Rights Management Metadata

Purpose & Intended Audience

This document was created to describe the implementation of rights management metadata in the DDR, as well as to provide guidance for people responsible for assigning rights metadata to resources slated for deposit into the DDR. Contact the Repository Services Department with questions.

Rights Metadata Strategy at DUL

Rights management metadata is stored in two fields in the DDR:

• Rights - stores a single URI from either RightsStatements.org or Creative Commons. This is a required field for all resources. 
• Rights Note - stores a free-text statement adding contextual information (or links to more information) regarding the rights status of the resource. This is an optional field. The Rights Note may not controvert the rights status asserted in the Rights field. 

When to use Creative Commons or RightsStatements.org:

• Creative Commons licenses should be used when the rights status has been asserted by the rights holder themselves. 

  • For example, when someone is depositing their own scholarly paper.

  • All of the available CC licenses may be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/. 

• RightsStatements statements should be used when the depositor is asserting what is known about the rights status of the resource, but does not themselves hold the copyright.

  • RightsStatements are most often utilized by Duke University Libraries staff.

  • All of the available RightsStatements may be found at http://rightsstatements.org/en/.

When a resource is in the public domain:

• To waive rights for a work for which you own the copyright, use the CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication
• To assert that a work is free of known copyright restrictions, use the CC Public Domain Mark 1.0

Notes on strategy when choosing the appropriate rights URI:

• "Publication" refers to the intentional distribution of a resource, which includes ephemera (e.g., a ticket to an event).
• When applying RightsStatements.org statements, it is appropriate to use existing metadata to make the determination - you do not need to do additional research. 
• When applying a copyright status to an object in the DDR that consists of multiple intellectual items (common in the context of archivally processed materials), make the determination using the most restrictive date or other criteria.
• International status is only a concern when dealing with published works dated January 1, 1928 or later (as of 2023).
• "Useful articles" (for example, the medical equipment found in the History of Medicine Artifacts collection), are not copyrightable.

Using the Rights Note Field:

• The Rights Note field may optionally be used to store a free-text statement about the rights status of the resource. This note may contain any contextual information about the rights status of the resource, as long as it is not in conflict with the required rights statement stored in the Rights field.
• Rights Note Examples

Decision Chart for Selecting Rights URIs & Rights Notes

The following decision charts may facilitate determining the most appropriate rights URI for a resource. This documentation is generally useful for depositors asserting what is known about the rights status of a resource, rather than for rights holders determining what CC license to use for their resources. For advice on selecting a CC license, please consult the Creative Commons website and/or request a consultation with Kate Dickson, DUL's Copyright and Information Policy Librarian.

The Suggested Rights Note column contains suggestions for language to use - these notes may be amended or disregarded as appropriate.

PUBLISHED WORKS

UNPUBLISHED WORKS

UNKNOWN PUBLICATION STATUS