Digitization of public domain works
The dispute between the Mannheim Reiss-Engelhorn Museums and Wikimedia sets a new precedent on the subject of copyright on the Internet. More precisely, this involves the digitization of public domain works. The reason for this case was a photo of a painting by Richard Wagner, which was taken by the in-house photographer of the Mannheim Reiss-Engelhorn Museums. the Stuttgarter Zeitung, the image was published in a book in 1992 and ended up on Wikimedia Commons through a user. The Mannheim Reiss-Engelhorn Museums then defended themselves against the use of their in-house photographer's photography without consent. Wikimedia counters this by saying that the painter has been deceased for over 70 years and that the painting is therefore in the public domain and is of the opinion that a photograph of it would not be eligible for protection. The picture is still available on the Wikipedia page; the Museum 's warning is referenced with a corresponding statement on the page.
The case has now led to a lawsuit by the Reiss-Engelhorn Museums against Wikimedia, whereby the court must clarify not only for this case, but fundamentally whether reproduction photos of copyright-free paintings can also be used freely. Further details can be found in the report on the process on iRights. read info
There are some legal aspects to consider when digitizing and using public domain works, as public domain content is not free of rights. The guide “ Digitization of public domain works through libraries ” by Dr. Till Kreutzer, published (2011) by the University Library Center of North Rhine-Westphalia (hbz).
As the case described above shows, current copyright law no longer adequately fulfills its function. In response to the third initiative of the Internet & Society Collaboratory (2010-2011), a Berlin group of experts developed a set of rules for creative goods as a Berlin thought experiment. On August 27th, the concept paper was api under the title “ Guidelines for a copyright for the digital world in the form of a regulatory system for creative info goods ”. Further Info about this project can also be found here .
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