The Orkney Folklore Trail project was a collaboration between Robert Gordon University and storytellers, Tom and Rhonda Muir. The purpose of the project was to create a free digital app trail of folklore in mainland Orkney and to encourage visitors to venture beyond the usual tourist routes to explore Orkney’s rick folklore heritage.  

The app features 10 sites with a range of stories, spoken by Orcadian and Storyteller Tom Muir, in addition to hosting local fiddle music by Fionn McArthur and illustrations produced by Bryce Wilson.  

At the start of the project, we recognised the need to discuss and agree upon Intellectual Property (IP) rights. Tom Muir had worked as a professional storyteller throughout his career, and had both collected, developed and published folklore stories for many years. His voice was also featured on the app. This meant that we needed to consider who owned the rights to stories featured on the app, as well as the music and illustrations. To address this, the research team worked with their legal team at the University to draw up an IP agreement which was signed by all relevant parties. The result of this was a clear understanding at the start of the project where ownership of the various elements of the app belonged and allowed the project to move forward successfully.  

To find out more about the Orkney Folklore Trail please visit the Orkneyology website.