🎨🤖 17-18 December at the University of Amsterdam. Join us at the GenAI & Creative Practices conference, where @culturedoug.bsky.social will explore the challenges that open practice faces in the age of generative AI: ethics, governance, and the future of creative work. rdt.uva.nl/content/even...

🏛️How should cultural heritage institutions share data in the age of AI? Our new paper with @europeana.bsky.social explores when heritage data should be available for AI training. Part of the Alignment Assembly on Culture for AI. Read more: openfuture.eu/publication/...

This Friday, I'll be joining a Copyright Literacy webinar to talk about art, copyright and the public domain. 🌻 Join me, Ana Enriquez, Megan Eve Kilvington, Diane Crawford-Leighton and Sarah Brear online. Jane Secker and Chris Morrison will be our hosts. copyrightliteracy.org/2025/11/10/w...

We've launched CommonsDB Explorer—the first public interface for our registry of Public Domain works. Browse 200K+ rights declarations, upload files to check matches. Read more and try it: openfuture.eu/blog/commons...

Might add "Professional Relaxer" to my LinkedIn profile

Cursed machine still trying to download the U2 album from 2014. I will not be free in this lifetime.

CommonsDB, a new registry that enables users to verify the rights status of online images Great tool in the making presented @ Wiki GLAM in Lisbon today meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CommonsDB

on brand

Looking forward to #GLAMWiki2025 – see you in Lisbon! 🇵🇹

Our latest CommonsDB post explores registries and the challenge of sourcing trustworthy, legally sound data for AI training.

#GLAMWiki2025: Wikimedia as essential digital infrastructure and trusted tools for cultural institutions. @culturedoug.bsky.social will showcase CommonsDB as part of our copyright infrastructure work—connecting cultural memory with digital commons. Register by Sep 30: w.wiki/D5Xq

ultra-nano version for people running to catch a bus #Icepops25

The slides of my Icepops talk are now online at my website: douglasmccarthy.com/presentations/ Thanks to my fellow speakers and everyone who attended yesterday, it was a brilliant day (and night 🎤). Until next time, @jsecker.bsky.social!

📣 Join us at #GLAMWiki2025 in Lisbon (Oct 30-Nov 1) Explore resilience in cultural heritage with workshops and expert sessions, including @culturedoug.bsky.social presenting the CommonsDB registry for Wikimedians and cultural institutions. Register by Sep 30: w.wiki/D5Xq

En route to Manchester 🚄 ✈️ to attend the 6th edition of Icepops, the copyright festival with a smile on its face. I'll present new research on museums, copyright and the public domain. 🌻 There will be sunflowers, there will be memes. Slides to follow. #Icepops2025 #OpenGLAM #Museums #Copyright

Q. How was your summer? A.

don’t be a bad Bohemian

Just discovered that www.culturegrid.org.uk redirects to museumdata.uk. Now feeling centuries old.

Worth reading if you're engaged with this topic. blog.cloudflare.com/control-cont... [GLAM-E Lab bat-signal >> @michaelweinberg.org @andeewallace.bsky.social]

Me: 🥵 Cat: You think YOU'RE hot?

me: there’s nothing worse than opening a blank document microsoft word: hold my beer

The first part of CommonsDB Feasibility Study—by @paulk.bsky.social, @culturedoug.bsky.social, @posth.me, @jpquintais.bsky.social, @theflyinglawyer.bsky.social, and Thomas Margon—anticipates launching the first public version of the registry after summer. Download: openfuture.eu/publication/...

En garde, I’ll let you try my Wu-Tang style

AI crawlers generate so much traffic that some web sites are struggling to stay online. What can be done?

adding UTF-8 encoding errors to the list of things that'll survive the apocalypse

📆 Workshop Tomorrow Jun 06, 10:00 AM–12:00 PM EDT Join @culturedoug.bsky.social and other experts in an online workshop hosted by the Open Copyright Education Advisory Network (OCEAN) to explore the new Open GLAM Toolkit for implementing open access policies: www.oceancopyright.org/event-detail...

