8832/12 MM/ag/mj 1 DGE-1c ECOUCIL OF THE EUROPEAUIOBRUSSELS, 20 april 2012 8832/12 AUDIO 39 CULT 61 TELECOM 73 PI 43 OTE from: Council General Secretariat to: Permanent Representatives Committee (Part 1)/ Council No. prev. doc.:8508/12 AUDIO 35 CULT 53 TELECOM 70 PI 38 No. Cion prop.:16291/11 AUDIO 63 CULT 91 TELECOM 165 PI 144 Subject: Draft Council conclusions on the digitisation and online accessibility of cultural material and digital preservation-Adoption of Council conclusions At its meeting on 17 april 2012, the Audiovisual Working Party reached an agreement on the draft Council conclusions, as set out in the Annex. The text now meets with the agreement of all delegations. The Permanent Representatives Committee is invited accordingly to verify the agreement on the text and forward it to the Council for adoption and subsequent publication in the Official Journal. 8832/12 MM/ag/mj 2 ANNEX DGE-1c EAEX Draft Council conclusions on the digitisation and online accessibility of cultural material and digital preservation THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION CONSIDERING THAT: -The digitisation and online accessibility of the Member States'cultural material and its longterm digital preservation are essential to enable access for all to culture and knowledge in the digital era and to promote the richness and diversity of European cultural heritage. -Digitised cultural material is an important resource for European cultural and creative industries1. Digitisation and online accessibility of Member States'cultural heritage, considered both in a national and cross-border context, contributes to economic growth and job creation and to the achievement of the digital single market through the increasing offer of new and innovative online products and services. -Coordinated action at Union level is necessary to create synergies between national efforts and ensure that online accessibility of Europe's cultural heritage reaches a critical mass. -The context for digitisation efforts and for collaboration at European level has changed since the Council adopted in 2006 conclusions on digitisation and online accessibility of cultural material and digital preservation2. Europeana was launched in 2008 as a common multilingual access point to Europe's digital cultural heritage and the agenda for its further development was set out in the 2010 Council conclusions on Europeana: next steps 3; 1 According to the European Competitiveness Report 2010, creative industries account for 3. 3%of EU GDP and 3%of employment in the EU. 2 OJ C 297,7. 12.2006, p . 1. 3 OJ C 137,27. 5. 2010, p. 19.8832/12 MM/ag/mj 3 ANNEX DGE-1c E1. WELCOMES-the Commission Recommendation of 27 october 2011 on the digitisation and online accessibility of cultural material and digital preservation4 (2011/711/EU) as part of the Digital Agenda for Europe5; 2. RECOGNISES-the ongoing efforts in Member States to digitise and make accessible online the material of cultural institutions, as well as the efforts to provide funding for digitisation in a time of economic crisis; -the valuable work done by Europeana, by the Member States'institutions and national aggregators contributing to Europeana in terms of content and coordination; -that although progress has been made in digitising Europe's cultural heritage, further steps are necessary to turn this heritage into a lasting asset for Europe's citizens and economy in the digital age; 4 OJ L 283,29. 10.2011, p. 39.5 COM (2010) 245 final/2. 8832/12 MM/ag/mj 4 ANNEX DGE-1c E3. UNDERLINES-the need to bring out the richness of Europe's cultural heritage in the online environment and to promote the creation of content and new online services as part of the information society and the knowledge-based economy; -the vital importance of ensuring the long-term viability of Europeana, including in terms of governance and funding, and the need to further develop it as a common multilingual access point to Europe's digital cultural heritage and a valuable resource for the creative industries, notably by improving the quality and the variety of the digitised cultural material from all categories (text, audiovisual, museum objects, archival records etc.);-the need for a cooperative effort by the Member States and the Commission to promote quality and technical standards for the content brought into Europeana; -the need to continue work on technical standards for digitisation and metadata, including through the framework of Europeana, for the benefit of both accessibility and long-term preservation of digital material; -the underlying vision of working with all relevant partners to avoid a 20th century black hole in the material available through Europeana and the need to make more incopyright material available through the site; -the need to actively promote voluntary agreements6 on the large scale digitisation and online availability of out-of-commerce works and to take the necessary measures to provide for the required legal certainty in a national and cross-border context; -that the digitisation and online accessibility of Europe's cultural heritage should be carried out in full respect of intellectual property rights; 6 On 20 september 2011 a Memorandum of Understanding on the Key Principles on the Digitisation and Making Available of Out-of-Commerce Works was signed in Brussels by stakeholders'representatives, following a stakeholders'dialogue sponsored by the Commission. 8832/12 MM/ag/mj 5 ANNEX DGE-1c E4. TAKES NOTE OF-the report The New Renaissance 7 by the Reflection group(‘Comité des Sages')on bringing Europe's cultural heritage online, and of the Commission's recent legislative proposal regarding digital service infrastructures, including on funding of Europeana, as part of the Connecting Europe Facility8, as well as the proposals regarding orphan works9 and reuse of public sector information10; 5. INVITES THE MEMBER STATES TO-take the necessary steps in line with the priorities outlined in the Annex in order to: consolidate their strategies and targets for the digitisation of cultural material; consolidate the organisation of digitisation and the provision of funding for digitisation, including through promoting the use of public-private partnerships; improve the framework conditions for the online accessibility and use of cultural material; contribute to the further development of Europeana, including by encouraging cultural institutions to bring all relevant digitised cultural material into the site; ensure long-term digital preservation; while taking into account the different levels of progress on, and approaches to, digitisation as well as the overall budgetary consolidation efforts being made in Member States; 7 http://ec. europa. eu/information society/activities/digital libraries/comite des sages/index en. htm. 8 COM (2011) 665 final/3. 