Digital guide: working with open licences/Exceptions to the open licensing requirement

You should plan your project according to all the funding requirements, including the open licensing requirement. This may raise concerns around some project outputs. For example, you may decide some materials are not appropriate to share openly. You should raise any concerns with your contact at The National Lottery Heritage Fund as early as possible.

Exceptions for sensitive materials and data

Examples of materials that may not be appropriate for open licensing for ethical reasons include:

• images of, or contributions by, children, young people and vulnerable adults
• artefacts, knowledge or memories of cultural significance to the communities of origin
• ancestral remains, spiritual works or funerary objects
• research, data or other media produced around the above examples

Exceptions for pre-existing materials

Projects should seek to obtain permission to release pre-existing materials from third parties wherever possible. There may be reasons why permission is withheld, and if so these contributions can be excluded from the open licensing requirement.

Share your experience

If you develop a creative or useful approach to these considerations, others will find that experience helpful. Please share these approaches publicly, with The National Lottery Heritage Fund or contact the authors of this guide. We would like to learn more about your experience.

Case studies: Care in collections management

Colonial collections

The British Library is undergoing owned by figures who may be associated with wealth obtained from enslaved people or colonial violence. The library makes available an index of previous owners associated with the collections’ items and a directory of Western printed heritage collections at the British Library as part of its commitment to become an actively anti-racist organisation.

Collections connected to colonialism

The British Library is undergoing a review of the collection of rare books owned by figures who may be associated with wealth obtained from enslaved people or colonial violence as part of its commitment to become an actively anti-racist organisation. The library also makes available an index of previous owners associated with the collections items and a directory of Western printed heritage collections at the British Library.

Ethical terms of reuse

The Qatar Digital Library’s Copyright & Ethical Terms of Reuse policy acknowledges that some cultural materials in the public domain should not be altered or used in ways that can be harmful to the communities of origin. The library recognises that broader rights and interests should apply and requires informed consent of the communities for any commercial use of these materials.

Cultural permissions

The Auckland Museum’s Image Orders and Cultural Permissions policy embeds Māori and Moana Pacific values into the guiding frameworks for all collections, digitisation and rights management. Using the ‘open as a rule, closed by exception’ approach, the museum creates filters for levels of openness to protect sensitive materials. It uses a cultural permissions policy that treats access and reuse as separate from intellectual property rights frameworks.