GLAM/Newsletter/January 2015/Contents/Czech Republic report
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Czech GLAM discusses why institutions are afraid to release their media
While several small Czech museums and other institutions took a brave step to release their media (such as photographs) under a free license, larger institutions such as nationwide museums are usually afraid. In a discussion with a manager of one of these institutions, we were told that he had a notion that "their museum was forbidden to do it". We decided we need to look deeper into it.
In an inquiry to the Parliament Institute, we asked if there is a legislation preventing institutions from releasing their content under a free license. The official reply states that there is, of course, the Copyright Law. The reply goes on to say that, essentially, 70 years after death of the author, there is no other hindrance to the release of the works owned by the institutions. Before stating that, the author of the official report had gone through several laws which relate to museums, galleries and other institutions.
On 10th January 2015, we discussed these promising news in the Wikimedia Czech Republic's office. Together with our friends from Creative Commons Czech Republic, we thought about it and planned for future strategies. While we know that no legal opinion is a definitive truth and we still need to look into the matter, we now have a strong argument for museum managers who hesitate to start a collaboration with Wikimedia.
