Does the lack of an explicit assertion of usage rights or restrictions mean that CC0 is the default?
Do we need a Rights Registry? A clear record of which agencies/libraries support CC0?
#bfwe2026

What are the implications of using entities in BIBFRAME that are not open for reuse?
How do you apply attribution and licenses to entities?
Assume it's all open for reuse until told otherwise? #bfwe2026

Does moving to a BIBFRAME environment mean we enter a "use as your own risk" environment where it is impossible to know who created what, when and whether they support CC0 - i.e. more closed silos! #bfwe2026

But what about records 'modified' by an agency that doesn't support CC0? (040$d) - do they 'own' the metadata even if it started / was originally created by an agency that does support CC0 (040$a) - no way of knowing what changes the modifying agency actually made! #bfwe2026

Metadata comes from a variety of sources
Unpicking provenance is not straightforward.
UAL's open dataset includes records created by staff at UAL (identified by 040$a) = 365k titles
All records except those with a 040$a from an institution that doesn't support CC0 = 6 million+ records #bfwe2026

University of Alberta Library has begun to develop an open metadata policy and open metadata sharing framework.
"The vast majority of metadata is not copyrightable - but in the case of some discrete record sets, a CC BY NC SA 4.0 License will apply" #bfwe2026

Not all libraries can extract themselves from such agreements (such as for 'shelf-ready' metadata) due to lack of in-house resources.
Business models need to be open to change - metadata vendors and other agencies tend to rely on the openess of library-created metadata in the first place #bfwe2026

The knot to untangle relates to both Copyright Law and to the Agreements and Contracts tha libraries have signed with vendors, which prevent sharing and reuse of bibliographic metadata. #bfwe2026

Ian Bigelow points to the ICOLC statement on the Metadata Rights of Libraries icolc.net/statements/i... and articles such as Courtney et al.'No One “Owns” That Metadata, Copyright, and the Problems with [Library] Vendor Agreements'
nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.IN...
#bfwe2026

This is now openly challenged by organisations looking to monetise bib data and/or where the open sharing of data is seen as a threat to their business models. #bfwe2026

The context of #OpenMetadata - since the formation of online catalogues, resource description standards have been built on supporting interchange and open sharing of data - so much of the infrastructure for resource description hinges on the ability to openly share metadata #bfwe2026

#bfwe2026 Implementations:
"BIBFRAME and Open Metadata Sharing - Solving the Gordian Knot of Interoperability" - Ian Bigelow, University of Alberta Library.
Some observations on concerns about metadata reuse in the BIBFRAME environment.

Not clear what the limitations of 'reuse' are here though, would the 'reusability' of WorldCat's BIBFRAME data be limited to members of the WorldCat Cooperative? Or would the data actually be CC0? Interesting. #bfwe2026

Jeff Mixter points to OCLC's Rights and Responsibilities (which libraries have to agree to when they join the 'WorldCat Cooperative'): www.oclc.org/en/worldcat/...
He also says "80-90% of the time a use-case that a library has for 'reusing' WorldCat data is 'fine'" #bfwe2026

An important question for OCLC: Will WorldCat be available as FAIR LOD, like Wikidata (i.e., openly licensed for unrestricted reuse, such as integrating with other open datasets, deriving new descriptions, etc.)? #bfwe2026

OCLC argue that we don't need a 'new pool of data' for BIBFRAME - we should use the existing data in WorldCat - a database of collective knowledge that has been curated by librarians over decades. #bfwe2026

OCLC want to help the library community to 'cross the chasm' to BIBFRAME via a development programme of webinars covering BIBFRAME fundamentals, how to transition (from MARC to BIBFRAME), and how to catalogue in native BIBFRAME (in Zenith) #bfwe2026

A full technical specification of how BIBFRAME is expressed in WorldCat (entity by entity, property by property) will be made available alongside Zenith to provide guidance and worked examples for libraries #bfwe2026

OCLC are developing a BIBFRAME editor called Zenith - this will enable native BIBFRAME cataloguing that is backwards compatible with MARC.
Currently being tested by 5 development partners. #bfwe2026

'Adjacent' Works can be identified - Works connected through corroborated evidence of 'relatedness' - the BIBFRAME is not created in isolation; it is created within the context of WorldCat
#bfwe2026