9 COM (2011 ) 289 final. 10 COM/2011) 877 final. 8832/12 MM/ag/mj 6 ANNEX DGE-1c E6. INVITES THE COMMISSION TO-continue to support Europeana as a common multilingual access point to Europe's digital cultural heritage in line with the 2010 Council conclusions on Europeana; -gather, analyse and disseminate results and experience gained at national and Union level; present on this basis every two years a report on progress on digitisation, online accessibility and digital preservation; -support the exchange of information and good practices including on public-private partnerships and standards for digitisation; 7. INVITES THE MEMBER STATES, THE COMMISSION AND EUROPEANA, within their respective competences, TO-continue, in line with the 2010 Council conclusions on Europeana, the work on the content roadmap for Europeana, including the masterpieces of Europe's cultural heritage as selected in the individual Member States; -raise awareness of Europeana amongst the general public; -promote the use of material accessible through Europeana and the related metadata for innovative purposes in full respect of intellectual property rights; -further develop Europeana as a user-friendly access point; -make concrete progress in the discussions on the governance structure of Europeana. 8832/12 MM/ag/mj 7 ANNEX TO ANNEX DGE-1c EAEX TO AEX Priority actions and indicative timetable The suggested table of activities and objectives is an indicative roadmap for work by Member States in the years 2012-15.1. To consolidate their strategies and targets for the digitisation of cultural material by: Consolidating, by the end of 2012, targets for digitisation and maintaining or, where appropriate, increasing the priority given to digitisation Developing, by 2013, standards for the selection of material to be digitised and the way the material is presented online, and implementing the technical standards to ensure the interoperability and migration of content. With regard to public domain material standards should encourage the widest possible access to reuse and discourage the use of intrusive watermarks or other visual protection measures that reduce usability Reinforcing monitoring of progress in digitisation to create overviews at national level and contributing to an overview at European level Contributing, by the end of 2013, to the Commission's assessment of progress of digitisation and digital preservation at European level 8832/12 MM/ag/mj 8 ANNEX TO ANNEX DGE-1c E2. To consolidate the organisation of digitisation and the provision of funding for digitisation, including through promoting the use of public-private partnerships by: Encouraging public-private partnerships for digitisation between cultural institutions and private partners, taking as a point of departure the criteria outlined in the Commission Recommendation 2011/711/EU Making use of the EU Structural Funds, if appropriate, to co-finance digitisation activities11 Promoting measures to optimise the use of digitisation capacity to achieve economies of scale, keeping in mind the potential for cross-border collaboration 3. To improve the framework conditions for the online accessibility and use of cultural material by: Ensuring that, in principle, material in the public domain remains in the public domain after digitisation, in full respect of intellectual property rights Promoting voluntary stakeholders'agreements and other mechanisms facilitating digitisation and online accessibility of out-of-commerce works 11 These conclusions do not prejudge the negotiations on the next Multiannual Financial Framework. 8832/12 MM/ag/mj 9 ANNEX TO ANNEX DGE-1c E4. To contribute to the further development of Europeana by: Encouraging cultural institutions as well as publishers and other rightholders to make their digitised material accessible through Europeana, taking into account the indicative targets for minimum content contribution to Europeana as set in Annex II to the Commission Recommendation 2011/711/EU Making a wide selection of works and objects of cultural and historical significance accessible through Europeana, including the masterpieces as selected in the individual Member States Finalise, by the end of 2012, the roadmaps for bringing content into Europeana in line with the 2010 Council Conclusions, taking into account the need to bring relevant, already digitised, material into Europeana Promoting aggregation at national level by, for instance, setting up or reinforcing national aggregators and contributing to cross-border aggregators for Europeana Encouraging the use of common digitisation standards and the systematic use of permanent identifiers Encouraging the wide and free availability of the metadata that the cultural institutions deliver to Europeana for reuse and for innovative applications Raising awareness of Europeana among the general public with particular attention to children and young people 8832/12 MM/ag/mj 10 ANNEX TO ANNEX DGE-1c E5. To ensure long-term digital preservation by: Promoting and reinforcing strategies for long-term digital preservation, accompanied by implementation plans Exchanging information with each other on strategies and action plans for longterm digital preservation Ensuring the necessary legal framework conditions for long-term digital preservation in terms of multiple copying and migration of digital cultural material by public institutions for preservation purposes, in full respect of European union and international legislation on intellectual property rights Making the necessary legal arrangements for the deposit of material created in digital format in order to guarantee its long term preservation Taking into account developments in other Member States, when establishing or updating policies and procedures for the deposit of material originally created in digital format, in order to prevent a wide variation in depositing arrangements. Ensuring that sufficient descriptive and technical metadata and permanent identifiers are produced as an integral part of digitising processes or when creating born-digital material

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