CDLcopyrightMD is an XML schema developed by the California Digital Library (CDL) for expressing copyright and rights management metadata in digital library environments. Designed to work as an extension to the Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard (METS), copyrightMD provides a structured vocabulary for recording the copyright status, rights holder information, and usage conditions associated with digital objects.
Background
In 2004, the California Digital Library formed the Rights Management Group (RMG) to address issues related to rights protection and fair use within the University of California library system. Between 2005 and 2006, the RMG conducted an analysis of functional requirements for copyright metadata, identified key data elements needed to express copyright information, and formalized these into the copyrightMD XML schema as a proof-of-concept implementation. The schema was designed from the outset to be compatible with METS, one of the most widely adopted standards for encoding descriptive, administrative, and structural metadata in digital library collections.
Purpose & Scope
copyrightMD addresses the practical need for libraries and digital repositories to record and manage copyright information about their holdings in a machine-readable format. The schema covers several key areas of rights metadata:
- Copyright status -- whether an item is under copyright, in the public domain, or has an unknown status
- Rights holder information -- identification of copyright owners and their contact details
- Usage permissions and restrictions -- what users may do with the digital object
- Publication information -- relevant to determining copyright status under applicable law
The schema is particularly useful for institutions managing large digital collections where automated rights assessment and access control depend on structured copyright metadata.
Technical Format
copyrightMD is defined as an XML Schema Definition (XSD). The schema is available for download as a zip archive from the CDL website, along with an HTML-formatted schema documentation page and a visual schema diagram. A PDF user guidelines document provides implementation guidance for metadata creators.
As an extension schema designed for METS, copyrightMD elements are typically embedded within the <mdWrap> or <mdRef> elements of a METS document's administrative metadata section. This integration model allows copyright metadata to coexist with other metadata schemas within a single METS package.
Governance & Maintenance
copyrightMD is maintained by the California Digital Library, a division of the University of California Office of the President. The schema was produced by the CDL Rights Management Group. The page was last updated in November 2025, indicating ongoing maintenance.
Notable Implementations
copyrightMD has been used primarily within the University of California library system and by institutions working with CDL digital library infrastructure, including the Online Archive of California and the Calisphere digital collections platform. Its tight integration with METS makes it relevant to any METS-based digital library or preservation system that needs to encode copyright metadata.
Related Standards
- METS (Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard) -- copyrightMD is designed as a METS extension schema
- PREMIS -- addresses related preservation rights metadata concerns
- Dublin Core -- provides broader descriptive metadata context