Rights Metadata Made Simple 1 of 8

Rights Metadata Made Simple

Maureen Whalen

There are three common reactions when the issue of rights metadata
arises:
1. “It’s too complicated and overwhelming.”
2. “We don’t have the staff or the money.”
3. “It’s not the library’s [or archive’s, or museum’s] job; it’s up to
users to figure out rights information if they want to publish
something from our collections.”
Here are some reasoned responses:
1. Yes, rights metadata can be complicated and overwhelming, but
so is knitting a cardigan sweater until one simplifies the project
by mastering a few basic techniques and following the instruc-
tions step-by-step.
2. Your institution is probably already spending staff time and
money on rights research. Capturing rights metadata in a shared
information system as a routine, programmatic activity with
structured data rules and values and an established work flow
should not cost any more than ad hoc rights research, and it will
provide longer-lasting benefits.
3. In a world where “if it’s not digital, it doesn’t exist,” libraries,
archives, and museums have new roles with respect to their
users, as well as the creators and authors of the works in their
collections. Moreover, cultural heritage institutions need rights
information for their own uses of the works in their collections.
Rights metadata is not just about compliance with intellectual
property laws; it is also about being responsible stewards of
the works in our collections and the digital surrogates of those
works that we create—and in a digital world, it is crucial to a
memory institution’s broader mission of collection, preservation,
and access.

Introduction to Metadata 3.0 ©2008 J. Paul Getty Trust

2 of 8 Introduction to Metadata

Usable, shareable, repurposable rights metadata can be obtained by

capturing the following core information:¹
1. The name of the creator of the work or image, including the
nationality and date of birth, and the date of death, if appli-
cable. Ideally, this information should be copied automatically
from an authority file. (Generally, the “work” is the original work
in the institution’s collection and not a digital surrogate. If the
institution wants to create a rights metadata record for the digital
surrogate, the approach described here would be valid, provided that
the digital surrogate is described and differentiated from the original
work.)
2. The year the work was created. The year of creation may not
be the year of publication. When two different dates exist, they
should be identified separately. If the publication date is known,
it should be recorded in the “publication status” field.
3. Copyright status (one of the following five options can be selected
from a controlled picklist by staff tasked with recording rights
metadata):
· Copyright owned by the institution. The copyright is
assumed valid and is owned by the institution that holds the
work.
· Copyright owned by a third party. The copyright is valid and
is owned by someone or some entity other than the holding
institution. If known, capture the name of the third party in a
database field/metadata element designated for that ­purpose.²

¹ These suggestions for a simplified rights metadata approach are based on required rights
metadata recommendations for copyrightMD, an XML schema for rights metadata devel-
oped by the California Digital Library (CDL). The copyrightMD schema is designed
for incorporation with other XML schemas for descriptive and structural metadata (e.g.,
CDWA Lite, MARC XML, METS, MODS). See http://www.cdlib.org/inside/projects/
rights/schema/. See also Karen Coyle, “Descriptive Metadata for Copyright Status,” First
Monday 10, no. 10 (October 2005). http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_10/coyle/
index.html.
  N.B. The title of the work is not identified here as a rights metadata element per se; it
is assumed that the title would be included in any metadata schema used to describe the
work, and thus that element could be copied from the descriptive metadata record into the
rights metadata schema in an automated manner.
² There may be certain conditions under which a license for certain specified uses of the work
may have been granted to the institution. A license is not the same as ownership. If desired,
when the copyright is known to be owned by a third party, the picklist could include an
option for “license granted to the institution”; such a notation by itself, however, would not

