Safeguarding Europe’s Born-digital Heritage

Expected Impact

The project will explore the feasibility of a roadmap based on the assessment of the situation around the preservation of born-digital heritage, the mapping of legal and non-legal frameworks and the adoption of good practices that would help further born-digital heritage preservation. It will provide information regarding challenges and barriers related to existing legal and non-legal frameworks, such as copyright, digital storage, licencing, etc., and practical solutions to contribute to wider born-digital heritage preservation.

Overall, the project should contribute to stakeholders and interested parties’ understanding of the legal and policy situation and practices related to the preservation of and access to born-digital heritage, and present possible ways forward to facilitate the preservation of and access to born-digital heritage by:

• delivering a clear assessment of the share and types of born-digital cultural heritage being preserved in the EU, and of what should be preserved from the perspectives of different fields and in the context of possible (re)use of the preserved digital assets;
• providing a mapping of national, European and international legal, regulatory and policy frameworks, past and ongoing initiatives, good practices related to and relevant for the preservation of and access to (licensed) born-digital cultural heritage;
• assessing and reporting on other (non-legislative) factors that may be influencing practices for the preservation of and access to born- digital heritage; and
• establishing a roadmap and recommendations, and a list of legislative and non-legislative measures which could facilitate and foster optimal practices across Europe for the preservation of born-digital heritage and access to such resources;
• raising awareness among policymakers, institutions and public about importance of born-digital heritage and the challenges of preservation, its challenges and benefits.

Objective

The overall objective of this pilot project is to assess the state-of-play of the preservation of and access to born-digital heritage in the EU in order to develop a roadmap for progress towards adapting legal deposit laws and best practices.

The project should provide a comprehensive mapping of the preservation and access to such material and related data in the EU as regards existing legislative and non-legislative frameworks, initiatives, practices.

The development of the roadmap should be based on testing the feasibility, usefulness and potential impact of different measures and actions, supported by the outcomes of the exploratory assessment and mapping activities.

Scope

The pilot project will assess the present situation of born-digital heritage material and related data in the EU, in particular:

It will map and assess in which areas born-digital heritage is already being preserved, what types of such material is being preserved and what types are not, and the reasons behind their preservation or lack thereof, including relevant technical aspects.

It will examine and map relevant European and national regulatory frameworks, good practices, barriers and challenges, and other factors influencing the preservation or lack thereof of and access to born-digital heritage.

The research, mapping, assessment and roadmap development should include and take into account the most extensive range of types of born-digital heritage possible, and must include digital art, web archives, content created outside cultural heritage institutions, and video games.

The pilot project should explore and provide clarity, based on EU law, to heritage institutions and other relevant stakeholders about the possibilities for the creation of preservation copies of material that can be licensed or otherwise legally accessed but not acquired.

The project is expected to leverage the expert knowledge and networks, available data and frameworks built up by existing preservation initiatives, as well as technical and legal knowledge of relevant stakeholders, inter alia libraries and archives, including the common European data space for cultural heritage and the Europeana initiative etc.