So, Can I use that or Not?

Access to open culture and digital cultural heritage is increasing at an exponential rate. Yet, how users access and reuse digital content is often at odds with the reuse policies put in place by cultural institutions. As institutions continue to build their online presence and expand digital collections, rights and reproductions policies are ever more important to the role and relevance of cultural institutions. But rights and reproductions policies can be scary—to both cultural institutions and their online audiences. In an effort to mitigate risk, use policies are often drafted in dense legalese, conveying to online audiences what the user is prohibited from doing rather than what type of use is permitted. How should users navigate or interpret these policies? And, how might these policies chill engagement with digital collections? The session begins with an introduction to the research-led exhibition experiment, Display At Your Own Risk (DAYOR). DAYOR explores the reuse of digital surrogates of public domain works of art produced by cultural heritage institutions of international repute. The exhibition invites reflection on the nature and quality of the reproductions that institutions make available online in place of the material object within their care. It considers the meaning of concepts such as access, transparency and user engagement in an age where digital collections are becoming increasingly relevant. And it explores tensions inherent in the ownership and use of cultural heritage, as well as the validity of the authorial claims that institutions assert over digital surrogates. Following the presentation is a round-table discussion highlighting experiences in investigating, forming, and navigating use policies. Attendees will hear the promises and pitfalls that rights and reproductions policies present to both cultural institutions and online audiences. 60-Minute Professional Session Speakers Session Leader : Andrea Wallace, Postgraduate Researcher and PhD Candidate, CREATe, University of Glasgow and National Library of Scotland Co-Presenter : Ronan Deazley, Professor of Copyright Law, Queens University Belfast Co-Presenter : Liz Neely, Senior Director, Integrated Content, American Alliance of Museums (AAM) Co-Presenter : Simon Tanner, Mr, King's College London Co-Presenter : Anne Young, Manager of Rights and Reproductions, Indianapolis Museum of Art Speaker : Peter Jaszi, Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law MCN 2016 Presenting Sponsor: Piction New Orleans, LA