Rights

The "Rights" field records information about the ownership of the intellectual property of the item. In Washington County Heritage, we can record two kinds of rights statements:

Rights: Copyright Status

This is a required field. It records whether an item is still under copyright vs. in the public domain (or whether we do not know). Most regional, national and international image databases to which WCHO may contribute images require us to enter a value in this field. It lets users know whether the need to seek permission from the original copyright owner in order to re-use the item. The statements in this field all refer to standardized copyright statements that are maintained by RightsStatements.org, an international nonprofit that is supported by libraries and museums worldwide. Professional best practices across the library/museum industry have come to a consensus that it is best to point towards these standardized statements, rather than having each institution make up their own versions.

Very often, though, we do not know for sure whether something is still under copyright. We do not expect you to do extensive research in order to determine whether something is under copyright. If you do not know for sure that something is either public domain or copyrighted, please use option #1 below. More information about what is under copyright vs. the public domain is at: Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States, a chart maintained by the Cornell U. Library Copyright Information Center.

We recommend choosing one of these four statements:

1. CNE = Copyright not Evaluated *Default

Undated and/or anonymous archival material created after 1900Material that was first published between 1923-1989 (this period is difficult to evaluate; there are many exceptions to the rules)Any material that is not obviously either covered by copyright or not

2. InC = In Copyright

Nearly all content that was first published post-1989, with OR without a copyright noticeNearly all audio recordings of any ageUnpublished text/images (including most archival photographs) created by authors who died AFTER 1949Unpublished text/images (including most archival photographs) created AFTER 1900 is often still under copyright

3. NkC = No Known Copyright

    • Full statement at https://rightsstatements.org/page/NKC/1.0/
    • Use this for items that you are 99% sure are in the public domain. This should include: "items for which the copyright status has not been determined conclusively, but for which the organization that intends to make the Item available has reasonable cause to believe that the underlying Work is not covered by copyright or related rights anymore."
    • Things that are most likely in the public domain include:
Photographs/manuscripts that we think were probably made before 1900 or were made by an author who died before 1949Texts that we think were probably first published (note, not written, put published) before 1923

4. NoC-US = No Copyright in the United States

Photographs/manuscripts that we are totally certain were made before 1900Printed texts such as newspaper articles, books, etc. that were published before 1923Texts issued by the government, such as State Laws, or anything created by government employees as part of their job (technically: "Works prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person's official duties")

Rights: Usage & Permissions

Optionally, we can also record usage and permissions information about items in WashingtonCountyHeritage. The "Add an Item" templates do not include this option, but you can add it either by:

  1. Manually editing an item that you have already created. Go to: Edit Item > Dublin Core (right hand panel) > Rights > +Text
  2. Or, to add / edit all of your organization's Usage & Permissions Statements at once, email the Pacific University Archivist: archives@pacificu.edu . We have tools that we can use to edit all of your items quickly.

You may insert your organization's standard permissions statement here, or follow this suggested text. For the contact, we recommend using an email alias that will not change often in the future, e.g. archives@pacificu.edu, rather than guggemos@pacificu.edu. 

Online access to this image is for research and educational purposes only. To inquire about permissions, order a reproduction, or for more information, please contact [Your Organization] at [email address].