A recent update from Australia highlights an important international development in orphan works legislation. New copyright legislation has recently passed enabling cultural heritage institutions (CHIs) to publish orphan works online.
This reform, introduced through the Copyright Amendment Bill 2026, marks a significant step forward in addressing one of the most persistent barriers to access in the cultural heritage sector. By providing a legal framework for the use of works whose rights holders cannot be identified or located, the legislation supports digitisation, preservation, and public access to collections. The announcement is particularly significant in a global context. Orphan works are not a UK-only challenge; they affect CHIs worldwide, often blocking access to large portions of collections due to legal uncertainty. Australia’s move demonstrates that governments are increasingly recognising the need for more flexible, enabling copyright frameworks.
Forming part of a broader body of research being undertaken through her PhD at the University of Edinburgh, which examines orphan works legislation internationally and its implications for access to cultural heritage, such comparative insights are essential for informing future policy development in the UK and beyond, particularly post Brexit. However, under the surface, these provisions are not ideal. They include extra requirements for diligent searches and documentation required from CHIs together with remedies offered to rights holders if they emerge that include immediate take down and renumeration. Such provisions leave CHIs administratively burdened and financially exposed. They provoke questions about how effective a solution it will be for them to enable mass digitisation and whether this legislative provision represents a disproportionate balance of interests favouring rights holders over and above the public interest.
For UK institutions still grappling with the loss of the EU orphan works exception post-Brexit, this development raises an important question: what can be learnt from international approaches? Australia’s model may provide a useful reference point, but crucially, one that UK CHIs do not need. Ultimately, this update reinforces a key message. Progress is possible, with the right legislative frameworks, such as an exception, providing greater legal certainty, supported by technological solutions such as the Orphan Works Hub which can substantially reduce the costs of diligent searches. In this way, countries can unlock digitisation at scale, respect rights interests whilst ensuring that orphan works no longer remain hidden from public view.
Featured Image: (c) Public domain pictures
New developments in orphan works reform from Australia: but problems remain for chis including those associated with diligent searches
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Orphan works, works still in copyright but with untraceable rights holders, continue to block access to vast portions of our cultural heritage. For many institutions, the challenge isn’t just legal—it’s practical. The time, cost, and complexity of diligent searches make large-scale digitisation almost impossible.
Orphan works, copyright-protected materials whose rights holders are unknown or cannot be traced, pose a major obstacle to the mass digitisation of cultural heritage. Although digitisation offers unprecedented opportunities for access, legal uncertainty often prevents institutions from making collections available online.
Copyright and orphan works
Copyright attaches to a work the moment it's created and lasts until legal expiry, but the relationship between the creator, the work and the copyright can change over time as ownership changes and records can easily become fragmented.
