Avoiding the golden fleece: Licensing agreements for archives

Abstract

The need to negotiate licenses protecting the rights to intellectual property in archives is an emerging and complex area. This article provides archivists with a better understanding of the legal and economic issues arising from commercial requests for archival materials, examining five key areas relating to licensing: the technology, the players, the economics, the rights, and the consequences. The article presents guidelines, strategies, and a sample licensing agreement to help archivists make informed decisions about whether and on what terms to license materials from their collections for commercial use.