Abstract
Based on the traditional functions of the museum and its collections management, this paper generally introduces relevant legal issues and the missions that the museum should undertake. Followed by the problems and the corresponding solutions that the museum might encounter in digital era, the copyright law issues and related standards of digital archive licensing are then discussed. This article researches digital archive licensing issues in connection with the role of public museums. Not only the role that public museums play is introduced, the status of foreign museums is also observed in considering about the mechanism of public museums’transforming into the Non-Departmental Public Bodies. This research takes the Palace Museum as an example to find out if there’s any problems needed to be solved in the digital archives. It is also proposed that the museum should set up a policy of management for collections and digital archives to work on issues, such as whether to digitize or not and how to manage and exploit digital archives. The museum should also make a licensing policy involving the strategies for promoting its efficiency.