The Rise of Pseudo-intellectual Property and the End Public Domain

In less than two hundred pages, including images, the book edited by Daniele Manacorda (archaeologist) and Mirco Modolo (archaeologist and archivist) manages to offer an effective summary of the lively debate on the legal regime of cultural heritage images in Italy. The book collects the proceedings of a conference promoted by the Fondazione Aglaia and held in Florence on 12 June 2022.1 The work is, in essence, a multidisciplinary manifesto for the liberalization of cultural heritage images. This may be already hinted in the copyright notice, which states verbatim: ‘the images published on the cover and in the following pages [...] are subject to the restrictions on the use of reproductions of public cultural heritage stated by the articles 107-108 of the Italian Code on Cultural Heritage, which are contested in this work [...]’. In doing so, the editors immediately establish their position, and do not try to clothe themselves in pretenses of neutrality. Nonetheless, the book incorporates diverse visions, and through both the text and the bibliographical apparatus it gives voice to authors arguing against the liberalization of images, starting with representatives of the Società Italiana di Ingegneria Culturale (Italian Society for Cultural Engineering).