The Role of the Museum Catalogues in Preserving Cultural Heritage: Challenges and Opportunities under International Law

This thesis explores the role of museum catalogues in the preservation and dissemination of cultural heritage in accordance with international copyright law. The promise of expanding digital access to cultural heritage raises legal and institutional barriers within the constraints of international copyright agreements, EU legislation, and divergent national laws. The goals of this research are to explore and analyze how these legal systems affect the creation, distribution, and access to catalogues within museums, as well as the implications that varying interpretations of copyright and moral rights present for cultural institutions’ public mission. The research combines legal analysis with case studies of the Rijksmuseum and the Louvre, which demonstrate the divergent approaches to rights management, licensing, and open access that form the publishing practices of museums. The findings suggest that such approaches are influenced by factors beyond mere legal obligations, including financial considerations, risk management, and potentially varying institutional views on copyright and moral rights issues. The conclusions drawn in this thesis propose that it is possible to expand access to cultural heritage materials while ensuring that museums remain legally compliant and institutionally sustainable through a degree of copyright exception harmonization, improved rights statements, and hybrid access models.