Copyfraud or Legitimate Concerns? Controlling Further Uses of Online Archival Holdings

Abstract

This study investigated how archival repositories attempt to control further uses of their online holdings and their reasons for doing so. Archival repositories employ two types of measures to control further uses of their online holdings—technical, such as watermarks, and nontechnical, such as terms-of-use statements. They do not, however, clearly separate copyright interests from other motivations; restrictions on use are often conflated under the rubric of copyright. In doing so, they may be guilty of "copyfraud," that is, asserting false claims of copyright. By invoking copyright in ways that impede access to, and use of, online documentary heritage, they may be compromising their core mission of making their holdings available for use.