<P>Cultural heritage institutions should benefit from a clear framework for the digitisation and dissemination, including across borders, of works or other subject matter that are considered to be out of commerce for the purposes of this Directive. However, the particular characteristics of the collections of out-of-commerce works or other subject matter, together with the amount of works and other subject matter involved in mass digitisation projects, mean that obtaining the prior authorisation of the individual rightholders can be very difficult. This can be due, for example, to the age of the works or other subject matter, their limited commercial value or the fact that they were never intended for commercial use or that they have never been exploited commercially. It is therefore necessary to provide for measures to facilitate certain uses of out-of-commerce works or other subject matter that are permanently in the collections of cultural heritage institutions.</P>