Who Owns Oral History?
Abolfazl Hassan Abadi (PhD)
Translated by: Mohammad Ayyoubi
2015-10-21
Once an interviewee provides his memories for others through vocal or video interviews and archives them after writing and ordering, data is introduced which may be useful in different scientific or business aspects. The question is who will be the owner and the user of the data produced through oral history? Which one interviewee or the narrator of data in oral history the owner or the organization which provides the budget or arrange for this interview? How much are the authority and duties of the archive centers in deciding on restrictions or simplifying for accessing the field? Should deciding on restrictions be based on archive willing and policies or knowing the addressee? Is copyright rule prevailing in oral history? Does keeping the interviews in the centers endorse their ownership right? Does interviewee’s right summarize in communizing the memories and to be used merely for keeping and printing completely selected interviews without any name and verification so that the nature of narrator remains ambiguous?
Considering the copyright rule in the world today indicates that after oral history introduced to archives in 60s, creation of world and international societies for oral history and the possibility of access to archive sources always there were concerns about it, so when international society created standards for oral history, they allocated a chapter to copyright . Digitalization, weblog writing, planning websites and increasing activities of peoples and private companies regarding oral history found new possibility to be made public, so oral history evicted from monopoly of vital sources and there were concerns about unjustified instrumental use. In this respect there were some discussions in international society for oral history and US National Archive in cooperation with US Congress conducted a research about preserving copyright of archive sources including oral history which created useful outcomes.
Considering the background of the centers and institutions related to oral history indicates that these centers have been less involved in ownership subject in oral history after 2 decade activities. As 90 percent of oral history activities were state and dependent to state budget, more propagandized use of the interviews, and moral glance at creating data more useful for subjects such as The Imposed War and Islamic Revolution and when instrumental use of oral history overcame, there were no archive concerns regarding the ownership in the centers. The minimum standards such as filling the forms about preserving moral ownership right and observing the interviewee’s right were the subject seldom. As a clear example of these kinds of interviews I can state the collective data gathered in the activities of the martyr Heads or martial institutions.
The consuming nature of creating oral history sources in Iran challenged the archive station and preserving moral ownership subjects so that using the interviews were endangered by some changes in political views and attitudes .The outspread production and use of oral history sometimes made some people render inconsistent data in similar interviews they have done with official or private centers. The case created some distrust about the nature of oral history usage and also made the possibility for the victory journalist and propaganda view. Those involved in collecting oral history interviews in official or private centers should be aware about preserving moral ownership in oral history and interviewee’s right of any possible usage. It seems that regarding moral ownership subject there should be serious observation for non-archive centers such as ordinary people and private societies to make them observe the minimums in this regard, otherwise considering the accessibility of internet and the possibility of arranging various kind of information , creates a lot of unverifiable oral historical data not respecting it’s narrator’s right overwhelming cyber space and this is not to the benefit oral history archives , information society , and users.
Number of Visits: 5570
The latest
- Third Regiment: Memoirs of an Iraqi Prisoner of War Doctor – 30
- 100 Questions/ 29
- Theory One: “The Structural Duality of Opportunity–Threat in the Government’s Entry into Oral History”
- The 373rd Night of Memories – Part 7
- From Revolutionary Circles to the Military Arm of the Islamic Government
- Third Regiment: Memoirs of an Iraqi Prisoner of War Doctor – 29
- 100 Questions/28
- The 373rd Night of Memories – Part 6
Most visited
- Authenticating Oral History: From Possibility to Necessity
- The 373rd Night of Memories – Part 6
- Third Regiment: Memoirs of an Iraqi Prisoner of War Doctor – 28
- Memories of Farshid Eskandari
- 100 Questions/28
- Third Regiment: Memoirs of an Iraqi Prisoner of War Doctor – 29
- The 373rd Night of Memories – Part 7
- From Revolutionary Circles to the Military Arm of the Islamic Government
Photo Album from The Doctor of fly
The Doctor of fly, authored by Fatemeh Dehghan Niri, presents the memoirs of Dr. Mohammad-Taqi Khorsandi Ashtiani, Professor Emeritus and a subspecialist in Otolaryngology at Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Compiled within the framework of oral history, the work recounts different stages of his life—from childhood and years of ...The Beating Pulse of a Nation at the Moment of Nowruz
Every year, in the days and nights leading up to Nowruz, Shohada Square had a special charm. A few days before the New Year, the shops would fill with customers, and street vendors would take over the sidewalks. You could find everything in their stalls (from items for the Haft Sin table, candles, goldfish, and spring flowers to clothes, bags, and shoes).The Editor's Missing Place on the “Deck”
The book From Deck to Heaven offers a relatively fresh approach to examining the role of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army Navy (AJA) during the eight years of the Sacred Defense, published under the “Oral History of the Islamic Revolution” series. To compile this book, the esteemed author has utilized documentary research (referring to relevant archival centers and selecting documents) and field research ...An Exceptional Haft‑Seen Table
I wanted to celebrate the new year with my family. Together with two relief workers I boarded buses designated for transporting the wounded to Choubideh and received our mission orders. We waited for a helicopter to take us to Bandar Imam Khomeini. I was stationed near the helicopter’s touchdown zone and was slight in build. As the helicopter was about to land, I could not steady myself; the breeze generated by the rotor blades lifted me off the ground.