Introduction to Metadata 3.0 ©2008 J. Paul Getty Trust

Rights Metadata Made Simple 3 of 8

· Public domain. If the work is determined to be in the public

domain, it is helpful to identify the year in which the work
entered (or will enter) the public domain, if known.
· Orphan work. This is a work that may be protected by copy-
right law but for which the copyright owner or claimant
cannot be identified or located.
· Not researched.
4. Publication status (one of the following four options can be selected
from a controlled picklist by staff tasked with recording rights
metadata):
· Published. Include date, if known. Publication is defined
in the Copyright Act as “the distribution of copies . . . of a
work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or
by rental, lease, or lending.” Note that the offer to distribute
copies, including the original work even if there is only one
copy of it, constitutes publication.³
· Unpublished. Some materials such as manuscripts and corre-
spondence may be easily determined to be unpublished.
Other works, however, such as speeches or paintings that are
known to the public can still be considered “unpublished”
under the Copyright Act definition.
· Unknown. It is sometimes difficult to determine whether or
not a work has been published, particularly for photographs
of which there may be multiple prints or for manuscripts
from which a work was later published.
· Not researched.
5. Date that rights research was conducted (if there are multiple
dates on which rights research was conducted, best practice would
be to include all of those dates, along with the initials of the
researcher(s)).
Gathering rights metadata and including it in an institutional information
system or database⁴ will allow users with some basic copyright under-
standing to make thoughtful judgments about how the law may affect

be adequate to describe the various rights granted, or denied, or the specific term during
which the license is valid, so a review of the specific licensed rights would be necessary.
³ 17 USC § 101.
⁴ There is increasing discussion about embedding rights metadata in the same file as the
digital surrogate, thus avoiding the problem of two digital files that can and often do get
separated during transmission. As of this writing, embedding rights metadata has been done
only under limited circumstances and the software necessary to embed the data and provide
users with access to it using a free, downloadable reader is not yet widely available.

Introduction to Metadata 3.0 ©2008 J. Paul Getty Trust

4 of 8 Introduction to Metadata

use of the work in accordance with a legal exception.⁵ It may also help
to guide determinations about how easy or how difficult it might be to
obtain permission, if needed.
Table 1 gives specific examples of rights metadata for works in
the public domain and works that are under copyright. Here are some
examples of how the rights metadata elements articulated here can be
applied in day-to-day decision making:⁶
· Knowing the birth and death dates of the creator, or the year(s)
in which the work was created and published, will allow for
quick calculations about the copyright term for the work. To do
the analysis and arithmetic, follow Peter Hirtle’s excellent chart,
Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States.⁷
Note: There are slightly different rules for works of foreign
(non-U.S.) origin, including restoration of copyrights in works
of foreign origin that may have been in the public domain for a
period of time before restoration; that is why it is good practice
to identify the nationality of the creator, if known.
· Unpublished works tend to have longer copyright terms than
published works; therefore, if the work is assumed to be unpub-
lished, the term of copyright protection should be calculated in
accordance with the formula for unpublished works.
· While the Copyright Act specifically states that unpublished
works qualify for fair use, courts tend to protect the creator’s right
to decide about first publication, so the standard for fair use of
unpublished works is usually higher than for published materials.⁸

⁵ The U.S. Copyright Act includes a number of limitations on (rights holders’) exclusive
rights. The most well known of these limitations is fair use (Section 107 of the Act),
whereby use of copyrighted works without permission of the rights holder is permitted if
the use meets the statutory four-factor test. Another important exception applies to libraries
and archives (Section 108 of the Act). Under this exception, libraries and archives are
permitted to make copies of works in their collections under certain circumstances without
permission of the rights holder, including replacement copies of published works, preserva-
tion and security copies for unpublished works, and copies for users provided that the copy
becomes the property of the user and is for private study, scholarship, or research.
⁶ Examples include assumptions based on U.S. copyright law; examples and assumptions
for non-U.S. jurisdictions are not provided here.
⁷ Available at http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/training/Hirtle_Public_Domain.htm.
Also available as a PDF document at http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/training/
copyrightterm.pdf.
⁸ “§ 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use. Notwithstanding the provisions of sections
106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in
copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such
as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom
use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether

Introduction to Metadata 3.0 ©2008 J. Paul Getty Trust

Rights Metadata Made Simple 5 of 8

If the rights metadata states that a work is unpublished, the user

can assess the impact of that status on the fair use analysis.
· For works published in the United States between 1923
and 1963, renewal of the original copyright registration was
required.⁹ Therefore, a work published in 1945 with the correct
copyright notice and registration would require a renewal of the
original copyright in 1973 (1945 + 28 = 1973) in order for that
copyright to be valid today. One study indicates that 15 percent
or less of the works in their original copyright terms between
1923 and 1963 were renewed.¹⁰ This means the majority of
works initially protected by copyright during this period are now
in the public domain. Of course, the more famous the work, the
greater the likelihood that the original copyright registration was
renewed. By contrast, renewals of registrations for more obscure
works may be less likely.

