Exception for orphan works (Article 50a of the Copyright and Related Rights Act)

An orphan work is a work whose author cannot be identified or located, despite a diligent search having been carried out. Public libraries, archives, museums, broadcasting organizations and other educational or cultural institutions may digitize and make orphan works from their collections available to the public, provided that such use serves the purpose of preserving cultural heritage or promoting education.

Example: A library wishes to digitize and make publicly available an old newspaper from 1950 containing articles by unknown authors. Since the library has been unable to locate or identify the authors despite conducting diligent research, it may designate the newspaper as an orphan work and include it in its digital collection to facilitate access for researchers and the public. The library must also submit information about orphan work to the ministry of culture, which in turn forwards the data to the online database of the European Union Intellectual Property Office.