MTVA archives open to everyone but copyright applies
The photographs and press materials in the archives of Hungary's Media Service Support and Asset Management Fund (MTVA) are open to anyone to access but allowing carte-blanche of their use would break copyright rules and result in the termination of sales of images produced by the Hungarian News Agency MTI, one of Europe's most long-standing news agencies, MTVA's press and marketing office said on Wednesday.
So far, MTVA has published the digitised versions of more than 324,000 photographs and almost one million press materials in its archive at https://archivum.mtva.hu, accessible by anyone for personal use, but MTI, like other agencies around the world, does not distribute its photographs free of charge, the statement said.
MTVA will take action to protect property over which it has ownership rights, it added.
Also, images taken by former MTI photographers which have entered the private domain for whatever reason must not be appropriated; MTVA, which holds the original copy in its archives, maintains sole copyright, the statement said.
