[OpenGLAM] content trafficking

Mon Sep 9 20:31:10 UTC 2013

Corina, yes, exactly.

Sam, it's just a definition at this point ... so no document yet  - do you
mean a blog or a published work? Go for it!

I was wondering if anyone else had "named" this practice. Even though it
has negative connotations, these are balanced out by the rw swing
*towards*the release of pd materials that is slowly gaining momentum
in many
cultural heritage institutions (such a good thing!)

I agree with your point too -  while I am personally opposed to
institutions holding pd works "hostage",  I can see how an institution
should derive needed income from a variety of image use projects. What
makes sense to me is that the public is allowed this similar opportunity as
well: a person will most likely derive income from a pd material in a
different way than an institution (not always), and we know by now that the
marketplace is without end ... and I'm ignoring commercial use here which
gets even more dicey.

How the institution is funded might make me question the practices in the
above scenario, however. Corina's link has a comment at the bottom about
the Canadian government charging (in 2008) for data.

It really is complex.

I like to think (personal opinion here) that for those working at
institutions (or for that matter, governments) with a "content trafficking"
practice there is some prick of conscience - and we know this is true too,
because those champions exist and act as the agents of change.

Bettina

On Mon, Sep 9, 2013 at 2:14 PM, C MacDonald <corina at corinamacdonald.net>wrote:

> Hi Bettina,
>
> I imagine what you are referring to is museums charging 'permission' fees
> for the use of public domain images?
>
> Unfortunately in Canada we have a leading example of this practice at the
> National Gallery:
>
> http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/2837/135/
>
> Corina
>
>
> On Mon, Sep 9, 2013 at 12:34 PM, Sam Leon <sam.leon at okfn.org> wrote:
>
>> Hi Bettina,
>>
>> Thanks for highlighting this complex issue. Do you have a document with
>> the definition you could share?
>>
>> To be clear, are you opposed to the institution that opens up a public
>> domain work they host and makes it available for re-use but also derives
>> revenue from web traffic and merchandise based on that work?
>>
>> For me, this is use of a public domain work might be a very valuable
>> source of revenue for the institution that might be used to fund further
>> digitisation whilst still allowing others to re-use this material.
>>
>> Interested to hear further thoughts.
>>
>> All the best,
>> Sam
>>
>>
>> On 9 September 2013 16:31, Bettina Cousineau <bdcousineau at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>> Thinking about "content trafficking" lately. Has anyone written about
>>> this term? I've sketched a definition, but it seems too pejorative.
>>> Edits/comments welcome!
>>>
>>> Content trafficking is the trade in public domain works by the host
>>> cultural heritage institution as a revenue source. Content trafficking is
>>> evident in many forms: gift products, reproductions, commercial and
>>> non-commercial use and licensing fees, and public paywalls. Historically,
>>> the host institution controls the levels of extracted income from "their"
>>> public domain works.
>>>
>>> I'm certainly hopeful that in my lifetime content-trafficking will end!
>>>
>>> Cheers
>>>
>>> Bettina
>>>
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>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> *
>>
>> Sam Leon
>>
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>
>
> --
> data > information > design
> www.corinamacdonald.net
>
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