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 or photographer is alive, or where they died less than 70 years ago) if prior written permission has been sought from the copyright holder" and requires the user to provide "a copy of this permission when submitting [the] reproduction request".

In a provision specific to use for educational purposes, Museums Sheffield notes "[u]nfortunately we are unable to provide images that are currently in copyright (where the artist is still alive or has died in the last 70 years}". This information is not repeated in terms covering other reuse purposes. On a webpage called "An introduction to copyright", the National Portrait Gallery explains "[c]opyright usually lasts for the creator's lifetime, plus the end of 70 years after their death (i.e. copyright always expires on 31 December in a given year)". The Gallery expressly addresses the public domain, albeit incorrectly, in another webpage specific to its Academic Licence: "Non-commercial research is research whose objective is to put new ideas into the public domain for public benefit and at no cost to the end user. It will therefore normally be financed from public or charitable funds" (italics added).

These policies reference the term of copyright for the underlying work without explaining what it means for those rights to expire.



Few GLAMs distinguish between the object and the image, both in general policies and when viewing an item. In some instances, the design of the display interface introduces uncertainty around a work's rights status.

Aberdeen Archives, Art Gallery and Museums includes a clear copyright statement in the Terms and Conditions and notice in the website footer. Users encounter a different rights statement when viewing an item: "Copyright: Out of copyright." This statement may refer to the underlying work, yet it contradicts other statements made by the organisation. Users who do not encounter the Terms and Conditions could reasonably interpret the out of copyright statement near the image as authorising its unfettered reuse.



The Heritage Collections UK Parliament approach is clearer. The Copyright policy states "all of the images on this website are subject to copyright". Users are provided with two rights statements when viewing an item: "Image copyright: UK Parliament" and "Object copyright: Out of copyright." However, no examples read "Out of copyright" for both the "Image copyright" and "Object copyright" statements.

A Culture of Copyright