Explore the work of the Out of Commerce works Working Group

Out of Copyright Works (OOCWs) are an important opportunity for many cultural heritage institutions to overcome one of their most important copyright problems. The aim of the working group was to encourage the use of the out of commerce works provisions provisions, and more specifically 1) to raise awareness, 2) to take a coordinated approach into addressing certain challenges, and 3) to build capacity and confidence in interpreting and using them.

The out of commerce works working group developed a number of FAQs related to the transposition of the Copyright in the Digital Single Market (CDSM) Directive; key concepts in the CDSM Directive; stakeholder dialogues; the system in practice; and territoriality. The choice of questions was guided by the most pressing questions of members of the working group. They were first published in September 2022. For any comments or suggestions, please reach out to copyright@europeana.eu.

The information in the FAQs should not be used as professional or legal advice (if you need specific advice, we recommend consulting a suitably qualified professional).

The International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO) and the Federation of European Publishers (FEP) are an active members of the Europeana Out of Commerce Works working group, have made an important contributions to the discussions, including for the development of these FAQs, and closely cooperate with Europeana on raising awareness within their respective memberships about out of commerce works. There are however divergences of opinion on some of the content, including certain advocacy and policy recommendations described in the FAQs.