Digitizing Special Collections: Your Deed of Gift Form Said What? Jill Ann Hurst Hurst Associates, Ltd. Copyright © 2003, Hurst Associates, Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hurst Associates, Ltd. Project & Material Selection Items are selected for digitization based on several criteria including: –Copyright law “Everything” is copyrighted Public domain ng/Hirtle_Public_Domain.htmhttp:// ng/Hirtle_Public_Domain.htm –Deed of Gift forms – a formal, legal agreement

Hurst Associates, Ltd. Deed of Gift Forms The problems –Items donated without a Deed of Gift –Missing Deed of Gift forms –Materials where original copyright ownership is unknown –Forms that do not explicitly transfer copyright ownership

Hurst Associates, Ltd. What Should the Deed of Gift Include? Title and description of the materials being donated –Have enough detail so that it will remain clear what this deed covers.

Hurst Associates, Ltd. Transfer of ownership –Donor agrees to transfer legal ownership –Material becomes the physical property of the recipient institution –Donor agrees that the materials may be reformatted for preservation (e.g., microfilming or copying)

Hurst Associates, Ltd. Transfer of copyright –Transfer copyright on materials the donor authored. –Cannot transfer copyright on other materials, such as letters received by the donor.

Hurst Associates, Ltd. –Transferring copyright means the institution can: Reproduce the work in copies Prepare derivative works Distribute copies of the work to the public by sale, rental, lease or lending Perform the work publicly Display the copyrighted work publicly

Hurst Associates, Ltd. Separations –An understanding of what will occur if items are removed from the collection. Can the institution sell or discard materials? Must discarded materials be returned to the donor?

Hurst Associates, Ltd. More Info & Sample Forms A Guide to Deed of Gifts Deed of Gift of Library Materials Univ. of Texas at Austin Carnegie Branch Library for Local History

Hurst Associates, Ltd. This presentation will be online at: Resources For Learning More About Digitization