8 December 2021

By Amalyah Keshet, Senior Consultant The Museum of Forgeries (take a look here) is the latest escapade cooked up by a Brooklyn, New York, collective calling itself MSCHF [i], which is thoughtfully providing us with some provocative things to ponder as the art world morphs into a financial world all its own. A full description […]

17 November 2021

By Stephanie Ashcroft, Consultant and Rights Researcher Digitisation projects offer a fantastic opportunity for heritage institutions to preserve and share their collections with wider audiences. The national lockdowns and restrictions in recent years, resulting in limited access to research material, exhibitions and outreach programmes, have highlighted the need to increase digital and remote access to […]

8 July 2021

By Naomi Korn, Managing Director The Intellectual Property Office has recently launched a call for views on the repeal of Section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA). As a statutory requirement of the legislation, the IPO would like to hear your views on whether and to what extent this regulation has […]

3 June 2021

We are excited to announce the release of our next National Lottery Heritage Fund supported Heritage Digital guide! Brexit, Data Protection and Heritage: What You Need to Know provides essential information and guidance about the impact of Brexit and the priorities for heritage organisations in terms of their data protection obligations and the processing of […]

25 March 2021

By Amalyah Keshet, Senior Consultant “In the face of a pandemic, copyright law may seem a frivolous concern; but its importance lies in the ever-expanding role that it plays in either enabling or constraining the kinds of communicative activities that are critical to a flourishing life.” An article published last October by the Washington College […]

16 March 2021

By Ellie Pridgeon, Consultant at Naomi Korn Associates, and Lead Archivist, 14-18 NOW programme This blog explores some of the key rights management challenges encountered on 14-18 NOW – the UK’s First World War commemoration programme. Based at the Imperial War Museum (IWM) in London, the 14-18 NOW team was supported by Naomi Korn Associates.

5 March 2021

By Naomi Korn, Managing Director The Problem Orphan works are works in copyright where the rights holders are either unknown or cannot be traced. Across UK heritage institutions, there are probably hundreds of millions of orphan works, sometimes representing up to 40-50% of collection items[1]. These include photographs, letters, prints, films, sound recordings, plays, broadcasts, […]

2 March 2021

By Debbie McDonnell, Senior Consultant I recently enjoyed delivering a talk on how to use digital assets to support your strategy back in October 2020 as part of the #HeritageDigitalNow sessions provided by Heritage Digital, a project funded by The National Heritage Lottery Fund. If you missed it, a recording of the session is available […]

22 February 2021

by Amalyah Keshet, Senior Consultant Last May (2020), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) published an international study of 94,675 museums, reporting that 90%, or 86,101 museums had closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and speculating that more than 10% might never open again.[i] More recent research from January of this year […]

1 February 2021

By Liz Bowers, Senior Consultant The closure of museums, galleries and other heritage venues for much of 2020 has wiped out their biggest income sources – admissions, exhibition ticket sales, shop and café income and revenue from corporate hospitality and events. Business areas that do not rely on visitor numbers have therefore become ever more […]

5 January 2021

By Amalyah Keshet, Senior Consultant There is a fascinating episode of Malcom Gladwell’s podcast “Revisionist History” that begins with the story of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s financial crisis of 2018. The museum, which owns some 2 million items, mostly in remote storage facilities and literally never seen, was for the first time contemplating an […]

11 December 2020

By Amalyah Keshet, Senior Consultant The closure – and re-opening and re-closing – of cultural institutions has been severely financially damaging in a number of ways, affecting income, staff, mission, and the visiting public.  While many museums have moved online with a remarkable outpouring of creativity, the bottom line has been badly damaged for heritage […]