The Digitization of Cultural Heritage under Polish Law and Policy: Challenges Presented by Copyright Law

Abstract

Digitization in the narrow sense means the conversion of analogue data into digital form. Looking more broadly through the prism of the protection of cultural heritage, digitization of its objects means not only the conversion of analogue objects into their digital version, but is also related to the processing of the obtained material, file management, and finally, but not always, the sharing of digital documentation. It is not a simple procedure because it has many limitations, including those arising from issues of the copyright protection of digitized works. The aim of this article is to present the challenges related to copyright in relation to the digitization of cultural heritage in the light of Polish law and policy. Poland is one of the countries where the process of digitization of cultural heritage is developing dynamically, both through government programmes and grassroots digitization movements. However, there is no separate regulation in the Polish legal system devoted to the digitization of cultural heritage resources. This makes it difficult to ensure the digitization of a significant part of collections due to the limitations resulting from copyright and their relation to works that can potentially be transferred into the digital space.