First ISNI project of CMOs concludes, and the work continues
The goals of the first ISNI project of Finnish copyright management organisations (CMOs) have been achieved. Next, the focus will turn to the development of system interfaces and the consolidation of continuous processes. The ISNI project participants are the Finnish CMOs Gramex, Kopiosto, Kuvasto, Sanasto and Teosto.
The ISNI project of Finnish copyright management organisations, launched in the beginning of 2022, concluded in June 2024. During the project, ISNIs were obtained for contributors from the creative sector represented by the CMOs. The International Standard Name Identifier (ISNI) is used globally to unambiguously identify any individuals and organisations contributing to any creative works. ISNIs function across sectors – it does not matter whether the contributor is a writer, visual artist or musician, as long as the metadata describing them makes it possible to distinguish them from other contributors of the same name.
Goals achieved during the project:
- Acquisition of ISNIs for creative-sector contributors
- Improvement of metadata on the rightsholders represented by the CMOs
- Publication of a report on the benefits of ISNIs from the perspective of the CMOs
- Release of an animation about ISNIs and their benefits
- Publication of a final report
- Groundwork for a follow-up project focused on the automation of continuous ISNI submissions
ISNIs have been comprehensively obtained for contributors active in a range of creative fields. Currently, the number of ISNIs managed by the CMOs are as follows: about 45,000 for Gramex, 36,000 for Teosto, 12,000 for Kopiosto, 17,000 for Sanasto and 3,000 for Kuvasto. The number of individual identifiers obtained is approximately 85,000. In addition to the acquisition of ISNIs, information on contributors in the information management systems of the CMOs was harmonised and supplemented during the project.
One of the project goals was to investigate the benefits of ISNIs to Finnish copyright management organisations and how these identifiers promote the development of services and practices based on data concerning works and contributors in the sector. A report entitled ‘When the name is not enough(opens a new tab)’ was published in March 2024.
The project also produced communication materials for use by the CMOs in their communications directed at clients and stakeholders. Websites, social media, client newsletters and magazines were employed in communications. Watch the video ISNI: Stand out from the crowd
A final report describes the progress and results of the ISNI project in more detail.
The work will continue in another ISNI project (January 2024–August 2025) carried out by Finnish CMOs. The key goals of this project include the development of a continuous data exchange process and the establishment of a versatile and efficient interface for the National Library’s ISNI service.
More information:
Project website
About ISNI
