[from my October 28, 2025 LinkedIn article]

In the world of archives and digital collections, providing public access to audiovisual materials is a core mission—but it’s not always straightforward. Numerous critical factors can require a collection to be restricted, ensuring responsible stewardship and legal compliance.

Here are the common hurdles that necessitate careful access management:

Legal Reasons

• Copyright Issues: Long copyright terms, complex rights determinations, and limited statutory exceptions for digital access, severely restricts public availability.
• Donor/Depositor Stipulations: Many collections come with legal agreements that mandate restricted access for a set period or require permission for use.
• Legal Mandates: Compliance with regulations or local privacy laws can forbid the public release of certain content.

Ethical and Cultural Considerations

• Cultural Sensitivity: Materials featuring Indigenous knowledge, sacred practices, or images of deceased persons may require restricted access according to community protocols and traditional laws.
• Informed Consent: Footage or recordings captured without explicit, broad consent for public dissemination may be ethically restricted to honor the rights of the subjects.

Processing and Logistical Limitations

• Copyright Status: Difficulty in determining and locating the rights holder can prevent public release until all permissions are secured.
• Incomplete Processing: Collections may be closed until minimal arrangement, description, and rights assessment is complete to provide proper context and discoverability.

Navigating these complex barriers requires robust, granular access management tools. Access Management in the Aviary platform can help organizations to provide robust online access while also providing restrictions where necessary.

Watch Aviary's Permissions Webinars

Getting Started with Permissions and Access Management in Aviary Webinar

This webinar, the first in a two-part series, introduces the fundamentals of managing access and permissions in Aviary. It explains how to control who can view, access, and interact with collections and resources, focusing on four key areas: content visibility, user roles, permission groups, and public access URLs.

Advanced Strategies for Permissions and Access Management in Aviary Webinar

The second webinar builds on foundational access-control concepts to demonstrate how institutions can manage complex, real-world access scenarios while balancing discoverability and security. The session covers advanced use of access requests, including configurable request workflows, notifications, approval messaging, and optional click-through terms and conditions; global access permissions based on IP ranges with “super view” overrides; and integrations such as single sign-on, proxy servers, and IP-based access. Through detailed examples—most notably the Fortunoff Video Archive and University of Alberta use cases—the webinar shows how Aviary supports granular, scalable permissions, automated approvals, and even external, resource-level approvers to meet legal, ethical, and institutional requirements.