the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall
include—
  (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial
nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
  (2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
  (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work
as a whole; and
  (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
  The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such
finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.” (Emphasis added; available
at http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#107.)
  Prior to passage of the Copyright Act of 1976, fair use was based on court decisions. In
1985 the U.S. Supreme Court in Harper & Row Publishers, Inc. v. Nation Enterprises (471
U.S. 539) ruled on the applicability of the fair use defense to unpublished works noting the
“author’s right to control the first public appearance of his undisseminated expression will
outweigh a claim of fair use” (p. 555). In order to clarify how the unpublished nature of a
work was to be evaluated under the fair use four-factor test set forth above, and to reverse
a growing presumption that fair use was not available as a defense against an infringement
claim for all unpublished works, Congress passed an amendment to the law in 1992, and
the last sentence of this section was added—the one in boldface above. Notwithstanding
this amendment, there is general legal consensus that courts will give greater weight to
the unpublished nature of the work in fair use cases than would be given if the work had
already been published.
⁹ All terms of original copyright run through the end of the 28th calendar year, making the
period for renewal registration in the above example December 31, 1973, to December 31,
1974. When checking the Copyright Office renewal records, it is advisable to look at the
years immediately preceding and following the calculated year for copyright term expira-
tion. This will ensure that the work was not renewed properly in a different year.
¹⁰ William M. Landes and Richard A. Posner, “Indefinitely Renewable Copyright,” Univer-
sity of Chicago Law & Economics, Olin Working Paper No. 154 (August 1, 2002). http://
ssm.com/abstract=319321.

Introduction to Metadata 3.0 ©2008 J. Paul Getty Trust

6 of 8 Introduction to Metadata

· Creation date may determine when the copyright term begins

and ends; it is especially important when the author is unknown,
the work is a work made for hire, or the work is one of corporate
authorship, that is, a work created by a company such as a movie
studio or record company.
· In 2006 the U.S. Copyright Office issued its report on orphan
works.¹¹ Later that year, hearings on orphan works were held
in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate,
and legislation amending the Copyright Act to reduce the legal
liabilities relating to use of orphan works was introduced in the
U.S. House of Representatives. While this legislation did not
pass, many experts think that orphan works legislation will be
enacted in the next few years. If so, the hope is that penalties and
remedies for use of orphan works will be reduced or eliminated
altogether. For that reason, it makes sense to identify orphan
works as such. Moreover, regardless of whether or not orphan
work legislation passes, it seems reasonable that if an institution
attempts to identify and/or locate the copyright claimant and
cannot do so despite diligent efforts, and this is explained to the
court, there may be some recognition of this good faith activity
by the judge if an infringement claim is brought by the emergent
copyright claimant.
· Prior to 1978, the law required that a copyright notice be affixed
to published works. Failure to include a legally sufficient notice
put in the public domain American works that were published
in the United States (without the notice). Therefore, an institu-
tion may decide to classify works as in the public domain if they
were purchased before January 1, 1978, or were believed to have
been offered for sale to the public before that date and there is no
copyright notice affixed to the work.
· Obviously, if one knows a work is in the public domain or if the
institution owns the copyright, permission to use the work is
not required by law, although local policy may require internal
authorization.
In order for catalogers and rights metadata analysts to be able
to populate the recommended rights metadata elements, the institution
will need some basic rules or assumptions to apply when copyright and
publication status may not be clear and some suggestions for resources to
help locate the sought-after information. There are numerous recommen-
dations for where to look for the information requested. Currently, there

¹¹ Report on Orphan Works: A Report of the Register of Copyrights, January 2006, United States
Copyright Office. http://www.copyright.gov/orphan/.

Introduction to Metadata 3.0 ©2008 J. Paul Getty Trust

 Rights Metadata Made Simple 7 of 8

Table 1.  Example of Core Elements for Rights Metadata

Metadata Example—Public Example—Work Not

Element Valid Data Values for This Element Domain Work in the Public Domain

Title The data values for this element should be copied (prefer- Puzza in the Likeness of San Diego Stadium (San
ably in an automated manner) from the title element from the Isis, Seated on a Lotus Diego, California)
descriptive metadata record for the work or item. Per Cata- Flower/Puzza sous une
loging Cultural Objects, this element, which is repeatable, forme parallele à Isis, from Julius Shulman
can contain translated titles, brief titles, display titles, etc., in assise sur la fleur de lotos photography archive
addition to the title that is inscribed on the item or object, if
one exists. Include a subelement for the parent object/work from Cérémonies et
(“title larger entity”) when applicable. coutumes religieuses
de tous les peuples du
monde

Creator The name of the creator of the original object or work, taken Picart, Bernard Shulman, Julius
from a published controlled vocabulary (e.g., LCNAF, LCSH,
ULAN) or local authority file whenever possible.

