4 June 2026

Law and Society Association Annual Conference 2026

By Naomi Korn, CEO

I had the pleasure of recently presented at the Law and Society Association Annual Conference in San Francisco, sharing work from my ongoing PhD research at the University of Edinburgh, supervised by Professor Melissa Terras (Edinburgh School of Art) and Dr Smita Kheria (Edinburgh Law School).

Cultural Heritage, Copyright and Access

My research explores how copyright frameworks shape access to cultural heritage, particularly in digital contexts, and what this means in practice for cultural heritage organisations, public access and the knowledge economy.

The presentation focused on Spare Rib, a UK feminist magazine published between 1972 and 1993. As a platform for feminist voices, it documented issues such as gender inequality, reproductive rights and systemic oppression, while reflecting the wider social and political context of the time. Today, it represents a significant body of material created by and for communities whose voices have often been underrepresented.

A central issue explored in the research is the challenge of orphan work, materials that remain in copyright but where the rights holders cannot be identified or located. These works are particularly prevalent in cultural heritage collections and can present barriers to digitisation and access.

The introduction of the EU Orphan Works Directive in 2012 provided a mechanism for certain cultural heritage institutions to make such works available online. Its implementation in UK law enabled organisations to take more confident, risk-managed approaches to digitisation.

In 2015, the British Library used this exception to make the Spare Rib archive available online, providing access to over 11,000 orphan works. This created significant opportunities for research, education and public engagement, opening up material that had previously been difficult to access at scale.

Following the UK’s departure from the EU, the orphan works exception was repealed. As a result, the online archive was removed.

Using the Spare Rib archive as a case study, the research highlights the wider implications of this change. Drawing on evidence of how the archive was used, alongside engagement with sector stakeholders, it demonstrates that the removal has had a disproportionate impact on those who were both contributors to and users of the material, particularly women and marginalised communities.

The research also points to a broader chilling effect across the sector. Changes in the legal landscape can influence institutional confidence, affecting decision-making around digitisation and access, even where there is clear public benefit.

The research reinforces several key considerations for cultural heritage organisations:

• The importance of clear, enabling legal frameworks to support access to collections

• The value of digital access in supporting inclusion, research and engagement

Ultimately, access to cultural heritage is not only a legal issue, it is closely tied to whose stories are preserved, shared and made visible.

Presenting this research, with Dr Smita Kheria, at the conference was an opportunity to contribute to international discussions on copyright, access and inclusion, and to test these ideas with a broad range of perspectives from across disciplines and jurisdictions.

At Naomi Korn Associates, we work closely with cultural heritage organisations to navigate complex copyright challenges with confidence. From rights clearance and orphan works strategies through to risk management frameworks, policy development and training, we support institutions to unlock collections and enable access in a legally robust and practical way www.naomikorn.com.