Public Domain

On Monday 2 March, Internet Archive Europe co-hosted an afternoon of conversation that felt, in the best possible way, like a homecoming. Together with Creative Commons and Open Nederland, we welcomed practitioners, policymakers, and advocates from across the Dutch heritage sector to our Amsterdam space for an event entitled “Ensuring equitable access to heritage in the digital environment: A leading role for the Netherlands on the global stage.”

The occasion was an opportunity to celebrate something real: the Netherlands has, for more than two decades, quietly and consistently set the standard for how cultural heritage institutions can open up their collections with integrity, imagination, and public purpose. Getting the people doing that work into the same room, alongside international partners, felt both timely and overdue.

Why the Netherlands, Why Now

The Dutch heritage sector’s track record on openness is not accidental. It reflects sustained investment, institutional leadership, and a genuine commitment to the idea that collections held in trust for the public should be accessible to that public.

Saskia Scheltjens from the Rijksmuseum Research Library captured this with a precision I found genuinely moving. The Rijksmuseum launched its digital collection in 2011, opened Rijkstudio in 2012, and completed the digitisation of its entire collection of one million objects in 2023. Rather than driving visitors away, free and open online access has brought more people into a relationship with the collection. As she put it: “Innovation requires infrastructure.” That is as true for open heritage as for anything else.

Edwin van Huis, who serves on the Internet Archive Europe Advisory Board, made the case for scaling this ambition to the European level. He pointed to DiSSCo — a Dutch-led initiative bringing together 1.5 billion specimens, 5,000 scientists, and more than 400 institutions across 23 countries — as an example of what becomes possible when openness is treated as a design principle from the outset.

Amanda van Rij from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science introduced the National Strategy on Digital Heritage and the Netwerk Digitaal Erfgoed (Digital Heritage Network) Manifesto, which has already been signed by over 200 institutions across the country. Her framing was one I hear echoed in much of the policy work we do: digitisation changes how heritage is created, shared, and experienced, and that transformation demands a careful balance between intellectual property on the one hand and the public interest in access to our collective memory on the other.

The Open Heritage Statement and Our Future Memory

For Internet Archive Europe, this event was also an opportunity to draw out the connections between two initiatives we care about deeply: the Open Heritage Statement, led by Creative Commons and the Open Heritage Coalition, and our own Our Future Memory campaign.

When I presented on the second panel, aptly steered by the moderator Maarten Zeinstra from Open Nederland, I tried to show how these two efforts speak to the same underlying concern from different angles. Our Future Memory focuses on the basic rights that memory institutions need in the digital environment: the right to preserve, to lend, to provide access to knowledge across borders, and to engage in research and education. The Open Heritage Statement takes a broader view, calling for equitable access to public domain heritage and the removal of barriers that prevent people from participating in cultural life.

They are complementary. One focuses on the legal and institutional conditions under which memory institutions operate; the other articulates the values and principles that should guide how heritage is made available to the world. Together, they map a more complete picture of what an open heritage ecosystem actually requires.

Claire McGuire from the International Federation of Library Associations & Institutions (IFLA) made this point powerfully. The Open Heritage Statement, she observed, addresses issues well beyond copyright. It frames access to heritage within the wider context of access to information, and it does so at a moment when the landscape is becoming more, not less, fragmented. Uncertainty about artificial intelligence is already producing regression and backsliding in some areas. A global shared framework, with a home at UNESCO, offers a counterweight to that fragmentation.

Jan Bos, Chair of the UNESCO Memory of the World International Advisory Committee, placed the Statement in a longer institutional history. The Memory of the World Programme has been focused on protecting documentary heritage since 1992, and the 2015 Recommendation on the Preservation of, and Access to, Documentary Heritage laid important groundwork, including commitments to public domain access and open licensing. But the 2015 Recommendation covers only documentary heritage. The Open Heritage Statement extends those principles to all forms of heritage, making it a genuinely valuable complement — and potentially the basis for a more comprehensive international framework.

That framing matters to us. Internet Archive Europe operates in the spaces where documentary heritage, digital preservation, and open access converge. Seeing those concerns reflected in a global instrument with a home at UNESCO is not a small thing.

