The Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek (German Digital Library) interlinks the digital offerings of cultural and scientific institutions in Germany and of German cultural and scientific institutions abroad. Through a common portal, it makes knowledge accessible. It thus makes a significant contribution to the intermeshing of knowledge between disciplines and between users and the cultural and scientific institutions.
The Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek does not review the content of the digital offerings (metadata and digital objects) which have been delivered by the the data provider. Also, The Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek does not check the correctness of the rights information and licenses provided or the existence of the rights for the communication to the public. According to the contract with the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek, the data providers themselves are responsible for ensuring that they are entitled to grant the rights required for use in the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek.
The digital content locatable in the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek is mainly not stored centrally, but remains under the responsibility and in the control of the various cultural and scientific institutions that cooperate with the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek. These institutions decide whether they are prepared to grant permissions regarding the copyright-protected content and which form such permissions should take.
The Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek asks all institutions providing content as to their position on this matter and labels the accessible digital content accordingly with the appropriate license or appropriate information on the legal status. The licenses and legal-status information apply to the digital content at the participating institutions and, accordingly, also to the thumbnails shown on the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek portal itself. The license information and legal-status information ensure legal certainty in the use of the digital content and thumbnails made accessible through Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek. Apart from providing access to cultural and knowledge resources, the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek also ensures that you, the user, know what you may and may not do with the copyright-protected content which it has made accessible.
Further details on the scope of the licenses and legal-status information are available here.