Orphan Works Guidelines
University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries
Orphan Works Guidelines
"Orphan Works" is a term used to described the situation when the owner of a copyrighted work cannot be identified or located by someone who wishes to use the work in a manner that requires permission of the copyright owner. In June 2009, the Society of American Archivists (SAA) developed “Orphan Works: Statement of Best Practices” (http://www.archivists.org/standards/OWBP-V4.pdf) to provide guidelines for libraries and archives to follow to determine whether a work is actually orphan. Based on these guidelines, and with the goal of supporting the teaching and research mission of the University and benefiting society and the economy as a whole, the UMass Amherst Libraries will conduct an aggressive case-by-case analysis for each asset we believe is an orphan work focusing on:
- Identifying the creator of the work through strategies identified in Section 3.A. of the SAA guidelines above;
- Identifying the rights holder through strategies identified in Section 3.B. of those guidelines;
- Locating the rights holder as identified in Section 3.C.;
- Documenting the search process as outlined in Section 4.
Questions regarding these guidelines should be addressed to the Digital Strategies Group.
Approved by SMG January 13, 2010
Last Edited: 27 January 2010