What Progress Looks Like, and What It Does Not

Douglas McCarthy from the Open Future Foundation offered some useful honesty. Roughly 1,700 cultural heritage institutions worldwide have released some data openly, corresponding to around 100 million objects. That is real progress. Article 14 of the 2019 Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive has brought greater legal clarity in Europe, and the positive growth curve in online access to heritage is genuine.

But he also named what is still missing: compliance regimes are weak or non-existent, practices and policies remain deeply fragmented, and some prominent Dutch institutions are still erecting barriers around public domain heritage, perpetuating business models that no longer serve the institutions or the public they exist for. Driving change, he argued, comes down to individuals with the leadership and vision to experiment.

That observation feels true to us. At Internet Archive Europe, we see it every day. The legal frameworks matter enormously, and we will keep working to strengthen them. But the choices made by people inside institutions — what to digitise, how to licence it, whether to share it freely — are where the actual transformation happens.

Looking Ahead: Paris in April

This event was, as Brigitte Vézina and Brewster Kahle reminded us in their closing remarks, a prelude. The Netherlands is well-positioned to help set global standards for heritage access, and the international law stage offers a real opportunity to make that influence felt.

Creative Commons is organising a follow-up event at UNESCO House in Paris on 29 April 2026: “How Can Equitable Access to Heritage Help Solve Global Challenges? An Exploratory Dialogue.” We hope many of the people in the room on Monday, 2 March will be there. If you are not yet registered, you can do so at openheritagestatement.org/dialogue. The Our Future Memory campaign continues to grow. If your institution has not yet added its voice, we encourage you to do so at ourfuturememory.org. No organisation is too small — and the breadth of the sector matters as much as the weight of its largest members.

On 9 February, Internet Archive Europe is delighted to host the launch of Public Data Cultures, a new book by researcher, writer, and long-time Internet Archive collaborator Jonathan W. Y. Gray. The event will take place at Internet Archive Europe, Oudeschans 16, Amsterdam, and will bring together researchers, practitioners, and friends of the Archive for an evening of conversation and celebration.

About the book

Public Data Cultures explores how public data is not merely a technical or administrative resource, but a deeply cultural one. The book nurtures critical and creative engagements with public data, examining how data is made public, interpreted, contested, reused, and imagined across different contexts. It invites readers to look beyond dashboards and datasets to consider the social practices, infrastructures, and power relations that shape public data in everyday life.

A long-standing connection with the Internet Archive

This launch is particularly meaningful given Jonathan’s long history with the Internet Archive. A long-time friend of the Archive, Jonathan has visited the San Francisco headquarters many times over the years and collaborated closely on public knowledge projects.

Earlier in his career, Jonathan co-founded The Public Domain Review, a publication that regularly features works drawn from the Internet Archive’s collections and celebrates the richness of the cultural commons. He also worked alongside Aaron Swartz, the Open Library team, and many others on initiatives such as public domain calculators, contributing to efforts to clarify and expand access to cultural heritage.

More recently, Jonathan has been involved in research using the Wayback Machine to study the histories of digital media, open data, and so-called “fake news,” demonstrating how web archives can support engaged scholarship and digital investigations.

A personal and transatlantic story

The connection goes beyond professional collaboration. Coincidentally, Jonathan’s family has lived on Clement Street in San Francisco—just down the road from the headquarters of Internet Archive US—since the 1950s, underscoring a personal, intergenerational link to the neighbourhood and the Archive’s home.

Join us in Amsterdam

The book launch at Internet Archive Europe offers a chance to hear directly from the author, engage in discussion, and explore opportunities for future collaboration around critical and creative engagements with data, archives, and digital culture.

📅 Date-Time: 9 February – 19:00 – 20:30 CET
📍 Location: Internet Archive Europe, Oudeschans 16, Amsterdam
🔗 Event details & registration: https://luma.com/5au5lku7

We look forward to welcoming Jonathan W. Y. Gray and to spending time together in Amsterdam as we continue to build and grow collaborations around public knowledge, archives, and data as culture.

