Licenses and Access to Digital Content in Museums Pursuant to the New Directive on Information Re-use (2013): Prado, Louvre and N. Gallery

Content digitization in museums, whose collections are offered as virtual galleries on the Internet, allows visitors and tourists to use a set of complementary services, also increasing the museum visibility beyond geographical barriers. Furthermore, new uses of images for personal and commercial purposes are being encouraged to boost the digital economy. The revision of the Directive on the re-use of public sector information (PSI) in 2013 will force museums - as well as libraries and public archives - to comply with the requirements in that matter. These obligations are primarily based on content availability, transparent access, license management, advertising of exclusive arrangements and, finally, non-discriminatory prices which may be higher than marginal costs. This study analyzes information re-use in three European museums (the Prado, Louvre and National Gallery) just when the Directive has been adopted by the European Union.