Stewardship / Rights

There is no single copyright switch for an archive.

Original works, translations, recordings, metadata and site materials have different makers and permissions. SHABD India documents those layers separately.

LayerPossible rights holderWhat the record must state
Original literary work

Author, estate, publisher or public-domain status

Edition, jurisdiction, term, permission and restrictions

Translation

Translator and, where required, underlying-work rights holder

Translator credit, agreement, review version and reuse terms

Audio recording

Narrator, producer and underlying text/translation rights holders

Consent, performance credit, recording licence and accessibility use

Metadata & context

Contributors and SHABD India, subject to source rights

Source citation, contributor terms and record-level licence

Site & code

SHABD India and identified third-party components

Explicit site notice; never substituted for object-level rights

Working principles

Access does not erase responsibility.

No blanket claim. A footer notice cannot define rights for every archival object.

No silent uncertainty. “Under review” is a meaningful status, not an error to hide.

No implied reuse. Reading access does not automatically grant copying, adaptation or redistribution.

Community conditions matter. Legal permission may not be the only relevant ethical constraint.

Requesting permission

Ask about a specific record and version.

A future permissions form will collect the record ID, language version, intended use, territory and distribution format. Until that workflow is ready, no automated permission is granted by this prototype.