On 15 January 2026, the Royal Library of Belgium (KBR) in Brussels was buzzing with energy as we gathered for European Public Domain Day 2026. This year’s edition felt particularly special: not only did we celebrate the public domain and the works that entered it this year, but we also marked 25 years of Wikipedia—a powerful reminder of what shared knowledge can achieve when it is truly open.

From the moment the doors opened, it was clear that this was not your usual conference. It was a meeting of communities: librarians, archivists, researchers, policymakers, technologists, artists, and advocates, all united by a shared belief that the public domain is not a relic of the past but a living foundation for our future.

A Beautifully Orchestrated Day

A huge part of that atmosphere was thanks to the exceptional organisation and warm, thoughtful moderation by Camille Françoise, who guided us through a rich and ambitious programme with clarity and generosity. Together with Bart Magnus, Camille helped set the tone for a day that balanced depth with openness, and serious policy discussion with genuine enthusiasm Sebastiaan ter Burg’s technical expertise and attention to detail for both sound and vision kept the day running smoothly both on- and offline.

European Public Domain Day 2026 was made possible through the collaboration of many organisations, including COMMUNIA, Creative Commons, Wikimedia Europe, Wikimedia Belgium, Open Nederland, Europeana, meemoo, the Flemish Institute for Archives, CREATe, and Internet Archive Europe—and it truly showed what can happen when ecosystems work together.

Key Ideas That Resonated

Across plenaries, panels, presentations, and workshops, one message came through loud and clear: the public domain underpins far more than artistic reuse.

In her compelling contribution, Brigitte Vézina (Creative Commons) reminded us that protecting access to and reuse of the public domain is essential to living healthier, happier, and richer lives. As she put it, the public domain is a fundamental principle of copyright law—not just a technical category, but a condition for creativity, scientific research, education, digital equity, and cultural participation. She closed with her call to action for organisations to sign the Open Heritage Statement of which Internet Archive Europe is a proud signatory.

Other sessions explored the public domain from historical, legal, and practical perspectives: from academic reflections on its origins and boundaries, to hands-on examples of how public domain collections are reused in games, fashion, audiovisual archives, and collaborative research. The diversity of formats—from policy deep-dives to pattern-a-thons and workshops—made the day feel dynamic and inclusive.

Internet Archive Europe: Bringing Collections to Life

For us at Internet Archive Europe, it was a privilege to be part of this year’s programme and to help support the event. I was especially proud to formally present the renewed and revitalised work of Internet Archive Europe during the morning session.

Our mission—to bring collections to life—fits naturally within the spirit of Public Domain Day. Whether through preservation, text and data mining for research, controlled digital access, or collaboration between memory institutions, our focus is on ensuring that cultural heritage can be accessed, studied, and reused in meaningful ways, now and in the future.

Public Domain Day reminded us why this work matters: because access is not automatic, openness is not guaranteed, and the public domain needs active stewardship.

During my presentation, I highlighted Websites van Nederland, an innovative project developed with the National Library of the Netherlands that makes decades of Dutch web history tangible and explorable for the public. By transforming archived websites into an interactive, immersive experience, the project demonstrates how web archives can move beyond preservation alone and become powerful tools for public engagement. I was also able to share exciting news about the project’s next chapter: building on its success in the Netherlands, the model is now expanding to Canada, signaling its potential as a scalable approach to activating national web archives and connecting people with their digital past across borders.

I finally took the opportunity to issue a call to action around the Our Future Memory campaign. As memory institutions increasingly operate in digital environments, it is essential that they retain the same rights online that they have long held offline: to collect, preserve, provide access to, and share knowledge in the public interest.

In the afternoon, Bob Stein introduced Tapestries, a free and open-source tool designed to radically rethink how we explore and share digital collections. Tapestries enables anyone—truly anyone—to create non-linear, multimodal narratives that weave together web pages, PDFs, images, audio, video, and even executable code. By drawing directly on collections from Wikimedia Commons, the Internet Archive, and Europeana, Tapestries offers a powerful new way to surface and connect cultural heritage materials, turning vast digital repositories into accessible, explorable stories.

