New perspectives for access to archival heritage in Italy between privacy, copyright, and protection rules

The digitization of cultural heritage emphasizes the traditional dichotomy between enjoying and protecting a cultural heritage. Yet archival documents may be subject to rules on the protection of intellectual property and personal privacy. As a consequence, in Italy these regulations have slowed down those policies aimed at promoting archival resources through digital technologies. However, European legislation has recently brought about important innovations, which are good for archives. Today several technical solutions for managing the rights of digital assets are available. Hence, technical and legal innovations allow us to increase the digital use of heritage. But in order to seize the best opportunities offered by the current changes, it is necessary to better prepare both archivists and users.