Rights management
SCA IPR toolkit - Practical tools
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Context
The set of resources contained within this paper have been adapted for SCA sponsors and other organisations across the public sector. They are intended as the basis of a toolkit to be issued to content creators and content users across the public sector who are responsible for rights management and rights clearances (Whilst the focus of these resources is copyright and database rights, patents and Trade Marks are also covered briefly). They include standard rights management fields for capturing information about the progress of rights clearance and rights creation.
Rights management template
Within any rights clearance strategy, it is vital to ensure that any rights, subsequent permissions granted or not granted, rights holders who have not been traced etc, are recorded in an appropriate format to ensure that there is clarity regarding the status of works, crucial information is captured and this information can be easily accessed and shared across a public-sector body. As a means to ensure the information is recorded comprehensively, it is recommended that all information is recorded, including rights for which permission has already been granted.
The template below is based upon SPECTRUM, the National standard for collections management, produced by the Collections Trust The types of fields, which can be mapped into pre-existing collections management databases or used to create the headings of fields in simple off-the-shelf spreadsheets and databases, might include:
Ref No
The reference number of the content for which rights clearance is required, if appropriate (patent number, an internal reference number, etc).
Object Name
The type of piece of content for which rights clearance is required.
Title
The title of the piece of the content; this might be the name of painting, title of a book, etc.
Content_description
Reference to specific born-digital image on a website etc, or another piece of content if it does not have a name or formal title.
Right_type
The type of right for which permission is required.
Right_begin_date
The date that the right began (the date when the patent was granted; the date copyright in an image, in an unpublished piece of text etc, started).
Right_end_date
The date that the right expired or is due to expire (the date when the patent was first applied for plus 20 years; the expiry date of copyright in an image, in an unpublished piece of text, etc).
Right_holder
The name of the rights holder (where known).
Org_address
The address of the rights holder (where known).
Rights_in_begin_date
The date from which any permissions to use content have been granted.
Rights_in_end_date
The expiring date of any permissions to use content (eg, whilst some permissions might be granted in perpetuity, others may be time or product limited).
Rights_in_note
Field for recording any extra information, such as any ’due diligence‘ carried out in order to trace the rights holder etc.
Rights_in_consent_status
The status of the rights clearance – ie cleared, permission pending, permission refused, rights holder not found, etc.
Rights_out_begin_date
The date from which any permissions to use content by third parties (including users) have been granted.
Rights_out_end_date
The expiring date of any permissions to use content by third parties (eg, whilst some permissions might be granted in perpetuity, others may be time or product limited).
Rights_out_holder
Details of the any users of the content that this created, or details of the open licence that has been chosen in order to facilitate further use of the content.
Rights_out_note
Field for recording any extra information associated with the permissions that have been granted.
Rights_out_consent_status
The status of the rights clearance – cleared, permission pending, permission refused, etc.
Author_record
The name and job title of the person who created the record.
Date_record
The date that this record was last updated.
Whilst we hope you find the contents of the SCA IPR Toolkit useful and informative, the contents are for general advice and best practice purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Although we believe the contents are up to date and accurate as well as a true representation of best practice advice, we can give no assurances or warranty regarding the accuracy, currency or applicability of any of the contents in relation to specific situations and particular circumstances. In such circumstances, appropriate professional legal advice should always be sought.