Host organisation: National Library of Scotland
Project title: Copyright Research: Templar Film Studios (1949-1980)
Project description

Acquired in 2001/2002, the film production material from Templar Film Studios consists of 656 moving image titles, 530 (81%) of which have no copyright information catalogued. The National Library of Scotland is seeking an intern to conduct research into all 656 titles to confirm copyright status and identity of current copyright owners. To assist with this task the Library holds business records acquired from Templar Film Studios regarding its operation and production. Included in these records are descriptions of films made for BBC news. In the Templar Film Studios moving image collection there are 338 films which may be attributed to BBC news. However this requires confirmation and investigative research to match the written descriptions discovered in the business records to the actual films in the collection. This will also include working with BBC Scotland to confirm copyright ownership.

Outputs

The goal is to research and confirm copyright status and current copyright owner for each title in the Templar Film Studios Collection to be recorded in our database.

Location
The internship will be in-person at National Library of Scotland, Kelvin Hall, Glasgow.
Benefits to the researcher

Copyright Legislation is complex, especially when working with legacy records where reliable information from the time of creation is scant. This internship will provide the researcher with skills to navigate legacy copyright issues. This collection contains a mixture of moving image genres such as documentaries, advertisements and local news. Each individual title has little to no support documentation so skills will be developed on where to find authoritative secondary information sources to determine copyright status and current ownership. These skills will be transferable to other information management fields, media production or useful as worked case examples for a researcher specialising in copyright law.

Key relationships

The key relationships will be through the staff at the National Library of Scotland working with moving image collections and rights management.

Timescale

Start date (or must start by): Flexible

End date (or must end by): Flexible

Work structure: Flexible

Subject areas

This opportunity would be relevant to the following subject areas:

Visual Arts; Information and Knowledge Management; Archives; Law Regulated by Statute; Law Relating to Property; Media and Communication Studies; Television History, Theory and Criticism; New Media/Web-Based Studies; Film History, Theory and Criticism.

Person specification

A1. Knowledge Base
  • Essential: Subject Knowledge; Information seeking; Information literacy and management.
A2. Cognitive Abilities
  • Essential: Analysing; Synthesising. 
A3. Creativity
  • Essential: Inquiring minds.
B1. Personal qualities
  • Essential: Enthusiasm; Perseverance; Integrity.
B2. Self management
  • Essential: Preparation and prioritisation; Commitment to research.
B3. Professional & career development
  • Desirable: Networking.
C1. Professional conduct
  • Essential: IPR and copyright.
C2. Research management
  • Desirable:  Project planning and delivery.
D1. Working with others
  • Essential: Team working.
  • Desirable: Collaboration.

First published: 9 October 2025

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