Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art (RCA) is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the UK. In 2022, the RCA commissioned Naomi Korn Associates to review, develop consistent procedures, policies and tools that deal with Intellectual Property management, rights clearance, risk management.
The aim of the project was to provide guidance about how the RCA should deal with rights issues when academic and practice-based research is created, commissioned, and published by faculty staff and PhD students. The work also included:
- Review of documentation used by the library department to secure rights
- An analysis of the RAC’s IP policy to ensure that suitable credit to individuals and the RCA, as a minimum is always outlined in contractual clauses
- The creation of a fact sheet to address use of third-party materials and Creative Commons Licences in OA publications.

Emilia Frost
The RCA's research activity has been rapidly increasing over the last several years, and with the introduction of policies such as the new UKRI Open Access policy, it has become more important than ever to ensure that we provide robust best practice guidance and training in the area of IP, licensing and rights retention. Naomi Korn Associates has provided top-notch support and expertise in this area and has an excellent understanding of the specific challenges that art and design research can face.
Christie Walker, Head of Research Development