The relationship between the field of Digital Humanities (DH), which uses technology to analyze and present humanistic research, and the legal framework of intellectual property (particularly copyright, that governs the use and ownership of creative works that are often utilized in digital humanities projects) includes challenges regarding access and fair use, as well as obtaining necessary permissions to incorporate these materials into digital projects.
DH includes diverse forms such as digitized texts (e.g., digitized historical documents) audio recordings , artwork, images, literary works, musical compositions, and photographs. A set of Unique methods have been developed to process and analyze these materials including: computer-based statistical analysis, topic modeling, text mining, data visualization, network analysis, digital mapping, stylometry, corpus linguistics, and computational methods for analyzing large0scale digitized collections. Such an array of methods facilitates the leveraging of digital tools to explore patterns and insights within large volumes of textual and multimedia data across various humanities disciplines, allowing for new avenues of research beyond traditional methods.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: In Digital Humanities projects, "intellectual property" refers to the legally protected creations of the mind that are used within a project, such as digitized texts, images, data sets, audio recordings, or other digital artifacts used in research, as well as software code, or databases, which are often subject to copyright trademark, or patent laws, depending on the nature of the work, giving the creator exclusive rights to control how it is used, reproduced, or distributed. In such instances proper attribution and permission to use from the original creators are required when incorporated into a digital project.
In addition to copyright and fair use two additional key points relating to DH are:
Metadata importance: Proper metadata is crucial for documenting the source of intellectual property and giving credit to original creators.
Open access and sharing: While respecting copyright, digital humanists often strive to make their projects accessible to the public by utilizing open access platforms and sharing data with appropriate licenses.
See this Guide's Companion page "Copyright and Fair use"
Due to the collaborative nature of many digital humanities projects, attribution goes beyond just naming the primary author and often includes a list of contributors with their specific roles (e.g., researcher, programmer, designer).
"Traditional authorship and crediting practices in the humanities are based on single authorship. Although practices of attribution are still fluid in the Digital Humanities community, the emerging model recognizes that many, if not most, Digital Humanities projects are analogous either to natural science laboratory projects or to the collaborative attribution system used in the performing arts. / No standardized crediting system for Digital Humanities projects has been embraced universally. But the dominant trend is toward the differentiation of roles such as principal investigator, researcher, designer, programmer, modeler, editor, and the like." See: Page 5 of Schnapp, Jefffrey, A Short Guide to the Digital Humanities, p. in the (open pdf excerpt from Digital_Humanities, by Anne Burdick, Johanna Drucker, Peter lunenfeld, Todd Presner, Jeffrey Schnapp, MIT Press, 2012, pp. 121–136.)
ATTRIBUTION: In digital humanities projects, "attribution" means the act of properly crediting the source of information, images, texts, or ideas used within a project, essentially giving recognition to the original creators and ensuring transparency about where the content came from; it is similar to citation in traditional scholarship but often involves more detailed information about contributors and their roles in a collaborative project.
TRANSPARENCY: Clearly stating the source and license of materials used is crucial for ethical practices and compliance with copyright laws.
BEYOND CITATIONS: While citation is a key component of attribution, digital humanities projects may also include additional details about the context and provenance of materials.
Examples of attribution in a digital humanities project:
See also: Dombrowski. Quinn (2011. “Where’s the Credit? Attribution in Digital Humanities Slides,” Blog entry: 22 June, 2011.
Intellectual property concerns relating to digital humanities projects include the following examples (to name a few) :
Digitizing historical documents: Obtaining permission to digitize and publicly share historical documents from archives or private collections.
Creating online text corpora: Ensuring proper copyright clearance for texts included in a large digital text collection.
Developing interactive digital exhibits: Managing the rights to images, audio recordings, and other media used in a virtual exhibition.
See: Carroll MW (2015). Sharing Research Data and Intellectual Property Law: A Primer. PLoS Biol 13(8): e1002235.
Resources:
Cultural Heritage: Applicability of Intellectual Property Systems, by Lindsey N. Birch, Foley & Lardner LLP, 10 July 2024. "Innovation, creativity, and resourcefulness drive the desire to preserve and protect both cultural heritage and intellectual property (IP). Understanding the commonalities between these fields rationally gives the impression that the two could fall under a common set of laws and policies. As further discussed below, IP systems are designed and developed to balance the interests of innovators and the wider public interest to benefit from such creations. Related public versus private interests also lie at the heart of cultural heritage laws. This article provides a framework of IP and cultural heritage systems to explore briefly how cultural heritage does not easily fit under existing IP rights, although there are routes for protection available in some cases."
"Intellectual property," Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (First published Tue Mar 8, 2011; substantive revision Thu Aug 18, 2022). "Legal protections for intellectual property have a rich history that stretches back to ancient Greece and before. As different legal systems matured in protecting intellectual works, there was a refinement of what was being protected within different areas. Over the same period several strands of moral justification for intellectual property were offered: namely, personality-based, utilitarian, and Lockean. Finally, there have been numerous critics of intellectual property and systems of intellectual property protection. This essay will discuss all of these topics, focusing on Anglo-American and European legal and moral conceptions of intellectual property."
Intellectual Property Overview (Utah valley University). Intellectual property (IP) is a product of the human mind that the law protects from unauthorized use by others. The concept of IP is that certain products of human intellect should be afforded the same protective rights that apply to physical property. Most developed countries have legal measures in place to protect at least four types of IP: patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets.
Intellectual Property Rights and Research Data (University of Reading). "A database is defined in law as 'a collection of independent works, data or other materials which: a) are arranged in a systematic or methodical way, and b) are individually accessible by electronic or other means' ( Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations 1997), Therefore any collection of data made or used in the course of research is likely to constitute a database subject to legal protections for intellectual property. / Intellectual property rights (IPR) affect the way both you and others can use your and others' research data, and these issues should be considered at the outset of any research project."
What is Intellectual Property Law? And Why Does it Matter? by Gary L. Deel, American Public University, July 13, 2023. "Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and the laws of different countries recognize and protect different kinds of intellectual property in different ways. For the sake of clarity, this discussion will focus only on American laws related to this topic, i.e., intellectual property recognized under United States law includes patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets.
What’s the Difference? The four elements of intellectual property explained, William & Mary Libraries Blog. "Intellectual Property is actually a relatively new concept, historically speaking. Rights to intangible property didn’t become codified until the Statute of Anne in the 18th century; this is widely considered the first legally binding document defining and establishing intellectual property. However, it’s still a far cry from our modern experience with Intellectual Property (or IP as it is lovingly and occasionally derisively referred). As is common in the legal realm, the Statute described a phenomenon that had been causing distress for many years before it was adequately defined and codified. Today we think of IP as the legal protection for intangible, creative products. For something to have the full weight of IP law behind it must be fixed. As such, ideas, conversations, facts, and data are not necessarily protected. / There are four different sub-categories that belong to the larger realm of intellectual property. They are copyright, patent, trademark, and trade secrets."
Course (Fiveable): Intellectual property from class: Film and Media Theory. "Intellectual property refers to the legal rights that protect creations of the mind, including inventions, artistic works, designs, symbols, and names used in commerce. These protections are essential in film and media production as they ensure that creators can control how their work is used and can receive recognition or financial benefits from it, fostering innovation and creativity while balancing the interests of society…”