Ned Raggett: MTV News online founding editor Michael Alex pulling zero punches, rightly. "History needs stewards, not owners. Whoever legally owns the archive does not legally own the history."

MTV News online founding editor Michael Alex pulling zero punches, rightly. "History needs stewards, not owners. Whoever legally owns the archive does not legally own the history."

The Disappearance of MTV News’ Online Archive Is a Tragedy: Guest Post by the Website’s Founding Editorvariety.com In this guest post, Michael Alex, founding editor of MTV News, laments Paramount's decision to remove the site's archives from the internet.

I agree, "History needs stewards ..." (I'm a museum curator), but where would ownership go? I don't know that there's a function of transfer that would enable that, except releasing whatever media into the public domain, which even then gets very complex fast.

The author's answer suggests an NYT style paywall as an option (not truly public, obv., but better than nothing and suitable to Paramount's current cash crunch). But yeah, the wider question applies and then some. (I work in libraries myself, though not archives, so I get where you're coming from.)