The life dates in the case of individual creators, including b. 1673-11-06 b. 1910
the death date if applicable. Dates should be expressed d. 1733-08-05
according to a standard format, e.g., ISO 8601.

Creation Dates The date(s) of the creation of the work.* Dates should be 1723–1743 1967
expressed according to a standard format, e.g., ISO 8601.

Creator Nationality The nationality or culture of the creator of the work, if known French American

Copyright Status Valid values for this element should be selected from a public domain copyright owned by
controlled list, e.g.: institution
• Copyright owned by the institution that holds the original
object/work or item © J. Paul Getty Trust
• Copyright owned by a third party—Include a subelement
for the name of the third party, taken from a published
controlled vocabulary whenever possible.
• Public domain
• Orphan work
• Not yet researched

Publication Status Valid values for this element should be selected from a published not researched
controlled list, e.g.:
• Published—Include a subelement with the date of 1723–1743
publication, if known, in a standard format, e.g., ISO 8601.
Note that date of creation and date of publication are not
necessarily identical.
• Unpublished (in which case, the creator dates and/or date
of creation are extremely important)
• Unknown, after research and due diligence
• Not yet researched

Date of Rights This should be a repeating element, since metadata research 2008-10-07 MTW 2007-09-13 MTW
­Metadata Research is often necessarily an incremental process to which more
than one individual contributes. The individual’s name or
initials should be provided by the information system, and
associated with the relevant dates of research. Dates should
be expressed according to a standard format, e.g., ISO 8601.

* Note that under current U.S. copyright law, a work is protected for the life of an individual author/creator plus 70 years regardless of the date of creation. The copy-
right term for corporate works and works made for hire is 125 years from the date of creation, or 95 years from the date of publication.

Introduction to Metadata 3.0 ©2008 J. Paul Getty Trust

8 of 8 Introduction to Metadata

is no resource that sets forth commonly accepted practices regarding what

is legally reasonable to assume about copyright or publication when only
limited information is available, so institutions will need to draft their own
guidelines.¹² Of course, local policy regarding use of material presumed to
be protected by copyright and the institution’s risk tolerance for infringe-
ment claims that arise in case the assumption is wrong will govern use
decisions.¹³ With a little effort, however, the basic information needed to
make informed decisions about rights for many works in an institution’s
collections can be easily available and accessible if the suggested rights
information is captured.
Any rights metadata effort should be viewed as dynamic and
ongoing. New information may come from various sources: a user, a
curator, a librarian, or even the creator of the work. Rights information
needs to be updated and augmented, and additional information will need
to be captured for works with more complicated rights situations, such
as audiovisual materials. Therefore, it is important that staff tasked with
inputting rights metadata be identified to all those involved in cataloging
and digitization efforts so that when new rights information is discovered,
it can be input into the institutional database.
Now is the time to get started and not to be overwhelmed.
Rights metadata can be made simple if everyone in the institution is aware
of its long-term importance and there is a concerted, coordinated effort to
research it, record it according to standards and best practices, and share it
in fulfillment of the institution’s mission in the digital age.

Author’s Note
The rights metadata proposal and examples provided here are not legal
advice. To answer specific questions of law or address policy matters
with legal implications, professional advice from an attorney is always
recommended.

¹² Drafting the assumptions to be applied locally should not be used as an excuse to delay
capturing rights metadata. If necessary, institutions can start with the rights information
that is known and agree on the assumptions over time.
¹³ Institutions may have zero risk tolerance or may have collections consisting primarily of
works by living artists. In either case, local policy may be to seek permission. Others may
feel that the good faith judgment based on reasonable assumptions applied to the law and
the facts is sufficient to allow use and defend in cases of infringement claims.

http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/standards/intrometadata/

Introduction to Metadata 3.0 ©2008 J. Paul Getty Trust