Dave:

Thank you so much. Very informative. I rarely have to confront such issues and its been 15+ yrs since we covered this subject in grad school.

Wayne

On Mon, Jun 1, 2020 at 5:35 PM, topladave .
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Wayne,

Yes. Current copyright runs for the life of the creator (s) of a work plus 70 years. 

Basing a new work in another media on another work can still make it a derivative work, that is not allowed without permission from the first work. It gets complex because the standard here is for originality. Derivative works are allowed if they are substantially transformed with enough artistic differences that it is not a copy but a commentary, criticism, or satire on the original work. Think here of Andy Warhol's art, the publicaly posted instagram photos by people that were downloaded then transformed by an artist named Prince who sold large prints in galleries for tens of thousands of dollars. He was sued for copyright infringement and won in court, who decided that he had substantially transformed those photos of others into new works. Or think of the satire songs of Weird Al Yankovich (he always gets permission first). So while these issues are defined by courts, the general guideline is that if it's a copy it's derivative, if it has substantial changes that transforms it the more likely it's a new work. In all things Copyright it's always best to consult an Intellectual Property lawyer if you're concerned. If it was me, I'd simply consult the living artist about it and get their permission in writing to the woman making the quilt.

I teach an online course on "Copyright and Intellectual Property 101 for Museums" which I'm teaching next on July 6th. 

Cheers!
Dave

David Harvey
Principal Conservator & Museum Consultant
Los Angeles CA USA





On Mon, Jun 1, 2020, 2:00 PM Wayne Eldred <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
need a refresher on copyright / reproduction law...

a woman wants to make a quilt based on a art piece created in 2011 that was donated to my museum as unrestricted gift in 2016 by the artist himself.  as far as i know he is still living. it's a 3d sculpture-like piece. last i remember from grad school copyright is life plus 70 years but i think that's changes.

Please advise.

Thank you.

Wayne Eldred
Collections Manager
Mattatuck Museum


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