culture.gov.au
Connecting you with Australian culture online
Digital Rights Management (DRM)
One of the difficult tasks that cultural organisations have faced for many years is how to make sure they comply with existing copyright laws and deal fairly with the rights of the owners whose works they exhibit, publish, perform etc. Of course many organisations are themselves rights owners. The rights issue becomes a little more complex when dealing with the internet. Once a painting, song, interview, article or anything for which someone owns the rights, is put online, there is a moral obligation, a legal requirement and sometimes a commercial imperative to manage the owner’s rights.
What is DRM?
DRM is a term used to describe a range of techniques that use information about rights and rightsholders to manage copyright material and the terms and conditions on which it is made available to users.
There are numerous DRM applications and systems from low-tech to high-tech and from inexpensive tools to costly multi-layered systems. Different systems offer different solutions, cost structures and value added features (see A Guide to Digital Rights Management - the Tools and templates 3: DRM vendor spreadsheet, page 8). All are based on systematic identification and recording of information about the legal rightsholders (copyright owners) and about the legal rights associated with the content.
How can DRM help?
Once you have decided that a DRM system will be cost effective for your business, and that your customers will accept regulation of the content they wish to access, proceeding with the DRM system can solve some of the rights management hurdles ordinarily faced by producers and publishers of digital content. As standard rights languages are developed, it should become easier to identify works, rights holders and rights information.
The systems can then assist in clearing the works for permitted uses on the agreed terms and conditions, with payment taking place at that point and/or by royalty payments. In an ideal world, producers or publishers should not need to spend further time negotiating rights and payments for commonly required usages. And if the DRM system is a reliable one, there should be fewer occasions where you need to seek additional legal advice.
What to do
A valuable and informative resource for copyright-related issues is provided by the Copyright Council of Australia.__________________________________________
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