Culture Knowledge Base

This page provides an overview of and links to existing licences for open source software.

This decision tree provides an overview on the data protection aspects of uploading conference videos to popular video platforms as well as the processing of relevant data.

This decision tree provides guidance on the steps to consider before transferring within or between research institutions beyond the research purpose itself.

For all those who work digitally with cultural heritage and who would like to make an initial assessment of the legal issues. The 2021 amendment to German copyright law is reflected, which includes new legal permissions, particularly for the online presentation of historical…

The CARE Principles were formulated to complement the FAIR Principles with an important research ethics aspect. The topic is explained in an introductory way and via the page one can obtain both a summary and a detailed presentation (each as a PDF).

The Council for Social and Economic Data's 2017 handout is "a first step towards a discipline-wide and interdisciplinary understanding of research ethics principles and review procedures in the German-language social and economic sciences."

The chapter written by Anne Lauber-Rönsberg in the Practical Handbook on Research Data Management (2021) summarizes the legal framework of FDM. The focus is on copyright law, the regulations of good scientific practice, service and labor law, and data protection law.

These recommendations for daily collection work in the areas of care, indexing and research, as well as use for teaching and exhibitions, are aimed primarily at those who have not previously worked with human remains, or have done so only rarely.

This 2021 guide from the German Museums Association provides important guidance for collections dealing with issues related to the management, presentation, and restitution of human remains.

The guideline of the German Museums Association on dealing with collections from colonial contexts provides information and working aids for collections in researching, documenting and presenting objects and in cooperating with societies of origin.

The "5 Safes" is a concept in data protection developed in the United Kingdom to help in the development of an effective data protection concept.

The model contract serves as a basis for researchers to generate their own data use contracts or to identify needs and translate them into legal texts.

EOSC Pillar: Legal Compliance Guidelines for Researchers is a checklist for researchers to design research projects in compliance with data protection law. In addition to data protection law, the checklist also takes into account other legal issues of intellectual property law.

The tutorial is a detailed, research-related introduction to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The principles of the GDPR are presented as well as the "ELDAH consent form wizard" (help for creating correct consent forms for data processing).

This tool helps to implement the planned consent in a legally compliant manner. The result is therefore permissible, valid consent if the aspects and requirements from the GDPR (and, if applicable, the BDSG) contained in the wizard are complied with.

The tool allows researchers to independently determine whether and how they process personal data. In this way, the responsibility remains with the researchers and the assessment takes into account all the details of the research activity.

In 2020, the Council for Social and Economic Data put the second edition of its handout on data protection online. It summarizes the basics of data protection law and provides an excellent introduction to the subject, including easy-to-understand examples.

A useful compilation on copyright for music from sheet music to concert recordings. Spotlights are thrown on music on the internet, the reproduction of music and various scientific use cases  – with details on the use of sheet music.

The website, which specializes in continuing education, offers an interactive questionnaire here that guides one toward the appropriate Creative Commons license for one's project.

If protected material is to be put online, there are modules on the Rights Statements page for corresponding information. This expresses, for example, that licences have been obtained, but that subsequent use is not possible without further ado.

iRights is an information platform and online magazine on law in the cultural sector, with a focus on copyright, data protection and Open Educational Resources (OER). Cultural heritage institutions are a special target group. iRights e. V. is the sponsor.

The Association of German Art Historians has posted a guide to image rights in art historical practice that explains various usage scenarios and the related legal situation. It has been published in an updated edition in 2022, which brings the guide up to date after the copyright…

The Creative Commons offer a licensing toolkit that has been widely used in the cultural sector. The carefully compiled FAQ on this package covers not only the basics and basic questions, but also many specific topics.

Traditional Knowledge Labels help to implement the CARE principles. Via the page one gets a detailed explanation and further explanations of the TK labels.

The initiative, founded in 2010, has developed labels that document standards for the consideration of indigenous interests in FDM: the Traditional Knowledge Label (relevance of indigenous forms of knowledge) and the Biocultural Label (expectations of biocultural data…