Archive managers should also be aware of ethical issues with a digital collection of images, especially when the material is of a highly personal and sensitive nature e.g. medical images. Any facial features, that could be used for identification, should be digitally masked out. Also any metadata associated with the image, that pertains to the patient, should be omitted. If these measures are taken, maintenance of the patient's confidentiality should be ensured. Copyright Issues for those Individuals Wishing to Access and use Digital Image Archives Copyright law applies to digital forms as much as for paper and other media.
Many people assume that electronic resources on the Internet are freely available to copy and use.
This is not true. Everything on the Internet is covered by the copyright. The exception to this rule is material that has been deliberately placed within the public domain. To use a copyrighted work, an individual must have permission from the copyright holder. However there are certain conditions under which permission for copying is not needed, namely library privileges and fair dealing.