The Rights Element connected to the Source Element

(Edited now that I think I have a better grip on Source, "the most ambiguous, misunderstood, and misused of the 15 core elements.")

Last night I was discussing our assigned project elements with my course group, which includes Adam, Amy, and Katie.  I find it interesting how our different elements interact.  In particular, I think my element, Rights, could be related to Katie's element, Source.

Over in her blog, Katie wonders whether Source will be useful for this project, primarily because we don't yet know if all images will have an identifiable source, or if we'll be given more detailed information regarding the original images our images are derived from (our 2009 images were likely born digital, but the images from 1975 would have an original somewhere).  Her question has a lot of bearing on my element, too, because the Rights for each image may be based on whatever rules govern use of the Source.

Our textbook defines the Rights element quite simply as "'Information about rights held in and over the resource' ... [including] intellectual property rights."  Depending on circumstances, the Rights element might hold a very simple statement like "Copyright (c)2009 Paul W. Bryant Museum" but it could also include restrictions on use, such as "Written permission required" or "Noncommercial reuse only."

Importantly, the Rights may vary depending on whether someone wants to use the digital surrogate or needs to use a higher-resolution copy or get access to the original photograph or slide.  Alternatively, the Rights may not vary from original to digital copy, but whatever Rights govern the original may also govern the copy. The Rights element, like many Dublin Core elements, may also contain information pertaining to the original image as well as to the digital version.  In any of these cases, the data in the Source element would help to both clarify and validate the Rights information.