Today marks a defining moment in the fight for digital rights in cultural heritage. From the shores of Lake Geneva, where minds have long gathered to shape the future of knowledge, Internet Archive Europe proudly announces the launch of Our Future Memory, a global campaign dedicated to safeguarding the digital rights of libraries, archives, and museums worldwide.
The timing could not be more deliberate. As we speak at the LIBER 2025 Annual Conference, surrounded by Europe’s leading library professionals, we are witnessing firsthand the urgency that drives this initiative. The “Four Rights for Libraries” panel session today, moderated by our own Jeff Ubois alongside distinguished speakers Justus Dreyling from COMMUNIA, Caroline De Cock from information labs, and Peter Routhier from Internet Archive, has crystallised what many of us have felt for years: the digital transformation has fundamentally altered the landscape for memory institutions, and not always for the better.
The Challenge We Face
While technology has promised universal access to human knowledge, many libraries today find themselves with fewer practical ways to fulfill their historic mission than they had decades ago.
The shift from owning physical materials to licensing digital content has created an unprecedented crisis. License agreements routinely prohibit preservation activities that were once standard practice. Materials that exist only in digital formats often remain locked behind commercial platforms that restrict the very institutions meant to preserve them for future generations.
This is not merely a technical problem, it is a fundamental threat to the democratic principle that knowledge should be accessible to all, regardless of economic means or geographic location.
Our Response: Four Essential Rights
The Our Future Memory campaign centers on a simple premise: memory institutions must retain online the same rights and responsibilities they have historically exercised offline. To achieve this, we have articulated four fundamental digital rights:
- The Right to Collect materials in digital form, whether through digitisation, open market purchases, or other legal means. This includes content that exists only in streaming formats or behind platform restrictions.
- The Right to Preserve digital materials through backup, repair, and reformatting activities essential for long-term access. Without this right, today’s digital culture risks becoming tomorrow’s digital dark age.
- The Right to Lend digital content under traditional library conditions, maintaining the balanced approach to access that has served communities for centuries.
- The Right to Cooperate through sharing and transferring digital collections among institutions, ensuring that resource constraints do not create information deserts.
Building Momentum
The campaign has already gained remarkable traction. Since its initial signing in Aruba in April 2024, institutions across the globe have endorsed the statement. From the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision to the National Library of Serbia, from cultural organisations in Belgrade to public libraries throughout the Balkans, a diverse coalition is emerging.
This geographic and institutional diversity reflects a crucial truth: the challenges facing memory institutions transcend national boundaries and organisational types. The digitisation of culture affects us all, and our response must be equally comprehensive.
Why This Matters Now
The stakes extend far beyond library operations. Authors, researchers, journalists, and creators of all kinds depend on the sustained availability of cultural materials that only memory institutions preserve without regard to commercial viability. Future historians will judge us by how well we maintained access to the intellectual heritage of our time.
Join the Movement
Whether you lead a major research library or manage a small community archive, whether you work in policy development or daily patron services, your voice matters in this conversation.
We invite you to take action:
- Sign the Statement: If you represent a memory institution or support organisation, visit ourfuturememory.org to learn about our verification process and add your endorsement.
- Engage Your Community: Share this message with colleagues, board members, and stakeholders. The more voices we gather, the stronger our collective impact becomes.
- Connect With Us: Follow our progress and join ongoing conversations about digital rights and cultural preservation.
From Lausanne today, we launch not just a campaign but a commitment to future generations. The memory institutions that have faithfully preserved human knowledge through countless technological transitions will continue to do so in the digital age, but only if we act with purpose and urgency.
Our future memory depends on the choices we make today. Join us in making them count.
Learn more about our work and the Our Future Memory campaign at ourfuturememory.org.
