WHEN MUSEUMS GO ONLINE

Jointly organized by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and the University of Geneva (UNIGE), this international conference will focus on the digitization of museum collections.

The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the digitization movement that has been carried out for several years within museums and which aims, among other things, to meet museums’ objectives of research, conservation, continuation and communication to society of the world’s natural and cultural heritage, present and future, tangible and intangible. The legal issues associated with this movement are complex, with a disparity of solutions available to museums and laws that are sometimes inadequate, inappropriate or insufficient. ln the long term, the acceleration of technologies also raises the question of the future of the museum experience.

The conference will explore theses topics on the basis of a study project which, since 2016, has brought together a group of experts from Swiss and foreign universities under the supervision of Dr. Yaniv Benhamou, Prof. Marc-André Renold and Ms Justine Ferland. The project led to the launch of the website Digitization of Museums Collections (www.digitizationpolicies.com) in 2020 which aims to clarify the current legal and political framework while formulating policies to facilitate the activities of museums in the digital environment. Museum professionals are strongly encouraged to provide feedback about the recommendations issued (pertaining copyright, database rights, dispute resolution and a museum code of conduct) in order to encourage a continuous dialogue and to shape policies adapted to the needs of cultural heritage institutions.

This conference will provide a discussion forum for the global museum community, other partners in the field of cultural heritage and stakeholders concerned with the legal and societal issues related to digitization.

organizer: Dr. Yaniv Benhamou (lecturer, University of Geneva), Morgane Fouquet-Lapar (Legal and Institutional Affairs Coordinator, ICOM), Prof. Marc-André Renold (Director of the Art Law Center, University of Geneva).
Team: Morgane Desboeufs (Research and teaching assistant, Art Law Center, University of Geneva), Marion Torterat (Legal assistant, ICOM)

Documents

• Find the program and access to the broadcast here
• Speakers 
• BENHAMOU, Yaniv & World Intellectual Property Organization. WIPO Revised Report on Copyright Practices and Challenges of Museums, 28/5. World Intellectual Property Organization, 2019, 43p.
• BENHAMOU, Yaniv. Copyright and Museum in the Digital Age. WIPO Magazine, 2016, no. 3, p.25-28. 

• Lucie Guibault, Jean-François Canat & Elizabeth Logeais, Study on copyright limitations and exceptions for museums, World Intellectual Property Organisation, Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights, 2015.

Speakers documents 

• Yaniv Benhamou – Opening remarks
• Yaniv Benhamou – Setting the scene
• Justine Ferland –  Policy Project Digitization of Museum Collections

When Copyright meets digital museums 

• Peter Keller 
• Florent Thouvenin 
• Lucie Guibault 

Digital Due Diligence – Museum Code of Conduct 

• Katharina Garbers-Von Boehm 
• Jérôme David
• Elisabeth Logeais
• Brigitte Vezina 

Dispute Resolution

• Ignacio De Castro 

Beyond copyright – Impact of digital museums on people

• Monika Hagedorn-Saupe
• Béatrice Joyeux-Prunel 
• Fadi Boustani
• Sarah Dominique Orlandi & Deborah De Angelis