01.07.2022

On June 28-29, 2022, an event was held at the headquarters of the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in Alicante for the Out of Commerce works of the DATATHON web portal in collaboration with the Observatory and Europeana.

The main objective of the Datathon event was to raise awareness about the existence of the new Out of Commerce works solution available under Directive (EU) 2019/790 with the aim of facilitating the digitization of off-trade works. Directive (EU) 2019/790 introduces a legal framework to support cultural heritage institutions in the digitization and cross-border dissemination of non-commercial works.

Out of Commerce works are still protected by copyright but have never been or are no longer commercially available.

The Out of Commerce works portal managed by the EUIPO was created to ensure that all information concerning the use of Out of Commerce works is properly publicized and available in a single, publicly accessible portal.

It provides the general public with the ability to search for works, find the heritage institutions holding these works over the internet and also receive notifications about new works being registered on the portal.

The event, which took place in a hybrid format and was crowned with success, was attended by representatives of the authorities of the EU member states as well as representatives of cultural institutions of the member states. Two representatives of the Hellenic Copyright Organization participated to the event.

For more information about OoC works please visit:

Datathon 2022 (europa.eu)
The Out-of-commerce works portal
EUIPO