The world is facing urgent problems. Open heritage can significantly contribute to solutions as a means to remove unfair socio-economic barriers to access to heritage in the digital environment. Global collective action is now more important than ever, because without international policy alignment, the full potential of open heritage remains largely unrealised. The Open Heritage Statement is a collective response to an international policy gap that currently leaves barriers to equitable access to public domain heritage unaddressed, and thus entire communities out of touch with their heritage.

Developed by the Open Heritage Coalition, the Statement is a call to action for the international community to enter into a dialogue towards the adoption of an international standard-setting instrument at UNESCO that would ensure equitable access to public domain heritage in the digital environment. In this session, we will present the Statement, explain its background and how it came about, and set the scene for what needs to happen next.

During this office hours session, we will talk about the Open Heritage Statement, its content, the expected impact, and how to support it. Copyright office hours are informal sessions for members of the community to share their insights, questions, and concerns with other participants.

Speakers:
Brigitte Vézina, Creative Commons
Maarten Zeinstra, Open Nederlands / IP Squared

Image: Charter and Seal by Paxton, Katherine, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, CC BY