CREATe is happy to announce the launch of the report ‘Open Licensing Models in the Cultural Heritage Sector’. This report is the result of a study of open licensing practices among cultural heritage institutions (CHIs) in Brazil, the EU, the UK and the US, carried out by researchers in the CREATe centre at the University of Glasgow and the Centre for Archive Studies at the University of Liverpool.
Want to learn more about the study? Join us tomorrow, June 24, 2025, at 3pm BST, for the webinar The Economics of Open: A Conversation with the Authors. The authors of the study – Bartolomeo Meletti, Kristofer Erickson, Aline Iramina, and Victoria Stobo – will present their findings at this special webinar, organised and moderated by Brigitte Vézina and Dee Harris (Creative Commons).
The event is free to attend but registration is required. You can register for the webinar at this link.
Click on image to download the report
The purpose of this study – funded by Creative Commons – is to advance understanding of how open licensing is being used in CHIs in practice and to enable information sharing about potential strategies.
We adopt a multiple case study methodology to address the following core research questions:
- What models of open licensing exist among CHIs?
- Under what circumstances might a CHI choose to adopt an open licensing model?
- What advantages and disadvantages to CHIs experience from adopting an open or a closed model?
Built on the study’s findings, the report offers five key recommendations aimed primarily at CHIs, but which are valuable guidance also for policymakers and funders seeking to maximise the benefits of open culture.
The study is a key contribution to our research themes Access to Knowledge and Legal History & Cultural Memory.