Museums and Galleries: Internet
(asked on 1st October 2018) - View Source
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of the conclusions of the National Portrait Gallery’s Discussion Paper for Open Access Meeting, dated 3 March 2016 and released on 22 January in response to a freedom of information request, what assessment they have made of the impact on museums’ profitability of allowing public access to large versions of images online.
This question was answered on 15th October 2018
As arm’s length bodies, DCMS-sponsored museums determine their own operational matters, including the decision to charge fees for re-use of images of items in their collections - this is an operational policy matter that therefore sits with the institutions themselves. As such it is not appropriate for Government to intervene in these matters and therefore no assessment has been made, or guidance provided, on image re-use. We are currently in the process of revising performance indicators for all fifteen of the DCMS sponsored museums. We are reviewing a broad range of museum activity and government policy in order to inform our decision around which performance indicators will be selected for inclusion in the museum management agreements from 2020. We are not in a position, at this stage, to comment on specific performance indicators as the project is ongoing. The National Archives has published guidance for public sector bodies on complying with the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015, including the attached guidance specifically for the culture sector, which can also be found here: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/information-management/psi-implementation-guidance-cultural-sector.pdf It is each Accounting Officer's responsibility to ensure that their organisation is compliant with the terms and principles of Managing Public Money. DCMS has a governance framework in place and regularly engages with its arm’s length bodies regarding compliance issues.
As arm’s length bodies, DCMS-sponsored museums determine their own operational matters, including the decision to charge fees for re-use of images of items in their collections - this is an operational policy matter that therefore sits with the institutions themselves. As such it is not appropriate for Government to intervene in these matters and therefore no assessment has been made, or guidance provided, on image re-use. We are currently in the process of revising performance indicators for all fifteen of the DCMS sponsored museums. We are reviewing a broad range of museum activity and government policy in order to inform our decision around which performance indicators will be selected for inclusion in the museum management agreements from 2020. We are not in a position, at this stage, to comment on specific performance indicators as the project is ongoing. The National Archives has published guidance for public sector bodies on complying with the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015, including the attached guidance specifically for the culture sector, which can also be found here: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/information-management/psi-implementation-guidance-cultural-sector.pdf It is each Accounting Officer's responsibility to ensure that their organisation is compliant with the terms and principles of Managing Public Money. DCMS has a governance framework in place and regularly engages with its arm’s length bodies regarding compliance issues.