Preservation is not permission
Lazarus may preserve almost anything; showing it is a different matter. Every record in the catalog carries a rights status, agreed with the rights holder where one can be found, which decides how the work may be seen.
Whatever its status, every item is free to access. Lazarus charges no fees, sells no copies and requires no account.
The six statuses
- Public domain
- No one holds rights in the work, usually because it was made by a public body or its term has expired. Free, in the Lazarus reading room in Vancouver and in partner reading rooms. Copies may be taken away.
- Open license
- Released by its creator as freeware or under an open license that permits copying. Free, in the Lazarus reading room in Vancouver and in partner reading rooms. Copies may be taken away under the work’s license.
- Released for access
- The rights holder, or their estate, has given Lazarus permission to show the work to anyone, free of charge. Free, in the Lazarus reading room in Vancouver and in partner reading rooms.
- Licensed to Lazarus
- Shown under an agreement with the rights holder that allows access in reading rooms but not copying. Free, in the Lazarus reading room in Vancouver and in partner reading rooms. The license does not permit copies to be taken away.
- Orphan work
- The rights holder could not be found after a documented search. The work is shown under the Lazarus orphan works policy, and withdrawn if a rights holder asks. Free, in reading rooms only, under the Lazarus orphan works policy.
- Sealed
- Held at the request of its creator or their estate, and opened only on the date they set. The record is public; the contents are not. Sealed. The record is public, but the contents are not.
Orphan works
An orphan work is one whose rights holder cannot be found. Much of the archive is orphaned: companies close, are bought and close again, and the people who made things move on or die. Before a work is treated as an orphan, Lazarus makes a documented search:
- The creator, and their family or estate.
- Any company that published the work, and every company that later acquired it.
- Rights registries, trade directories and the records of partner archives.
- A public notice, kept on file for at least a year.
If nobody is found, the work is shown in reading rooms only, under the Lazarus orphan works policy. If a rights holder later comes forward, their wishes are followed: most choose to release the work for wider access, and a few ask for it to be withdrawn.
Personal material
Personal archives are accepted only from the people who made them or from their estates, on terms they set. Some are open to all; some are sealed until a date the creator chose. The principles Lazarus follows are set out under Digital estates.
If you hold rights
If you hold rights in a work in the archive, the Lazarus team would like to hear from you, whether to release it for wider access or to discuss restrictions. Contact Frothly’s Vancouver office.