Image copyright

[Nicolas Souchon]

Dear All,

I have a problem using AtoM for which I have not found a solution and I would like to benefit from feedback from other users.

To illustrate our inventory of archives on AtoM, we add one digital document per collections. This is most often our property or freely distributed online.

However, some collections can only be illustrated by documents subject to copyright and I do not see how to include this in AtoM.

Has anyone ever had the same problem and if so, what solution did you suggest?

Best regards,

Nicolas

[Dan Gillean]

Hi Nicolas, 

There are a couple options in AtoM, depending on your needs. 

First, you can use the Rights module in AtoM to add an actionable Rights statement to a record that can be configured to restrict access to the original digital object, and/or any of the derivatives created. Be sure to read the steps on configuring it carefully, as it requires adding a Rights statement with the same Basis as the settings you configure for the module. See: 

• https://www.accesstomemory.org/docs/latest/user-manual/add-edit-content/rights
  
• In particular, see the "Make rights actionable on digital objects" subsection

If instead of restricting access to digital objects, you need users to see and agree to a copyright statement first (for example, an agreement that the image will not be used for commercial purposes, etc), AtoM also has a customizable copyright pop-up statement. Users will need to read the terms you configure and click "Agree" before being allowed to view the original upload. See: 

• https://www.accesstomemory.org/docs/latest/user-manual/add-edit-content/rights/#add-a-copyright-statement-before-allowing-access-to-a-master-digital-object
  

Additionally, to apply global restrictions there is the option of just limiting access via the Group permissions in AtoM. The "anonymous" group corresponds to public users, and by default we restrict access to the original digital object for public users, but this can be changed by an Administrator, and/or additional restrictions can be applied, such as restricting access to the reference display copies or the thumbnails. 

It is possible to add custom group permissions that affect either only records linked to a specific repository, or even only records that are part of a specific archival unit like a fonds or collection. For more information, see:

• Edit permissions: https://www.accesstomemory.org/docs/latest/user-manual/administer/edit-permissions/
• Manage users and groups: https://www.accesstomemory.org/docs/latest/user-manual/administer/manage-user-accounts/

I have also previously outlined in a bit more detail using the Permissions module and using the PREMIS Rights statements for managing digital object access in this previous forum thread: 

• https://groups.google.com/g/ica-atom-users/c/u1eYkfW_9A4/m/vZyxhkAdDQAJ
  

However, be careful about using custom and highly granular permissions to restrict digital object access too much. Unfortunately, AtoM has some known and longstanding issues with the permissions module when custom permissions are used at scale. We would love to fix these but it will require a full overhaul of permissions in AtoM to properly address. For more background and context, see these older threads: 

• https://groups.google.com/g/ica-atom-users/c/Vq4fv8Vkr1M/m/i_e8ogk1AwAJ
• https://groups.google.com/g/ica-atom-users/c/ot8ufFi-ZWY/m/0t2fPuBNAwAJ
• See also the second half of this post: https://groups.google.com/g/ica-atom-users/c/La3usWtSSns/m/SGeedxSFBAAJ

Finally, one other option worth mentioning that you can either combine with the above options, or use by itself if your goal is to prevent improper reuse but not to restrict access: applying a watermark to your derivative images. This would really only make sense if you are restricting access to the original upload (which is unaffected by this process), and if you intend to apply the watermark globally - currently there is no way to selectively apply the watermark. See: 

• https://www.accesstomemory.org/docs/latest/admin-manual/customization/watermarking/
  

I hope that one of these options or some combination of them will give you what you need! 

Cheers, 

Dan Gillean, MAS, MLIS
AtoM Program Manager
Artefactual Systems, Inc.
604-527-2056

@accesstomemory

he / him

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