The examination initially investigates whether museums’ claims in digital reproductions of public domain works of art can be justified from a copyright perspective. Case law indicate that exact reproductions of works of art do not enjoy copyright protection. Museums, however, try to distinguish them from the specific case, meaning that the single case cannot be applied in general. The answer to whether the claim is valid is uncertain. The legal field, if one can call it a legal field, is relatively new. The technology is modern, which is also the case for the problems related. Most attention to the problematic has been paid in the U.S. Both American case law and legal scholars have recognised the problems and discuss museums’ potential copyright in digital reproductions of public domain works of art. The fact that it is a new legal field limits the material available. The advantage is that the material is up-to-date.

Furthermore, the examination deals with museums and their mission to preserve and purvey culture to the public. Returning public domain works of art into the copyright sphere may be questioned from that perspective. Instead of making the art accessible, such activity functions as a limitation on accessible works of art. The museums also adopt restrictive policies and license agreements. Museums’ limiting activities is interesting in relation to the right to access culture, which is a further part of the investigation.

Finally, the right to access culture puts different levels of legal obligations on a State member. The State is obliged to guarantee at least some minimum amount of concrete possibilities for the individual to access culture on equal terms. If museums’ activity cannot be regarded as compatible with the right to access culture, is there a need of legal reforms in order to ensure continued access to digitised art collections? International instruments and doctrine indicate that there is a need. The most proper solution in order to satisfy that need is, however, another question.