issue of privacy is also an important point of attention. This concerns private law archives that can only be accessed if the creator grants their explicit consent. That means that when striving for the highest public access to archives possible, it is incredibly important that the (extent of) access and any terms of access be laid down.