Eighteen museums took part in Britain Loves Wikipedia last month, despite concerns by some in the sector about copyright and branding.
The scheme, which involved photographers taking pictures of objects in the museums’ collections and uploading them to the online encyclopedia, was described by Michael Peel, chairman of Wikipedia UK, as a national partnership that aims to educate and spread knowledge.
Peel said several museums decided not to participate due to concerns about copyright and branding implications. “It is a bit of a mindset change, so it is understandable,” he said.
“But we want to take down that barrier. It depends on the object, but for those that are out of copyright and not in danger by being photographed, why shouldn’t it be allowed?”
Independent copyright consultant Naomi Korn said: “It will be interesting to see what effect this scheme has on museum visitor numbers, image licensing, brand profile and website hits.”
The National Portrait Gallery is still in dispute with Wikipedia over copyrighted images uploaded to the website by a US-based user last summer.
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