Global Open Culture Call to Action to Policymakers

The publication of Towards better sharing of cultural heritage — A Creative Commons Call to Action to Policymakers is a simple, concise, and accessible resource that aims to support policymakers with key arguments to reform policy — in particular copyright — to achieve better sharing of cultural heritage in the public interest. 

Drafted by a small group of open culture advocates of the Creative Commons Copyright Platform and Open Culture Platform — Shanna Hollich (CC US), Emine Ozge Yildirim (KU Leuven), Maarten Zeinstra (CC Netherlands) and Brigitte Vézina (Director of Policy and Open Culture) — this resource: 

• summarizes key takeaways from the 2022 CC policy paper Towards Better Sharing of Cultural Heritage — An Agenda for Copyright Reform; 
• applies the lessons learned during a CC virtual workshop for policy experts and open culture enthusiasts held in May 2022, and;
• distills numerous conversations with and by the CC open culture community held between June and October 2022, as well as direct document input gathering ideas, feedback and real-life examples.

This publication offers a basis for a shared vision on better sharing and makes a call for five actions: 

• ACTION 1: Protect the public domain from erosion
• ACTION 2: Reduce the term of copyright protection
• ACTION 3: Legally allow necessary activities of cultural heritage institutions
• ACTION 4: Shield cultural heritage institutions from liability
• ACTION 5: Ensure respect, equity, and inclusivity