Another highlight of the afternoon was Björn Wijers’ engaging presentation on “Happy Accidents” with Public Domain films. Through playful and unexpected examples, Björn showed how working with public domain movies can lead to creative discoveries that are impossible to plan in advance—moments where reuse, remix, and curiosity collide. His talk was a joyful reminder that the public domain is not only a legal status, but a space for experimentation and surprise, echoing the spirit behind Internet Archive Europe’s Public Domain Movie Night, where shared viewing becomes a starting point for collective exploration and creativity.

Gratitude and Momentum

Most of all, European Public Domain Day 2026 was about people. The speakers who generously shared their expertise. The participants who asked sharp questions and stayed for conversations long after sessions ended. And the organisers and partners who made the day feel welcoming, thoughtful, and genuinely collaborative.

As we left KBR and continued discussions over drinks, it was hard not to feel optimistic. The challenges around copyright, digitisation, and access are real—but so is the collective intelligence and commitment in this community.

Here’s to keeping the public domain visible, protected, and alive—not just on one day in January, but every day of the year.

Check out the video recordings and the photos on Flickr

On January 1, 2026, a new wave of cultural treasures entered the public domain. To celebrate this moment, Internet Archive Europe is bringing the spirit of Public Domain Day to Amsterdam with a special Public Domain Movie Night, while spotlighting the creativity of filmmakers from around the world through the Public Domain Film Remix Contest.

Public Domain Movie Night in Amsterdam

To mark Public Domain Day 2026, Internet Archive Europe invites you to an in‑person evening of film, conversation, and community.

📅 Friday, January 23, 2026
🕡 6:30–9:00 PM CET
📍Internet Archive Europe, Oudeschans 16, Amsterdam
👉 Register here to attend

During the evening, we will screen a selection of winning and shortlisted films from the Internet Archive’s Public Domain Film Remix Contest, watch a full newly-minted public domain movie, enjoy popcorn, and celebrate what becomes possible when culture returns to the commons. The event is designed as a relaxed community gathering—open to anyone curious about film, archives, remix culture, or the public domain.

Whether you are a filmmaker, researcher, artist, librarian, student, or simply a lover of cinema, this evening is a chance to experience how historical works can be transformed into something entirely new.

Why the Public Domain Matters

Every year, Public Domain Day reminds us that copyright is not meant to last forever. When works enter the public domain, they become part of our shared cultural heritage—available for education, preservation, creativity, and innovation.

The Class of 2026 is particularly rich. Iconic films, music, literature, and characters from the early twentieth century are now free to circulate and inspire new generations. Detectives, jazz, early animation, and classic cinema all play a starring role this year, highlighting how the public domain fuels cultural continuity and creative experimentation.

The Public Domain Film Remix Contest: Turning History into New Cinema

At the heart of this celebration is the Public Domain Film Remix Contest of the Internet Archive, an annual invitation to creators of all skill levels to experiment with public domain film and audiovisual materials.

The contest is not about technical perfection—it is about curiosity, play, and discovery. By remixing archival materials, participants demonstrate how old works can gain new meaning in contemporary contexts.

From Online Contest to Local Celebration

While the Film Remix Contest is global, Public Domain Movie Night in Amsterdam brings the celebration closer to home. By screening the winning films in person, Internet Archive Europe creates a space where digital culture, archival heritage, and local communities intersect.

The evening reflects Internet Archive Europe’s broader mission: universal access to all knowledge. It shows how archives are not static repositories, but living resources that invite participation, reinterpretation, and joy.

Join Us

• 🎬 Come watch award‑winning public domain remixes on the big screen
• 🍿 Meet fellow culture lovers and creators
• 🌍 Celebrate the public domain as a living, shared resource

Registration is required, and places are limited. You can register for the event via the official Luma page: https://luma.com/bmdhs6n2.  We look forward to welcoming you to Amsterdam for an evening dedicated to film, creativity, and the enduring power of the public domain.

Because when culture enters the commons, everyone can create.