🛠️ Discover the new Open GLAM Toolkit for implementing open access policies. Join @culturedoug.bsky.social and other experts in a workshop hosted by the Open Copyright Education Advisory Network (OCEAN) to explore this resource. Register for the June 6 event: www.oceancopyright.org/event-detail...

‪FYI @drkatieturner.bsky.social‬ @culturedoug.bsky.social list of Open Access GLAM collections (most comprehensive list out there, I believe.)

Excellent new piece by @culturedoug.bsky.social on the wrongs of public museums restricting access to images: "...by throttling access to digital reproductions, museums limit the range of perspectives and narratives that can be shared about art and history..." douglasmccarthy.com/2025/04/muse...

1889 illustrator complains about photography: “"Instantaneous photography is nuisance” said an artist, whose business is to draw cuts for the magazines and newspapers.”

digitalpreservation-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk/knitting-thr... ❤️

UI

Excellent piece by @culturedoug.bsky.social here about how the heritage institutions that are supposed to be safeguarding our cultural commons are acting more like landowners.

NEW 🐣 The editors of the Italian open access journal Engramma invited me to contribute an article for a special issue on copyleft and internet piracy. 'Museums and the Enclosure of the Public Domain in the Digital Age' is now online at engramma.it/eOS/index.ph... #museums #copyright #publicdomain

🔔 Our March newsletter is out. We write about the new #CommonsDB initiative, welcome our new colleague @adityaxsingh.bsky.social, and update you on our copyright and public digital infrastructure work. Subscribe to get future issues in your inbox: mailchi.mp/openfuture/d...

🚀 The first #CommonsDB newsletter features insights from @paulk.bsky.social and @posth.me on building a public registry for Public Domain and openly licensed works. 📬 Don’t miss out—subscribe to get the next issue delivered straight to your inbox: www.commonsdb.org/blog/commons...

🆕 Check out CommonsDB, an @ec.europa.eu-funded project creating a prototype registry for public domain and open-licensed works. We are working with @liccium.com, @europeana.bsky.social, @wikimediase.bsky.social and @ivir-uva.bsky.social to strengthen #DigitalCommons. openfuture.eu/blog/open-fu...

Job opening: A wonderful opportunity to work at the Rijksmuseum with a team that is on the forefront of making cultural heritage open, accessible, and reusable. Head, Collection IT (FT, hybrid, Salary: €4,379/month - €6,056/month)

The European Copyright Society (ECS) has published its Opinion on copyright and generative AI: copyrightblog.kluweriplaw.com/2025/02/07/e...

We're delighted to welcome @culturedoug.bsky.social to Open Future as our Senior Open Content Specialist. He will lead our CommonsDB project, developing an EU Registry of Public Domain and open-licensed works. openfuture.eu/blog/meet-do... #OpenGLAM #DigitalCommons #PublicDigitalInfrastructure

it’s the weekend

I’m Francesco Fragomeni, a photographic artist & researcher specializing in 19th century photographic processes with a focus on daguerreotype, Bayard direct positive, calotype and salted paper, collodion variations, and albumen. I also build and restore cameras. I share about my work and process.

Hi👋we're new here! ☺️ If you don't know #Europeana, here is some info below to get to know us better! 🎨 Explore Europe's digitised #CulturalHeritage collections ➡️https://www.europeana.eu 🏛️Do you work in, with, or around digital #CulturalHeritage? Discover helpful resources➡️https://pro.europeana.eu

Please spread the word as we have opened the call for @britishacademy.bsky.social International Fellowships which enable researchers to work for two years at a UK institution. If you fancy being away from your country right now this could be an option! www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/inte...

@edzitron.com vibes

Just found this 2023 story. What a time to have lived.

Now online at douglasmccarthy.com/presentations/ Thanks @paulmelloncentr.bsky.social for hosting a great event.

Getting back on the horse. Slides to follow. #copyright #licensing #UK #museums #openaccess #openGLAM