Release: 21st July 2022
This episode explores the complex and entangled questions around legal ownership of digital collections in the face of already contested physical collections. While Western IP systems are built around individual ownership, indigenous knowledge systems are designed to have communal and collective benefits. What limitations and dangers does this present in the context of mass digitisation? Who has the right to make digital copies in the first place? And how can we imagine legal ownership outside Western oriented frameworks?
ABOUT ACCESS FOR WHO?
‘Access For Who?’ is a four part mini-series that looks to begin a conversation on digitisation of collections of African heritage. This series of discussions attempts to unpack the necessary care and ethics required when seeking to digitise African heritage, particularly in the age of restitution. While digitisation is often considered a strategy for future oriented safe keeping, distribution and greater engagement, we ask – for who? And for what purposes? And are we making decisions about digitisation that ensure these objectives are met in ethical, equitable ways?
