Open licensing for cultural heritage

摘要

Openness is a noble concept. We would all love to be more open. Openness brings discoverability, creativity, and opportunities. In their excellent guide Open Licensing for Cultural Heritage, Gill Hamilton and Fred Saunderson explain, advocate, and show how to implement open intellectual property ('IP') licensing within the heritage sector. Their use of enlightening case studies, authored by other experts in the sector, is especially impactful. These real-life stories-perhaps the core of the book-help explain why it is not always possible to be as open as we might like, why openness takes time and resource, and how risk needs to be mitigated. Nevertheless, Hamilton's and Saunderson's personable, persuasive, and enthusiastic tone extends unswayed to the nal, practical chapters. Yet how open can museums, galleries, libraries, and archives truly be in IP licensing terms?